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Suspension

Ohlins TTX

Swedish gold. Best damper of 2016

Ohlins TTX. There is an unpolluted difference. We’re not just talking hygiene here, although Ohlins are unashamedly obsessed with cleanliness, something that was hammered home when we visited the Stockholm R&D facility last year. For a company that deals primarily in oil and washers, there’s not much of the former to be seen. A bit like a brewery without any drips. Certainly no drips.

“a very muscular unit that hides some incredibly articulate oil and shim combinations”

And the brew is a strong one. Maybe this is where the difference lies, the purity and strength. For example, whilst Bos has a calculated hold on matters it is nevertheless carried out in rather more delicate chassis structure to Ohlins. Here we have a very muscular unit that hides some incredibly articulate oil and shim combinations.

It’s very difficult to characterise Ohlins damping simply because much of the time it actually feels like noting much is happening. But there’s business going on here that puts it in a higher place than any other damper. Not massively but enough for there to be a difference when charging into beaten up terrain, a shock that has that edge in body and balance, a very fine edge. But that’s all it needs right?

They are masters of their trade in many disciplines primarily MOTO GP where a huge percentage of the teams actually pay to use their wares. The TTX shock is available after market on bikes other than Specialized. The mighty Demo comes with the TTX as stock and so too some versions of the Enduro but it’s quite interesting that the Swedish company have no presence at the highest and deepest level of downhill given it’s such an imperious product. A team will surely have to put its hand in its pocket.

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