The Fox Live Valve was officially introduced to the mountain bike world in 2018, but the rumor mill around Fox developing an electronically controlled suspension system started churning years before then. Fox delayed the release of Live Valve for so long that by the time it landed, the buzz around it had already faded.

And Fox’s marketing strategy around it was noticeably subdued. If I had just pulled off making automatic robot future suspension, I’d be shouting it from the top of a mountain somewhere—or whatever the digital format of that is. Fox was sort of just whispering word about it like church-pew gossip, almost like they knew it wasn’t really ready. Either way, it’s noteworthy that Live Valve has been spec’d on just a handful of bikes since coming out.

How come, though? Bike builders have been trying since the birth of full suspension to balance the opposing forces coming from the rider and the ground, often with some very complex Rube Goldberg–looking contraptions. It’s a big reason bikes are so varied in look and design—people skin the suspension cat in lots of different ways. But skinning cats is hard work, so when a thing controlled by a microchip that’s capable of automatically adapting your suspension 1,000 times a second comes around, you’d figure every product manager would order it right up. But they didn’t.

Maybe because they didn’t want all the complexity that integrating the wired system added to frame design. Perhaps they were happy with how efficient their bike already was. Or maybe they didn’t want to add any additional weight. Maybe it wouldn’t add enough advantage, or worse yet, it’d take some away.

That was the case, in my opinion, with the Live Valve–equipped , released in late 2020, along with a Pivot Mach 5.5 I tested the same year. The system just wasn’t fast enough and kept making decisions that opposed my own.

Even on a weak platform setting, I could feel the initial bump in my hands before the fork would start doing stuff. By the time the rear wheel got to a bump, the accelerometers did their job of telling the rear shock what was coming, and it would open up. But there was nothing to warn the fork of what was ahead, so a gazillion times per ride I’d feel a jolt through the bars before the fork could react. It just made me want to turn it off for descending, which of course defeated the purpose of electronic suspension altogether. If you need to make setting changes when going from climbing to descending, the robot suspension has already failed you. If you need to power the system completely off to make the suspension feel natural enough to descend with, there’s no functional difference between it and the normal suspension with lockouts you reach for.

Live Valve 1.5

But Fox is just getting started with all this stuff. Released in 2021, Live Valve 1.5 is already much easier to live with. Fox calling it version 1.5 instead of 2.0 suggests that this more of a tweak than a full redesign, but I can say right off the bat that it feels entirely new. After a month of riding the new system, I walked away thoroughly impressed, but was I convinced?

Fox basically retuned the system software to be locked out less of the time. It still defaults to locked, but it stays open for longer and goes into open mode on less steep terrain. The hardware has also been modified to provide a softer firm mode and smoother operation to help smooth out the transition between closed and open. It essentially comes down to Live Valve 1.5 actually working for trail riding the way it’s supposed to. You really can set it and forget it.

The system is now Bluetooth-enabled as well, allowing you to connect to an app to select from five different ride modes, ranging from locked out most of the time to fully open all the time. A unique climb mode keeps the rear suspension firm but the fork open, the reason being to maintain better traction on technical climbs and keep the front end lower on steep stuff. It’s an interesting take on a climb mode and sort of hints at what I think I’d like to see in the future, which would be to decouple the fork from the system altogether and run it with a instead.

My feeling is that very few trail riders use fork lockouts to begin with, and trying to get the fork to react before the rider can feel the first impact is harder than it’s worth if nobody is asking for forks to be locked out in the first place. But I also understand the dream of making the front and rear ends complement each other. You never know if you’ll be able to make it work if you don’t try, right?

I wound up settling on sport mode for most rides, which basically keeps the bike a little firmer and more efficient than comfort mode, but not all the way to Strava KOM mode. I was really surprised at how much better the system performed in all conditions, especially on descents and through undulating terrain.

The annoying initial impact I could feel with the first version of Live Valve was all but gone this time around. The bike behaved much more naturally than it had on both my experiences with the previous version. The bike felt more efficient than when fully open, but whenever an impact came along, the suspension would open right up without any jolting initial impacts. Revolutionary, right?

Well, yes and no. Don’t get me wrong—it’s very cool technology that deserves to be developed. I’m personally excited for the future of electronic suspension.

But still, the bike was more supple and predictable descending in open mode. Essentially, it had better overall traction on descents in open mode than if I left it in sport mode. Just like in a car, maybe sometimes you want to shut off the computers and rip. Maybe I dig what the computer is doing most of the time, but every now and then I’d like a super-quick way to make it stop its calculations. If there were a little open bypass button on the bar that toggled between open and whatever efficiency mode you’ve selected, that would seem like a good solution to my remaining nitpicks about the system. As of now, you still need to get off the bike and crouch down to hit the button on the battery to make mode changes or take out your phone and do it—both options being more of a hassle than just flipping a manual lever. This interface needs to be made easier.

Also, there are bikes out there right now with such nicely tuned analog suspension that perform close to flawlessly without the need for electronics at all. They firm up while pedaling but are still ready and able to open right up for impacts. Considering Live Valve’s mess of wires, complex fitment requirements, and battery that requires charging, it would have to be a serious game-changing marvel to be worth it. And frankly, I don’t think it provides enough of an advantage to be a must-have piece of technology. Not yet, anyway.

The Future

But considering how much of a leap forward this version is from the original, the next update could blow the doors off.

