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Finally fed up with the lukewarm performance of my 5-spot I decided to get a full PUSH upgrade and get a PUSH Vanilla plus RP3 (and Marta 180/160 ... a new bike ...
Most of the comparison between PUSH and standard verstion of the Vanilla can be found here: http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?postid=1298700#post1298700
Here I mostly comment on the PUSH RP3 in comparison with my ROMIC and a standard RP3. A lot is pretty much equivalent to what other have said about PUSH.
Three position lever: Main difference with the standard RP3 is the very large diffeence between settings. Plush is Plush (lovely for downhill and for the end-of-ride-sore-butt-time), in the middle is where I ride, and Max Platform let me jump on the pedals and hammer better. The nice thing is that the positions are all fully usable. You can go around in the plush and be very happy. ADVANTAGE PUSH.
Climbing. RP3, ROMIC and PUSH RP3 climb about the same when put at max platfor, still the PUSH is much more reactive (I don't know how they manage to do so) and there is less penalty for using the max platform setting. ADVANTAGE PUSH.
At Speed This is where the PUSH RP3 made a huge difference. It literally transformed the bike. There is level of control in the midstroke that needs to be experienced to be believed. While the ROMIC, and RP3, blew through their travel so much that they gave the impression that the bike was "wobbly", the PUSH seem to put the bike on rails. Smooth. glued to the ground, nothing seems to perturb it: the same words I used for the Vanilla PUSH. I am trying things that I did not think I could do. HUGE ADVANTAGE PUSH.
Mid Bumps/Mid speed Some of above. The "support" offered by the push shows in technical situations. Going up stairs, over logs, wheeling uphill are all situations in which one feels a solid platform under his legs: push on the pedals and the bike moves smoothly forward, instead of sagging and supping energy. (I found myslef climbing of the saddle on the rear wheel only at a certain point ... could not believe it it was actually working) ADVANTAGE PUSH.
Small Bumps/low speed For all shocks the performance depends on the setting of the platform. Spotty is not good with small bumps and it suffers a bit no matter what shock you use. I still give the small advantage to PUSH in respect to RP3 because in the mid and plush setting it almost erases small obstacles, while the RP3 is quite bad. Romic is fine, better than RP3.
Adjustabiltiy The ROMIC is sort of ok, for the RP3 I found the lever adjustments useless, and the PUSH ... oh well I won't go in another list of semi-histerical compliments they just work as they should ... Adantage: PUSH
PROBLEMS It would be great to have more options for the Vanilla Springs. Although the 150-180 springs, I forget the color, seem to work fine at my 150 pounds weight, I love to fidget and it would be nice to be able to do so ... maybe PUSH can get some springs built to fine tune the Vanilla?
COMMENTS: VANILLA/FLOAT PLATFORM: there is a huge correlation between spring rate and effectivness of the platform. If I put in the lower rate spring the platform simply does not work as well ... it is too easy to overwelme it. Just a reminder for people that notice a lukewarm performance of the PUSH platform: too little spring/pressure ... no platform!
... and that's it once again: PUSH ARE THE BEST PRODUCTS I EVER BOUGHT
and the photos are some of the worse things ... they are i-sight captures and it shows!
Most of the comparison between PUSH and standard verstion of the Vanilla can be found here: http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?postid=1298700#post1298700
Here I mostly comment on the PUSH RP3 in comparison with my ROMIC and a standard RP3. A lot is pretty much equivalent to what other have said about PUSH.
Three position lever: Main difference with the standard RP3 is the very large diffeence between settings. Plush is Plush (lovely for downhill and for the end-of-ride-sore-butt-time), in the middle is where I ride, and Max Platform let me jump on the pedals and hammer better. The nice thing is that the positions are all fully usable. You can go around in the plush and be very happy. ADVANTAGE PUSH.
Climbing. RP3, ROMIC and PUSH RP3 climb about the same when put at max platfor, still the PUSH is much more reactive (I don't know how they manage to do so) and there is less penalty for using the max platform setting. ADVANTAGE PUSH.
At Speed This is where the PUSH RP3 made a huge difference. It literally transformed the bike. There is level of control in the midstroke that needs to be experienced to be believed. While the ROMIC, and RP3, blew through their travel so much that they gave the impression that the bike was "wobbly", the PUSH seem to put the bike on rails. Smooth. glued to the ground, nothing seems to perturb it: the same words I used for the Vanilla PUSH. I am trying things that I did not think I could do. HUGE ADVANTAGE PUSH.
Mid Bumps/Mid speed Some of above. The "support" offered by the push shows in technical situations. Going up stairs, over logs, wheeling uphill are all situations in which one feels a solid platform under his legs: push on the pedals and the bike moves smoothly forward, instead of sagging and supping energy. (I found myslef climbing of the saddle on the rear wheel only at a certain point ... could not believe it it was actually working) ADVANTAGE PUSH.
Small Bumps/low speed For all shocks the performance depends on the setting of the platform. Spotty is not good with small bumps and it suffers a bit no matter what shock you use. I still give the small advantage to PUSH in respect to RP3 because in the mid and plush setting it almost erases small obstacles, while the RP3 is quite bad. Romic is fine, better than RP3.
Adjustabiltiy The ROMIC is sort of ok, for the RP3 I found the lever adjustments useless, and the PUSH ... oh well I won't go in another list of semi-histerical compliments they just work as they should ... Adantage: PUSH
PROBLEMS It would be great to have more options for the Vanilla Springs. Although the 150-180 springs, I forget the color, seem to work fine at my 150 pounds weight, I love to fidget and it would be nice to be able to do so ... maybe PUSH can get some springs built to fine tune the Vanilla?
COMMENTS: VANILLA/FLOAT PLATFORM: there is a huge correlation between spring rate and effectivness of the platform. If I put in the lower rate spring the platform simply does not work as well ... it is too easy to overwelme it. Just a reminder for people that notice a lukewarm performance of the PUSH platform: too little spring/pressure ... no platform!
... and that's it once again: PUSH ARE THE BEST PRODUCTS I EVER BOUGHT
and the photos are some of the worse things ... they are i-sight captures and it shows!
