Air shocks aren't just for weight weenies anymore. The DHX Air 5.0 is designed specifically for the rigors of big-hit, big-terrain riding. Offering all the tuning options of the DHX coil - position sensitive, patent pending Boost Valve, adjustable bottom-out resistance, 15 click ProPedal adjustment, and external rebound adjustment - but featuring large volume air spring, the DHX Air 5.0 offers superlative small thru big-hit performance, in any terrain and any style of riding, in an incredibly lightweight package.
Weight: .99lbs/450 g
Lengths: 7.5x2.0, 7.875x2.0, 7.875x2.25, 8.5x2.5, 8.75x2.5, 9.5x3.0
External Adjustments:
-Air spring pressure
-ProPedal
-Bottom-out resistance
-Adjustable tuning range via schraeder
-Rebound damping
Submitted by
holywood
a All Mountain Rider
from redding ca usa
Date Reviewed: February 10, 2012
Strengths: This is one of the best upgrades i have ever made.It made my bike feel so much different then with the stock rp2.The pro pedal acts like the low speed compression dampening on fox forks. Works great it totally woke my bike up. Plush travel great small bump compliance. I love this shock i will never ride any other.
Weaknesses: none so far
Bottom Line:
GREAT PRODUCT. Its cheaper to buy a new shock then a new bike. WAS NOT AS HARD TO SET UP AS I THOUGHT.
Bike Setup: Norco all mountain. Shimano elixers fox 140 talas dhx 5.0 air
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Submitted by
seanharan
a Downhiller
from San Luis Obispo, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: November 5, 2011
Strengths: Great compression, weight, adjustability, durability, and overall performance
Weaknesses: Turning on an off propedal is a hassle
Bottom Line:
Great shock. Amazing adjustability at a good weight. Bottom out feels endless. Great from small bumps to big drops. My only complaint is that it takes a while to twist the propedal knob 15 times. I have ridden the vivid air, DHX coil, and RP23. The DHX air stands out. If you don't have a full on downhill bike I suggest this shock.
Bike Setup: Santa Cruz nomad, DHX air 5.0, 36 Talas 160, XTR shifters, XTR derailers, XTR brakes, Mavic Crossmax ST wheels, specialized command seat post
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Submitted by
lazybull866
a Downhiller
from kamloops, BC, Canada
Date Reviewed: July 9, 2011
Strengths: Weight
adaptability to terrain.
durability
Weaknesses: small bump compliance.
capacity for larger riders
Bottom Line:
A durable, adjustable, and light shock for free riders and downhillers with non-linear suspension designs. Air shocks are inherently linear through their travel. (they don't ramp up well) the boost chamber does a reasonable job but for a single pivot bike like mine requires too much main chamber pressure combined with max boost pressure to have soft and supple small bump compliance and be able to hit a drop, lip, or berm. A poor choice for a single pivot design.
Submitted by
bluemirage188
a Weekend Warrior
from Southbury, CT
Date Reviewed: May 17, 2011
Strengths: I have always been a coil shock guy. as a bigger guy my options are limited. I was hesitant to go air, but now that I have, WOW. the dhx air is awesome. This is also a 2008 shock, with max/min propedal. pretty easy to setup, and for a trail/am rig, i dont think any coil could match its performance. I had a brand new vivid 5.1coil tuned perfect and this shock with just a few tweaks already performs better. I really wanted a vivid air, but at $600 i was being cheap. I dont think if i had the cash i would spend it on the vivid now, the dhx air rocks!
Weaknesses: none that i've found yet. the bottom out knob is wicked hard to turn, but thats really minor.
Bottom Line:
The 2008 and newer dhx's rock. I've heard some issues with the 06-07 ones, but it seems they've sorted it out for the 2008 and ups. I actually love the propedal, and to be quite honest I would leave it on all the time, but i wouldnt want to damage the shock dropping something. I'm a believer, and at 1 lb, its about 2.5 lbs lighter than a vivid with a steel coil. Spend some time setting it up and it will surprise you. this is the first fox product that I have really liked. and It may be serviceable by the end user, looks pretty simple to me.
