Rockshox Flight Attendant

Doomanic

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Jan 21, 2018
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Generally speaking I’m quite partial to the odd flight attendant but this just seems to be a solution looking for a problem. It’s also not able to be retrofitted to existing kit and will only be available initially on fully bike builds starting around $9500… 😳
 

aarfeldt

E*POWAH Master
Subscriber
May 25, 2019
710
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Denmark, Danstrup
Finally....the bike industry keeps up with motorcycles - just 10 years later.
Now we just need a camera, so the suspension can see the terrain and adjust accordingly.
It should also control your steering, so we dont have to do the dull part...
 

lightning

Well-known member
Apr 5, 2021
715
409
UK
lt's a very high tech piece of kit that might only really make a difference to racers, who (like the riders in the video) are going absolutely flat out everywhere.

l never feel that my suspension could be working better, although l guess it could be.

This tech will start on high end bikes and filter down.

lt's a bit like electronic shifting, sure it's better but is it worth the expense and extra complication.
 

RustyMTB

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Jul 22, 2020
2,494
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When I bought my Zesty, six years ago, you could spec it with something called the e:i shock, which is for all intents and purposes an iteration of this. I read the reviews & gave it a swerve.
 

DJ57UMP

Active member
Mar 13, 2021
171
155
England
When I bought my Zesty, six years ago, you could spec it with something called the e:i shock, which is for all intents and purposes an iteration of this. I read the reviews & gave it a swerve.

They are keen to point out that this isn't a relation to the e:i shock. They point out that the e:i shock was more a Lapierre development than a Rockshox development...
 

Rusty

E*POWAH BOSS
Jul 17, 2019
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Considering a large majority of riders I talk to haven't spent much time setting up what they already have this just looks like an expensive piece of kit to break in a fall.
 

Zimmerframe

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Jun 12, 2019
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this just looks like an expensive piece of kit to break in a fall
But ... it's got lights and an app !!!! :)

Just posted this in another thread, but makes more sense here :

It's not just Zeb's with it either. If you look at the Canyon Spectral LTD AXS 29, it comes with the "Lyric Ultimate Flight attendant 160". So presumably they'll be offering several forks for sale with similar spec to now but with "Flight Attendant" tagged onto the name.

Again the Canyon Neuron CF SLX LTD has the Pike Ultimate Flight Attendant - as another example.

Price wise is difficult to work out. Pinkbike show the Specialized Enduro with it for $12,500 - which is what it costs now without it.

Meanwhile Trek show their Slash 9.9 XX1 AXS Flight Attendant as $12,500, where as the none flight attendent model is $11,500.
 

Zimmerframe

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When you see pictures like this, it does make you wonder if they won't offer it down the line as a damper replacement.

Screenshot 2021-10-06 11.54.01.png


However : Translated from a French review :

At present, the Flight Attendant is based on the RCT3 cartridge, equipped with a three-position lock as well as low-speed compression adjustment. However, it was impossible to adapt the Flight Attendant to an existing fork or shock absorber: the cartridges were partially rebuilt to accommodate the electronics and the engine. The internal components are the same but the Flight Attendant is not just a “plug” which turns the dial in place of the pilot.

For the Pike and Lyrik, it's simple, everything is new apart from the cartridge. The two forks indeed have a completely revised chassis and announced as lighter, without any data to support this statement. Visually, they are less rounded, more angular than the old ones and are in line with that of the Zeb launched last year.

On this new chassis, we discover small valves at the rear of the sleeves which allow the sleeves to be “purged” in the event of overpressure caused by the sequence of long descents or variations in altitude. This is not new on the market since Fox and SR Suntour already use it, but at RockShox, it is indeed a first.

On the Zeb, the base frame does not change but the fork is still entitled to these new valves, which are therefore “adapted” to the existing legs.

Another change visible from the outside, the arrival of adapters that facilitate the mounting of wheels without Torque Caps. The Torque Caps are those oversized cups developed by RockShox and supposed to increase the torsional stiffness of the forks by 5%, thanks to a better connection between the legs and the hub. However, many wheel manufacturers do not use Torque Caps and when you want to mount a conventional wheel on a fork designed for Torque Caps (i.e. all high end RockShox) it is often complicated to properly align the hub and the fork to slide the axle.

