elka shock anyone

ive searched and read some threads and posts re the elka shock but am not quite convinced i have all the info i want..

does anybody have experience riding the elka stage 5 shock? and if so how has been your experience with the shock? what type of riding did you do?

is it worth it?? i am presently running a dhx 5. coil and feel as though it could be better, so the elka has caught my attention..

yes the option is there to have james @ suspension works tune my dhx5 but the elka has lots of appeal..

curious on ppls experience with the elka shock is all?????

Personally have no experience on it, but had a buddy put it on his and first impressions were that the dampening on it was far superior to the DHX (much more plush through first bit of travel and never had harsh bottom out). However his shock did develop a good bit of play within the first couple rides and had to be sent back, so not sure if this is an isolated incident or not.

I was pretty interested in the Elka as well, after hearing this though, I put that idea on the after burner.

PM Rampager. He's got one on his Morewood.

Go over to ridemonkey are search the DH forum. Tons of good info and many positive reviews.

I should have one on my bike at the end of the week. I'll let you know.

I've had a bounce on a James fettled Elka and thought "Wow this feels so plush and is stiction free!" and then the other day bounced on Naz's Flatline with his tuned Roco and thought "Wow this feels so plush and is stiction free!". Which backs up the thinking that it's less about the shock, and more about how it is tuned / serviced. So maybe just get your existing shock looked at by an expert?

you can tune the dhx or roco all day long, but the elka is superior. i have tons of time on all 3 on the same bike, all tuned by james. damping is customized to you and your frame, and the external adjustments all work well. the rebound circuit is magic, and i believe its what makes it perform so well. i don't know what's going on inside, but the rebound is slow when you want it (ie. initial rebound after a big hit), and fast when you want it (ie. stutter bumps), and perfect in between. highly recommended.

heres my review and the good news is that you still get james to service them….and even better news is that he sells them too:
http://bb.nsmb.com/showthread.php?t=125860[HTML_REMOVED]highlight=elka

Elkas are built of Win, and damped with Awesomesauce.

Quality is fully compareable to the Avy's I've had.

Avy

Word, homie.

Do you really have to send Avalanche shocks in for service every 6 months or
is that just recommended for maximum performance. I was considering an Avy
but having to ship it to the States every 6 months is not too appealing. This would
be for the nitrogen re-fill.

thanks for all the input.. im certain i want one. tunning a dhx sounds good but having the hi/lo compression adjustment on the elka seems very valuable to me..cant wait now..

They even offer a shock that fits with the Glory's and Session's that has same stroke but shorter Eye 2 Eye. So if you want to slacken out and drop the BB on your Glory or Session then the Elka can do that for you. One of those Dunbar guys has it on his Glory and has a 61 HA and 13.25" BB. Kinda sketch, but shows how much you can adapt your ride by using the Elka.

Anyone else ever heard of the same reliability issues that my buddy had, with the shock developing play within first couple weeks? Or is this just an isolated incident?

i emailed knolly to c if they had any experience with elka on a vtach( which is the bike i have) and they responded with a decent answer. so im sold. now its just to find a place to buy one..