Introducing A.R.C. from Skinz Protective Gear

[Sled Solutions]

Haydays is coming and if you're going to be there stop in and check A.R.C. out in our booth.

 

[tdbaugha]

Service Life

Is there a recommended service period on the shock? Without knowing how the shock "locks compression", it would seem that there could be quite a bit of force on the shock in certain events. Would that not wear out the seals pretty quickly?

 

[Sled Solutions]

Is there a recommended service period on the shock? Without knowing how the shock "locks compression", it would seem that there could be quite a bit of force on the shock in certain events. Would that not wear out the seals pretty quickly?

Should be service yearly like any other shock.

 

[Dirty Steve]

The down side to riding a mountain sled in a deep snow state with little in the way of mountains to play on is a little more trail riding.

I am excited to use this product personally as here in the Midwest. It will be nice to couple the suspension and have a sled that will handle on the trail and then when I get where I'm playing I can uncouple it.

I stopped by the Skins facility the other day and spoke at length with Jake about the ARC. I am really looking forward to putting one of these on my Switchback Assault next season. When I have it set for the deep stuff it is a wheelie monster on the trail if the 2" track hooks up. It will be sweet to hit the lever and be able to keep the skis down under hard acceleration.

 

[Blown Motor]

Just got off the phone with Jeff at SPG. We've been talking about this since last year on and off.
The CTD shocks, in the "C" postion (Climb) actually locks out the compression side of the valving. The shock can extend on the rebound side fully, but is locked out from compressing. There is a little "give" as the IFP is moved against the nitrogen charge behind it.

It is not a simple soft/medium/firm setting... it would be a soft/medium/locked setting.

The approach is novel and has promise for sure. SPG does not go into things lightly and on "whim" .. It is not simply a MTB shock dropped into the kit. Unlike the HOLZ unit above (which was discontinued by them by choice) , that relied on high air-spring pressures to limit the scissor from "hinging" there really is not that much air-spring force (average 30psi) in the spring chamber of the ARC.

I'm not sure how much the "soft" and "medium" positions will have over the control of coupling... as that will only affect the rate at which it will allow the scissor to move rather than the amount that it moves. With the lockout position, that will keep the scissor in the upright position and couple the suspension.

I do believe, as with any coupled design, that the tunnel should be reinforced as this will bear an increased load while coupled and encountering rough terrain.

Should be an interesting year for pushing the envelope on many fronts.

MH



.

Thanks for the response MountainHorse, I think it sheds light on some more wafting questions out there. SPG absolutely is on the innovative curve with what they do, and they set the bar very high for people chasing after them. We definitely understand that this is not a whim product, but many questions are yet to be answered. We understand what you are saying that this is not just a MTB shock dropped into the kit, and assume that what you mean is that it has more thought behind it than just grabbing something off the shelf. But in the end, it IS just a mtn bike shock just with different mounting, valving, and rates. These questions arise after further thinking of the shock etc.

~Will that small of a chamber take well to more pressure and force than it was designed for? That shock housing was designed for a 30-40 lb bike with an adult putting load on it.

~Having sat on our bike here with CTD shocks, you can get the IFP to compress the Nitrogen charge behind it a smidge. Judging by the oring we run on it, about an 1/8". What happens when you put a 600 Lb machine, going faster than normal, and fully clothed rider against that locked out position? Early wear? (Realizing that the other two shocks still do 90% of the suspension work, this little fella is gonna take an incredible initial beating until the coupling action is locked and the suspension then compresses on the main two shocks.)

~Does there even need to be a soft and medium setting with this? Sounds like until it is ridden we will not know how much it affects the coupling, but more of a feature that is built in because the shock comes with these settings.

~Were you able to find out how the cable is routed through the suspension and into the chassis?

~What are your thoughts on having to manually engage and disengage the lever for lockout? You would now be managing the break, gas, lockout lever, picking your line, and trying to not get stuck all in one movement. A lot to think about and deal with?

Excited to maybe throw a leg over this setup sometime and get some real world results and answers. If everything does work out, we think it would be the cats meow!

 

[Dirty Steve]

I asked Jake about the cable routing and potential to freeze up when I was at their shop. He said the cable is routed through the tunnel through a rubber grommet in the foot well area, routed down the front arm with zip ties and the along the rail to a bracket for the valve. He said on cold mornings with a froze up skid the lever would be stiff but would still function. As you begin to ride ice naturally chips off and the shock warms up in no time to achieve normal function.

There test sleds were in another building in town so I did not get to see it first hand. Hopefully some pics come up. They said there are going to have it at Hay days and hope to be able figure out a good way to have people actually feel ARC engaged or disengaged.

 

[Blown Motor]

I asked Jake about the cable routing and potential to freeze up when I was at their shop. He said the cable is routed through the tunnel through a rubber grommet in the foot well area, routed down the front arm with zip ties and the along the rail to a bracket for the valve. He said on cold mornings with a froze up skid the lever would be stiff but would still function. As you begin to ride ice naturally chips off and the shock warms up in no time to achieve normal function.

There test sleds were in another building in town so I did not get to see it first hand. Hopefully some pics come up. They said there are going to have it at Hay days and hope to be able figure out a good way to have people actually feel ARC engaged or disengaged.

Great info, and thanks for the response. We are more interested in how it gets from the skid to the chassis though. It has to go around the track somewhere, and won't be able to be zip tied or attached to anything at that point.