Similar Products Used: vivid 5.1 coil, older RS rear shocks
Bike Setup: Jamis xam, x-fusion vengeance, trail rig setup
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Submitted by
mortifiedpenguin
a Weekend Warrior
from Adelaide Hills
Date Reviewed: April 17, 2011
Strengths: very adjustable. very light. GREAT SHOCK.
Weaknesses: hard to tune if you are an ignorant person.
Bottom Line:
I was hesitant to stick with this shock as I had/have a RS vivd 5.1 with the right spring rate ready to go. The previous owner of the bike all but made me swear on the life of my unborn children that I would give the DHX 5 air a fair trial.
This air spring/damping unit is truly among the best I have ever used. I suspect the vivid and rc4 may edge it out for DH use, but on a freeride/all-mountain bike this thing is well and truly the bomb!
It is not the easiest to tune, nor is it the hardest - please take the time to investigate not just the manual from fox website, but also explanations of how each setting works (also on the website). from there you can tune it yourself relatively easily. be very wary of letting "forum tweakers" such as 12 year olds with laptops tell you how to tune your suspension. some people truly spend too much time playing with settings while NOT riding trails.
Unless you are a pro at this stuff: *you need to ride the same trails and only change one thing at a time to truly appreciate and understand the impact of your meddling!*
Similar Products Used: vanilla RC, Marzocchi Roco R piggyback, RS vivid 5.1, dhx rc4, rp23...
Bike Setup: 09 Knolly DT large: domain 318 coil, dhx 5 air, 2x9 xt/saint drivetrain, fulrum red zone rims, minion 2.5 DHF F/R super tacky - tubeless. 65.5 degree headangle, 170mm setting at rear, 180mm front, lowest BB setting
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Submitted by
kinga
a Weekend Warrior
from Brisbane
Date Reviewed: June 18, 2010
Strengths: Fantastic shock, lightweight
Weaknesses: Not as plush as coil shock
Bottom Line:
This shoxk is great, i run 290 psi for my 100 kg riding weight and have had zero problems in 3 years. I have to pump the shock up every 3 or 4 weeks as it drops down to 250 or 260 psi but that is a small price to pay for a great performing, lightweight shock.
Anyone who says it is hard to tune or doesnt perform well is a chump, this a great shock, get your local bike shop to set it up for you, once you have the main can PSI, propedal PSI and blowoff tuning set it is basically set and forget and is a fantastic shock. I have run a DHX coil and this shock dominates all over the coil. Lighter, easier to tune, less bottom out. Why bother with coil for anything other than DH or FR? for General trail riding and Free ride this shock is king. You chumps need to stop whinging, this is an awesome shock.
Similar Products Used: Fox Vanilla Coil, Manitou 6 way, rockshox vivid
Bike Setup: Norco 6
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Submitted by
cotic600
a Downhiller
from Blandford UK
Date Reviewed: May 30, 2010
Strengths: Light, Feels almost as buttery as a coil shock, amazingly tuneable, totally reliable for an air shock.
Weaknesses: Can be difficult to tune the compression damping/boost chamber. Needed tweaking to gain the right "charastics" that I wanted.
Bottom Line:
OK. Ive had enough of people slating this shock. It's a brilliant bit of kit, but......... but....... you have to set it up properly. First off, this shock has two air sleeves. one main chamber as per RP23 and a secondary that is supposed to make the shock "high volume". The second chamber sits over the main and is fed via a small 2mm hole drilled 2/3 of the way into the pistons travel. sounds complicated, it isnt. If it wallows or bottoms out too easily, simply unscrew the sleeve from the body, remove the snap ring, and fill the secondary sleeve with a suitable packing material to flatten the spring curve out a bit. Im 12.5 stone and running 260 main, 170 boost, one line showing. Works awsome, dosnt flap, dosnt bottom. Propedal is directly related to boost pressure, more boost pressure, more propedal effect, simple. Best air shock going!
Similar Products Used: DHX 5 coil. Vanilla RC. Rocco TST-r and a hoard of different frames.
Bike Setup: Redemption 1, totem coil's, mid weight am-fr rig. you get the idea.
