PRESS RELEASE

Push Unveils The All-New HC97 Damper Upgrade

Words PUSH Industries

Date Apr 18, 2019

Bringing the same "shimless" damper from their ELEVENSIX rear shock, PUSH Industries have launched the new HC97 damper upgrade for Rock Shox Charger 2.0 and 2.1 units. Now Rock Shox riders can get the same tasty tech their FOX riding friends have been enjoying. There's plenty of suspension tech and more after the break, so read on for details.

Manufactured and hand assembled in-house by the legendary suspension technicians at PUSH Industries, the new HC97 Compression System replaces the stock compression assemblies found in the popular Rock Shox PIKE, Lyrik, and BoXXer forks equipped with Charger 2 and 2.1 dampers. What does this mean for riders? Increased traction and small bump sensitivity with higher levels of stability and control all while giving riders more external fine-tuning control over their front suspension.

“With the success of our Rock Shox ACS3 Coil Conversion Kits we’ve simply been put under a lot of pressure from our customers for a custom tuning option like what we offer for FOX fork dampers. After exhausting all our R&D efforts working with the stock compression assembly, we decided it would be best to build something from the ground up” added Darren Murphy PUSH’s founder.

Low and high speed compression, low and high-speed rebound, mid valves, shims, bleed ports, needles, bladders…how does this all work? Well, MTB dampers are a complex animal and when you hit a bump, the damper experiences a very complex series of events. Having all the internal systems synchronized optimizes the damper’s ability to respond and therefore directly relates to the fork’s suppleness, control, and comfort when the trail gets the most aggressive. With the HC97 from PUSH, our engineers first focused on improving the communication between the internal systems ensuring proper balance at all suspension velocities. Imbalance in these velocities is referred to as “Hysteresis” in suspension terms and relates to the “delay” in the damper’s response when changing from the compression to the rebound stroke. The HC97 provides key improvements in this area resulting in better bump sensitivity and cornering traction.

Harshness has met its match! With traditional shimmed compression valves, steel shims are bent upwards as fluid flows through the valve. The more aggressive the impact, the more these shims need to bend in order to allow the wheel to move through its travel. This shim bending is progressive in nature resulting in an increase in damping force leading to harshness on square edge impacts. Removing valving shims to help reduce harshness at high speeds leads to an overall reduction in compression damping and results in a decrease in low and mid speed control and performance.

The exclusive PUSH “Shim-Less” Compression Valve design, borrowed from the class leading ELEVENSIX rear shock, eliminates this compromise. The progressive nature of shim bending is replaced by using a precision machined sliding valve seat that can “dump” fluid under the most aggressive square edge bumps. This resulting fluid flow allows the wheel to compress more freely in aggressive terrain resulting in more comfort and control through every stage of the fork travel.

PUSH engineers also focused on creating a far more useable adjustment range for riders looking to get the most out of their front suspension performance. With an updated 28 clicks of low-speed compression adjustment externally, riders will no longer find themselves hunting for a setting “in between” clicks. Utilizing the parabolic low speed needle design, also borrowed from ELEVENSIX, riders have a precise and consistent change between each click. Additionally, the high-speed compression adjustment of the new HC97 Compression System features a fine thread adjuster barrel also offering 28 clicks of precise resolution over the damping curve range.

Keeping in line with PUSH’s “Factory Tuning System” approach, rebound valving shims are included in each kit along with a DIY guide for tuning setup to ensure every aspect of fork performance is optimized.

FINISHING TOUCHES…PUSH ULTRA LOW FRICTION (ULF) Fork Seals

Sold Separately, MSRP $38.00 USD.

Using precision 3D machined and polished molds, PUSH ULF fork seals feature our exclusive dual lip scraping design increasing durability over OEM seals. Additionally, PUSH ULF Fork Seals contain higher levels of Molybdenum material producing small bump sensitivity levels not available with an OEM fork seal.