With these Stiffness Reducers , no more problem, the wheel comes to be stalled exactly in the right place so that we can insert the axle easily. In a way, RockShox responds to a problem that it created itself but we won't complain, it was so annoying to struggle for sometimes several tens of seconds to simply install a front wheel. Please note, these adapters are screwed into the fork and therefore cannot be adapted to current models.

Inside, there are three evolutions. The first concerns the Charger Flight Attendant cartridge, which we have already discussed above. As we wrote, it is based on a Charger 2.1 RCT3 but its level of blocking in firm mode has been slightly revised: the Flight Attendant version is harder than a classic RCT3, without however reaching the firmness of the XC forks and Charger Race Day cartridge.

The second is the ButterCups. Quite simply silentblocs, placed at the junction between the piston and the sleeve. Inside the golden case, the piston rod is mounted on rubber washers which must absorb high frequency vibrations. According to RockShox, ButterCups block 20% of these unwanted vibrations. Since this concerns high frequencies, you may not feel the difference directly on the pitch but the brand promises less fatigue in the hands and arms throughout the day.



Full review in French or Dutch unless you translate it :


Page Translated to English for the Lazy..
 
Last edited:

B1rdie

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
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Feb 14, 2019
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This thing really needs a voice input/output system so the rider can discuss with some artificial inteligence about suspension setup on the run.
 

Bearing Man

Ebike Motor Centre
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Sep 29, 2018
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I wonder how many motors have hollow crankshafts that will accept the crank sensor?

@Bearing Man man - not urgent but interested! :)

Quite a few have hollow cranks but they are all different sizes, from about 8mm to about 19mm
Bosch
Gen 1 Hollow approx. 10mm
Gen 2 Hollow approx. 14mm
Gen 3 Solid
Gen 4 Hollow approx. 14mm

Brose
C, T, S & S-Mag Hollow approx. 14mm

Specialized SL
Mahle motor Hollow approx. 15mm

Shimano
E7000 Hollow approx. 19mm
E8000 Hollow approx. 19mm

Yamaha
PW Solid
PW-SE Solid
PW-ST Solid
PW-TE Solid
PW-X Hollow approx 14mm
PW-X2 Hollow approx 14mm

Just so you know :)
 

Sapientiea

Active member
Jul 12, 2019
296
192
Netherlands
I think i will let this pass until gen3 or so. Not too fond on more batteries to charge. Seems a bit much just like the AXS shifter stuff. More complication where I do not need it
 

blueglide

Member
Jan 2, 2021
89
98
Tucson, AZ USA
First comes the ridicule about too much tech, etc.. etc..and criticism about price. Then silly comments about this tech only appealing to IT people and Dentists. A year from now there will be several threads about how to adjust, install, and troubleshoot, this thing from several members on this forum. Just like AXS, ebikes, new fangled sensors and gadgets, a bunch of people, probably fit young riders, on limited budgets will be buying these things up and loading up their phones with apps cuz it's awesome! ;)
 

Rahr85

E*POWAH Master
Sep 6, 2020
494
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nottingham
I'm sure there will be dentists and IT people on here.

If it could just make my suspension work correctly all the time i'd love to have it, but it's never that simple is it. :D

Once skynet gets involved it's going to be bucking people down rocky hills to finish them off.
 

R120

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Apr 13, 2018
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Surrey
It seems to me from initial reviews and reports that this is the first bit of electronic suspension gadgetry that has real potential and could actual be game changing in the sense that it actually does what it’s designed to do.

I look at Fox live valve and see no point or appeal in it at all, but I can see the appeal of the FA system on an enduro rig if your the kind of rider chasing down times.

As others have said I wouldn’t be surprised to see Flight Attendants crewing the Surrey Alps trails pretty regularly in the next few years, as this is definitely going to out bling the Kashima on the loam catwalks.
 

Zimmerframe

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Added the quickstart video into the first post :


Shows a bit more about how you'd set it up and use it. Also shows that the cranks would need hollow ends, but just a shaft to hide in so unlikely to be usable on EMTB's unless they can access the motor's cadence/torque sensors, which would probably need some form of additional "module" or a Flight Attendent compatible Kiox/Shimano display etc ..

I wonder if the newly designed "Flight Attendant" spec Pike/Lyric/Zeb's will filter down into the normal "Self Service" varieties we can buy.
 

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