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Submitted by
Hurtinalbertin
a Downhiller
from Red Deer, Ab, Canada
Date Reviewed: April 16, 2010
Strengths: Easy to stifffen. Good high low speed compression. Easy to tune and adjust to personal preferences. Strong and very adjustible
Weaknesses: Very adjustible
Bottom Line:
If you ride any tipe of just and are looking for fine line between stiff and soft this is the shock for you. So far Ive road everything from dj,s shore and slopestyle and it has held up to my expectations. I do not understand why anyone would complain that this doesnt stand up on downhill when its not a meant for that type of riding.
Bike Setup: banshee wilcard. Fox dhx air in rear, lyric solo air
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Submitted by
Nomadic Buckeye
a Weekend Warrior
from Murfreesboro, TN, USA
Date Reviewed: March 28, 2010
Strengths: soaks up everything but provides a decent pedaling platform
Weaknesses: The propedal lever is too small on the '08.
Bottom Line:
I've had no problems whatsoever with this shock. I weigh about 200lbs with pack. I pump the main chamber to 210psi and the boost valve to 150. The bottom out is only a few clicks from all the way out. I have the rebound wound in a good bit. I get almost full travel on 7+ foot drops without getting kicked off. It seems to do exactly what it's supposed to do. I don't know what everybody is talking about concerning the shock wallowing in the mid-travel. My shock does everything I expect it to do and then some. I'm very impressed with its performance. I would have a difficult time purchasing another FS bike that didn't have this shock installed. I'm quite sold on this product.
Submitted by
chucko58
a Cross Country Rider
from Silicon Valley, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: October 29, 2009
Strengths: Hasn't failed to date. Lots of adjustability. Lighter than a coil shock.
Weaknesses: Low speed damping almost nonexistent. Adjustments interact, and there's no good info on how to set up this shock. Even PUSH won't touch it.
Bottom Line:
I'm a big guy (220 lbs) with a fairly smooth pedal stroke, and this shock doesn't provide enough low speed damping for me. I suspect the legendary "mid stroke wallow" is really a total absence of low speed compression damping. ProPedal knob only makes small impacts harsher without reducing bob. I have to turn up the rebound pretty high to avoid getting bucked over water bars. The boost pressure interacts with the main air chamber pressure in ways that I can't begin to fathom, and Fox doesn't document.
On the plus side: All I do to maintain it is keep the air pressures up and wipe dust off the shaft from time to time. In two years of riding it has never failed. It wallows through the mid stroke but I have never once bottomed it out, even with the bottom-out knob all the way out and relatively low pressure in the boost chamber.
This shock might work decently for a little guy (or gal) who has the patience to figure out the boost chamber and bottom-out settings, but Clydes and Athenas should look elsewhere. Next stop for me is a Cane Creek Double Barrel.
Submitted by
kinnigit
a Downhiller
from Colorado springs, CO, USA
Date Reviewed: August 19, 2009
Strengths: I have a 2006 S-works enduro that had the notorious 5th element air. After replacing 2 5th elements i decided to try the DHX. I am glad I did. The fox completely transformed my bike. The enduro sits at 6" rear travel, the fox makes it ride like a 8" DH bike (And yes, I ride DH bikes quite often). The bottom out resistance feature is more like bottom out proofing. Ive done 12 foot flat to flats and still cant find the bottom of this shock. Spent a day riding Winter Park Ski resort last month, and had more confidence than ever as this shock makes the bike feel so much more stable (Dampening is fantastic). 2-position pro-pedal switch works as advertised, I ride my enduro XC quite often and have no bob problems on the climbs. Be warned, other reviews on this site are for the older, less reliable 5.0s. The 2010 version works great and takes a beating. I have tons of drops, hundreds of miles and a few big jumps on mine so far, and no issues whatsoever.
Weaknesses: It is a little difficult to set up, but it is a set and forget setup. So you only have to tweak it once or twice, and you wont wanna mess with it.
Bottom Line:
Dont hesitate on this one, the 2010 model is reliable, and WILL transform your bike.