And if Fox can manage to streamline the whole system some more and perhaps even take the fork out of the equation altogether for trail and enduro applications, there could be a bright future for Live Valve. Electronic suspension as a technology could completely change the way bikes are designed. What would bikes be like if engineers weren’t constrained by trying to strike the perfect balance between traction and pedaling performance? What if they could work on traction and outsource more of the pedaling performance to the shock itself? I’m not really jonesing to seek out and own a Live Valve–equipped bike today, but the future of this tech seems bright.

The post Is Fox’s New Live Valve 1.5 System Ready for Prime Time? appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

A portable air inflator as an Editors’ Choice item?

Yes. This is for real. I love this tool.

Those already in the know about portable inflators might be like, “Duh, dude!” This review is not for y’all. It’s for everyone who’s thinking, “WTF is this guy talking about?”

Also, I am not an expert on portable air inflators—this is the first and only one I’ve ever owned—so I won’t be doing any performance comparisons or anything like that. This is more of a public service announcement: if you are a rider of bikes, you need one of these gadgets.

I’m not sure why I didn’t glom onto the concept of the cordless inflator the first time I saw a fellow mechanic using one in the pits of an XC World Cup in 2007. Perhaps because back then, hardly any were available, and they actually were a bit of a joke. But cordless tool tech has come a very long way in recent years. They’re making everything cordless now. DeWalt has a forced-air propane heater on its cordless system, Milwaukee has a flippin’ drill press on theirs, and, not to be outdone, Makita has an 18-volt coffee machine.

Personally, I’m invested in the Makita LXT 18-volt system (next purchase, coffee machine!) so I went with the Makita inflator, model DMP180. The brand has added two more models since this one came out. One is a bigger, beefier version of this one, also on the 18-volt platform, and the other is on Makita’s new 40-volt XGT platform. But I’m perfectly happy with this one because it’s strong enough for all my bike and moto needs and small enough to bring anywhere.

Which is one of my biggest reasons for having this tool totally replace floor pumps. Seriously, if anyone needs a floor pump, hit me up. I have a shitload of them, and I will never touch one ever again.

But you’ll have to show up at my house to pick it up, because floor pumps are a stupid pain in the ass to ship. They’re also a pain to travel with. And even to just have around. I feel like I’m constantly tripping over a floor pump in the shop or trying to find a good place to store it.

This little guy goes right in the top drawer of my toolbox next to my cordless drills. When I go for a ride, I just throw it in my ride bag and I’m all set. I can also throw it in my bike bag when I travel. You know, I think I’ll actually get a second one just for my ride bag. Hang on a sec while I get onto Amazon…

So, yeah, floor pumps are no longer allowed in my shop. Except the Lezyne Shock Digital Drive floor pump. That thing rules—but its days are numbered. As soon as Lezyne makes one of these inflators that can go to 300 psi, that pump is going right onto eBay.

This inflator goes up to 120 psi, which I do actually get close to because I use it to air up suspension forks. See? The Lezyne floor pump is already halfway out the door. And forget about traditional shock pumps. I mean, I still have one, but it’s basically relegated to my ride bag at this point.

I even use the inflator to top up my tires in the shop, where I have a really nice air compressor that might even be more accessible. The digital pressure gauge on the inflator is accurate and has a 0.5 psi resolution. It’s easier to read and more accurate than the gauge on my compressor inflator tool, so I prefer using the Makita for setting tire pressure.

It also has a feature where you can set the pressure, then hold down the trigger, and the inflator will stop pumping at that pressure. In reality, though, it doesn’t work that well, because presta valves suck. Especially when they’re clogged with sealant. If the inflator is too fast for the valve, pressure will build up in the hose and give a falsely high reading, which will cause the inflator to stop short of the desired pressure. flow much better and will allow you to use this feature. But I don’t really need it anyway—I’m happy to pay attention for the seconds it takes to reach the pressure I want. Also, the tool doesn’t have a switch lock, so you can’t walk away from it anyway.

Other manufacturer’s inflators do have switch locks, but that’s not a feature I require for my general use. I have used it to top off car and truck tires, but that’s not my main use. This is also why I’m not really tempted to “upgrade” from the DMP180 to the bigger DMP181.

That model does, however, have a pressure release valve, which can come in handy. It also has three speed settings, so for presta valves, you could potentially put the Makita on the lowest speed and use the automatic stop feature. At the lowest speed, pressure might not build up in the line. But the DMP181 is bigger, making it slightly less portable.

Speaking of speed, I have had success installing tubeless tires with this tool, but that’s because most tires and rims fit together well enough these days that floor pumps also work on lots of setups. If this were 2007, there’s no way in hell it’d work.

And this brings me to my final point. An inflator like this definitely does not replace an air compressor. The compressor is an essential tool that gets used for much more than inflating things in my shop. And while the inflator can install a tubeless tire, I’d only use it for that purpose if I had to. Basically this tool is a digital floor pump. It has the same capabilities, except it’s more convenient in every single way. It’s even more convenient now that I’ve replaced the generic head with a Specialized Smarthead—the one and only part on my floor pump that’s not useless to me at this point.

Now, who’s coming over to take all these floor pumps off my hands? I have a couple “really nice” Silca ones.

The post The Cordless Inflator That Makes Bike Pumps Redundant appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.