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Push'd DHX review(Finally!)

2K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  spicymaguros 
#1 ·
I was going to let Crash the Dog do the initial writeup on this shock, but he is a busy man this week. There are a few things that bothered me about the stock DHX, combined with the high leverage ratio of the 6-pack. For one, the shock would blow thru the first five inches of its travel, and then ramp up harshly at the end of it's stroke to prevent bottomout. There was just never a smooth progression to the travel when busting thru rock gardens with drops. The second thing that bothered me is that on square edge hits, the stock DHX always felt harsh, regardless of Boost pressures, and volume. Once again, this may all be related to the 3:1 leverage ratio. My hopes with the Push'd version, is that it would resolve both of these issues, but I was very skeptical.

The proving grounds for the Push'd DHx, was a 12 mile stretch of Downhill up at Brianhead Ski Resort in Southern Utah. The trail consists of a variety of terrain, including smooth twisty single track, steep technical rock gardens, and sections of rocky, rooty off camber exposed single track. In other words, the perfect place to pound your rear end! :eekster: (Flashback to that nickel at Chino)

After strapping on the Push, I took it for the parking lot test. The shock felt dead like a 5th Element would. I sped up the rebound, and opened the midstroke compression all the way up, and then added two full turns. On the inital climb to the peak, I noticed no difference in platform between the Push and Stock. No extra bobbing, and no extra firm feel. It was on the downhilll that the shock began to shine. The push DHX ate up the rock gardens, and kept the tire glued to the ground. The stock DHX would kind of skip along the rocks, and on square edge hits, would get hung up, and I would lose my momentum. The Push on the other hand has a much smoother ramp up at the end of the stroke, and does not blow thru the inital travel. I did not have a chance to hit anything bigger than about 4 foot of air, but the Push felt like it had an extra inch of travel at the end of the stroke. The one weakness that the Push had, is that it was not as easily boosted over rocks.(See bunny hop). In this regard, it felt a lot like a 5th element. Other than that, I am totally impressed with it's trail manners. I found myself hitting rocky sections faster, and railing corners steeper. Totally worth the investment.

My DHX is now almost a year old, so I have no problem plopping down $275.00 or whatever to have mine Push'd. Now if you just purchased your bike, and your shock is new, you may not feel that the investment is worth it. Abuse your current setup for 6 months ,and then send it in. YOu'll be happy you did.

One little gripe about the midstroke compression dial: as this shock got dusty and dirty, the compression knob became quite gritty. I really couldn't tell how many clicks I was adding or subtracting. Also, the clicks are in such small increments, that it becomes tedious to count. I much prefer the click imcrements on the original propedal knob. Two thumbs up for the Push!
 

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#3 ·
Bikezilla said:
Thanks for the 411 Ching...
uh, soooooo.... when are you shipping that badboy to me?:D
Sorry bro, this one belongs to Crash, but he's going to have to pry it from my dead thighs if he thinks he's going to get it back anytime soon. I do plan on riding the barrel trail tomorrow, and am very anxious to see how this shock performs on the bigger hits around here. Perhaps you can get Crash to ship it to you in a couple of weeks after the other boys have a chance to ride it.
 
#4 ·
Good observations El C. In a parking lot test, the rebound feels slow. That is how it is supposed to feel in the parking lot test. Darren himself explained that to me the day he handed me my shock. That slow feeling isn't seen on the trail. Yup, the compression clicks are very close together, and very tiny so to speak. You only have to count the clicks during your phase of dialing in the shock. I haven't touched that knob since week two.
Yup, charging over rock gardens, the shock does not get hung up. It reacts to every rock, no packing up, the wheel staying close to the ground.
I haven't noticed any difference in bunnyhoping.
The parking lot feel and some platform: Darren has some trick features milled into the piston. There are some features that exist on the rebound side of the piston that actually mimick platform, to use a dirty word. It sort of holds the piston in place untill the next hit comes by. I believe that it creates some of that "5th element parking lot test" feel you are describing.
 
#7 ·
The one weakness that the Push had, is that it was not as easily boosted over rocks.(See bunny hop). In this regard, it felt a lot like a 5th element.
among those who have fair-to-middlin' skills, it's well known that the above complaint is legitimate only if you don't know how to do a bunny-hop or j-hop.

it's all about timing and finesse and feel.

thanks for sharing.
 
#8 ·
gonzostrike said:
among those who have fair-to-middlin' skills, it's well known that the above complaint is legitimate only if you don't know how to do a bunny-hop or j-hop.

it's all about timing and finesse and feel.

thanks for sharing.
Wow gonz, you must have taken a beating on that last photo thread of yours. I'll hook you up with some positive affirmation a little later.
 
#9 ·
Thanks for the review! Looking forward to hear more. I haven't even had the chance to ride the stock DHX 5.0 yet, which will probably be the best shock I have owned. Good to know there is always another upgrade to look foreward to.;)

Interesting that the shock really helped with the rock hang-ups. Sweet!
 
#11 ·
drumstix said:
Nice review EC, Im also interested about your thoughts on bonkey's Chumba.
Hard to say. I really only parking lot tested it. The rear linkage is super burly, which I though would translate into a nice stiff rear end, but I was surprised how laterally flexy the rear end felt. Felt a lot like a HL 6-pack. Also, the sizing is super funky. There are only two sizes. S/M, and L/XL. Bonkey was on a L/XL, and it fit super small. The toptube was only 22inches. I called Bonkey today to get him impressions, and he said once he got the suspension dialed in, he really liked it. He did not like the Fox Vanilla 36, but said that he thought a 66 of some sort would really make that bike feel much better. If you want more info on the Chumba, give Kong(Bonkey) a call at Desert Cyclery. He'll give you an earful. (435) 674-2929.

El C.
 
#12 ·
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El Chingon said:
Hard to say. I really only parking lot tested it. The rear linkage is super burly, which I though would translate into a nice stiff rear end, but I was surprised how laterally flexy the rear end felt. Felt a lot like a HL 6-pack. Also, the sizing is super funky. There are only two sizes. S/M, and L/XL. Bonkey was on a L/XL, and it fit super small. The toptube was only 22inches. I called Bonkey today to get him impressions, and he said once he got the suspension dialed in, he really liked it. He did not like the Fox Vanilla 36, but said that he thought a 66 of some sort would really make that bike feel much better. If you want more info on the Chumba, give Kong(Bonkey) a call at Desert Cyclery. He'll give you an earful. (435) 674-2929.

El C.
i believe chumba's larger size has a 23 or 23.5 inch top tube?....when i demo'ed the EVO for 2 hours at San Juan...the rear end felt supper stiff to me...i did feel the six pack had a little sogginess, but really didnt notice it on the evo...maybe u could demo one on a trail?
 
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