Strengths: Light, works very well. Excellent propedal. Adjustemtns genuinely pretty independant on 2010 version
Weaknesses: needs a solid knowledge of suspension set up to get it sweet
Bottom Line:
Moved form 2007 DHX 5 coil to this to save weight. The propedal is now 2position, min or max - Dead simple, in max the shock works almost as well (you can barely tell the difference) but it doesn't bob hardly at all and out of the saddle acceleration is really impressive :)
Shock does blow through travel unless you sort it just right. IMO you need at least +2 turns of bottomout, plus lots of boost pressure. Main chamber should be a your weight in lbs +25% IME.
Small bumb sensitivity is then remarkable - very nearly what a sorted coil spring can do but it is still pert in the midstroke and the boost makes it not bottom.
Square edge hits blow-through valving is the best i've used, including the dhx coil from 2007, EVEN if shock is set good and firm and still works when PP is on max.
Very impressive and weighs less tha nthe spring alone on a coil!
Similar Products Used: many old RS shocks. 5th element 2005, DHX5 coil, fox float, fox vanillas etc etc
Bike Setup: ASx 7", 66 ATA RC2, XTR/Saint etc
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Submitted by
Whistlerrocks
a Downhiller
from Whistler
Date Reviewed: May 18, 2009
Strengths: Everything!
Really smooth a lot better off drops than my 08 DHX 3.0 coil and it actually has really good small bump traction and big hit absorbtion way better than roco air world cup. Heard bad things about DHX Air 5.0 but I just picked up an 09 Fox DHX Air 5.0 for my Giant Reign X and went up to burnaby and it was amazing and was so much better than the DHX coil I had before. Adjustments work very well and are very easy to use and adjust! GGEETT OONNEE
Weaknesses: Nothing
Bottom Line:
Really great shock. I wasn't sure if an air shock could with stand harsh downhill but this air shock is awesome. Rip up crazy downhill and never have to worry about it breaking or not having good traction. Love how you can set it up however you want. My fox dhx 3.0 coil was never really good on the bumps while still handling the drops after constantly changing springs and wasting money. Very coil like feel but the smooth, plush travel feels like it never ends and I can even go up the mountain even know it is definitely not as fun going down with the propedal combined with the maestro suspension. One of the best shock ever and serious downhillers should definitely consider it because it saved me about a pound and improved the performance a lot!
My advice is to go out right now and BBBBBUUUUUYYYY OOOOOONNNNNNNEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Favorite Trail: A-Line, Original Sin, B-Line and all rough downhill courses
Duration Product Used: Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$655.00
Purchased At: Dunbar Cycles
Similar Products Used: Nothing compares to how amazing this shock is for downhill
Bike Setup: 08 Giant Reign X (Downhill setu), new saint group except for brakes (Avid Elixir CR) 09 Fox DHX Air 5.0 e13 SRS Fox 36 Vanilla
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Submitted by
Mike B
a Downhiller
from medford, oregon
Date Reviewed: February 12, 2009
Strengths: lightwieght. plush on my reign x.
Weaknesses: difficult to tune. takes a while to dial in. Blew the seals when it was on the heckler.
Bottom Line:
Had this shock on my heckler before I picked up the reign x. Huge difference. On the heck it was just not tunable. Blew through the travel or was to stiff and non compliant.It just never felt smooth. This has everything to do with suspension design and having the right shock for that design. In my opinion the heckler should never run an air shock.
On the reign though. Wow. I can actually tune this thing and I can tell the difference. It so plush and the bottom out works great. It may be the shock just works better with maestro and not single pivot. Or its the maestro design is way better than single pivot. All I know is this shock is kicking ass on my reign x.
Submitted by
kelli
a Weekend Warrior
from los angeles CA USA
Date Reviewed: January 2, 2009
Strengths: very lightweight, holds air, great performer, maybe because I'm not fat like some of the others. They should get a coil shock.
Weaknesses: have to unscrew the top shock mount to fill the air.
Bottom Line:
I swapped out the Marzocchi Roco TSTR coil for the Fox to save weight. I think I almost saved a 1/2 pound. The bike feels lighter. For 2008, I think Fox has gotten all the bugs out of the DHX Air. Lets hope so. Meanwhile it rides nicely.
