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Race versions tooSo far we've only been talking about the standard unit used on production machines such as Yamaha's Nytro and Cat's Crossfire.
Racers saw the advantage of the new system, not only because of the weight savings but also because of the smoother action. Yet being racers, they wanted some added features.
Fox stepped up with its Float-X units. These have a remote high-pressure nitrogen reservoir for added fade resistance during hard racing conditions. The race shocks also have clicker adjustments for both compression and rebound dampening.
Last season, Polaris and Arctic Cat racing teams used Float-X shocks on the WSA circuit. This year they're standard on the Cat Sno Pro racing sleds.
Plus there's a third generation air shock being tested on the ATV circuit. Fox calls this the Evol unit. Evol means extra volume.
Evol has double air springs, which opens up a whole new range of tuning options when it comes to choosing spring rates. Interestingly, this isn't a new feature. Fox used double air chambers in the advanced model of their '70s Motocross shock. This met with good results and made the air shock competitive at the time.
The result on the ATV circuit has been encouraging, as John Natalie captured the GNC National Championship using a set of Evol shocks on his Honda. It's probable that this feature will make it onto some factory race sleds this season.
Shock development has progressed with breathtaking speed since the introduction of long-travel suspensions. In the past the long-travel suspensions failed because there weren't shocks to match their suspension action. No more!
With all the major shock companies now working intensely to meet the demands of the new designs, innovation is leading the way to better suspensions across the board. Fox has shown leadership with innovative approaches, and the new Air Float system raises the bar again.
Can't wait to see what's coming next in the suspension and handling wars.
Olav Aaen is a long-time contributor to AmSnow. As a mechanical engineer and president of Aaen Performance, Olav has been heavily involved with snowmobile performance since 1968.