 

[rmscustom]

I asked Jake about the cable routing and potential to freeze up when I was at their shop. He said the cable is routed through the tunnel through a rubber grommet in the foot well area, routed down the front arm with zip ties and the along the rail to a bracket for the valve. He said on cold mornings with a froze up skid the lever would be stiff but would still function. As you begin to ride ice naturally chips off and the shock warms up in no time to achieve normal function.

There test sleds were in another building in town so I did not get to see it first hand. Hopefully some pics come up. They said there are going to have it at Hay days and hope to be able figure out a good way to have people actually feel ARC engaged or disengaged.

Great info, and thanks for the response. We are more interested in how it gets from the skid to the chassis though. It has to go around the track somewhere, and won't be able to be zip tied or attached to anything at that point.

I think your answer is in red.

 

[Blown Motor]

I think your answer is in red.

Nope, not the answer. We realize the cable is routed into a grommet, but where. This whole operation is cable like your throttle is. It cannot make severe 90 degree bends etc, so there has to be some slack in the cable where it leaves the front suspension arm and then enters into the chassis. Any slack will be place for snow and ice to build up or get caught on things. Which is why we want to see where it is located. The only wary to not have slack would be to run it all the way parallel along the suspension mounting point on the front arm and drill a small hole where the front arm mounts. This will create a new problem though as this is in the tunnel not really in the plastic or internal area of the hood and chassis, and when it comes through the tunnel into the footwell area it is not like you can just 90 it straight up the tunnel. There has to be a gradual curve in the line…. Ever pinched your throttle cable?? Not saying there is not a way to do it, we just have yet to think of a good solution looking at sleds in the shop here which is why we wanna see pics...

 

[Sled Solutions]

Nope, not the answer. We realize the cable is routed into a grommet, but where. This whole operation is cable like your throttle is. It cannot make severe 90 degree bends etc, so there has to be some slack in the cable where it leaves the front suspension arm and then enters into the chassis. Any slack will be place for snow and ice to build up or get caught on things. Which is why we want to see where it is located. The only wary to not have slack would be to run it all the way parallel along the suspension mounting point on the front arm and drill a small hole where the front arm mounts. This will create a new problem though as this is in the tunnel not really in the plastic or internal area of the hood and chassis, and when it comes through the tunnel into the footwell area it is not like you can just 90 it straight up the tunnel. There has to be a gradual curve in the line…. Ever pinched your throttle cable?? Not saying there is not a way to do it, we just have yet to think of a good solution looking at sleds in the shop here which is why we wanna see pics...

I've requested pictures so if they get some to me before Haydays I'll post them up, if not you're more than welcome to swing by the booth and check it out in person.

 

[kidwoo]

That's an mtb shock with a lockout. Been around bikes for over a decade.

Whatever pieces skinz is fabricating for the mounts must be really nice because full retail on an mtb shock with a lockout is about a third of 1200 bucks. Cool to see for sure but that pricepoint is leaving me a little miffed.

 

[m1kflyingtiger]

Was thinking the exact same thing Climbmax, as seen on my Turbo 900 here…

so if it's the same-ish set up, how did you like it?

 

[polaris dude]

Soooo... with words could someone describe exactly what this does? I watched a majority of the video, I just don't quite understand what it does/what the benefit is.

Before anyone says anything, I'm not trying to be rude, I just legitimately don't understand suspensions that well.

 

[m1kflyingtiger]

Soooo... with words could someone describe exactly what this does? I watched a majority of the video, I just don't quite understand what it does/what the benefit is.

Before anyone says anything, I'm not trying to be rude, I just legitimately don't understand suspensions that well.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mUWE3ITfBcI&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DmUWE3ITfBcI - GREAT video explaining coupling.

It basically does what he explains in the video, but this converts the stock skid to do it, as well as it allows you to adjust how much coupling (keeping the skis down) as you ride.

Also the traditional coupled skid at 80% coupling it would work full uncoupled for the first 20% of travel, then coupled for the last 80%. This at 80% coupled will couple at an 80% rate through the travel.

 

[mikew5945]

Does it come with a thumb warmer? According to the usage in the video and price, just asking.

 

[m8magicandmystery]

snowmobilers gramma told me she just moves forward or backward and spends the 1200 bucks on bingo...

 

[m1kflyingtiger]

Bringing it back up. I've seen some snowest shots of it from haydays, can someone post up some more pics? Specifically the cable routing, especially where the cable goes from the skid to the tunnel. As well as some detailed pics of the clicky lever on the left handle bar?

 

[Norway]

I get how coupling works and see what you are trying to do. Hope it works. Still have some Q's.

In the soft and medium setting, is it just like an airshock giving more resistance to the rear scissor helping it not collapse?

In the lockout position, will it couple the suspension from the start? Or will it allow the rear scissor to collapse to a point?

Thanks

 

[Dirty Steve]

Bringing it back up. I've seen some snowest shots of it from haydays, can someone post up some more pics? Specifically the cable routing, especially where the cable goes from the skid to the tunnel. As well as some detailed pics of the clicky lever on the left handle bar?

This is all I got for pics. Doo XM

Sent from my Droid Razor Maxx using Tapatalk

 

[m1kflyingtiger]

Has skinz gotten any of these out to consumers yet?