So hopefully that video gave you a pretty good idea of what’s going on with the new Vivid. Spring wise, whether it be coil or air, nothing much has really changed, it’s all down to the damping side.
The Counter Measure system is both simple and clever. It is effectively just a negative spring in the damping chamber which helps balance out the pressure from the internal floating piston. This means that the initial breakaway force of the shock should be almost zero, which in turn should provide incredible suppleness and grip. This attribute will be most noticeable when your suspension is being compressed from a fully extended state, for example when landing a jump.
To further increase sensitivity and performance RockShox have also looked at the way in which every component is made to make sure that everything can flow as freely as possible. Aside from making the shock super smooth, this also brings the added benefit of a virtually silent shock. Interestingly RockShox found that a highly polished surface wasn’t always best. Sometimes they found that a more porous surface finish worked better as it allows a film of oil to coat it, and therefore lubricate it.
The Dual Flow Adjust Rebound splits the rebound circuit in two, one circuit for small bumps and pedalling forces (beginning stroke rebound) and one for bigger hits (ending stroke rebound), and now you get a tool-free dial for both adjustments (along with a compression adjuster) so dialling your shock in will be easier than ever. RockShox have also introduced a ‘Rapid Recovery’ system to the rebound damping which allows your suspension to recover faster between hits. That kind of just sounds like faster rebound, but it’s not as simple as that. From what we can tell it seems like RockShox have sped up the damping a little up until the last bit where it then slows down again so that you don’t get a harsh top-out.
The previous Vivid was one of our favourite rear shocks and hopefully with these tweaks, which have thoroughly put through their paces on the World Cup Circuit by RockShox’s BlackBox riders, it will be even better…
