Review: Elka Stage 5 Shock

S.

S.

ex offender
A name you may not have ever heard before, Elka Suspension have been involved in motorsports for decades. Based in Quebec, Canada, they have recently turned their attention to mountain bikes, leading to the release of their new downhill/freeride oriented shock, the Stage 5.

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Check it out here.
 
jda

jda

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Sounds awesome, thanks for the review.

I wonder if they have tunes for the yeti 303-R? I gather form what you said in the review this shock should bolt straight into my frame using the existing hardware considering I currently have a DHX 5.0?
 
dhd

dhd

Downhill Direct
jda said:
Sounds awesome, thanks for the review.

I wonder if they have tunes for the yeti 303-R? I gather form what you said in the review this shock should bolt straight into my frame using the existing hardware considering I currently have a DHX 5.0?
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Pretty sure they would have or could easily set up a shock for you. All the hardware from a Fox will fit, though from our experiance so far the stuff that came with the shocks we got is a bit more "robust". Bear in mind though that like an RC4, you would probably need a 50lb lighter spring from a DHX 5.0.

Below is a Elka Stage 5 in our Bilt prototype downhill frame.




It is a big shock and we have experienced the issues brought up in the test and likewise have been assured of a fix next time around!

 
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jrewing

jrewing

Eats Squid
Good stuff Steve. i was waiting for this test to come. I've known of Elka in the road racing scene for a good while. They're good value performance shocks. Though like you mention the automotive world has had this stuff for a long time. This works against Elka over here in a way, because there are many options to easily modify standard shocks to a high/personalised level.

In Mtb this seems a different case because of the weird shit/marketing gimmicks of the shocks as standard. I too applaud Elka on producing a quality shock at a great price. I'm now likely to purchase one as i'm in the market for a new shock.
 
Ivan

Ivan

Eats Squid
Good review as usual Steve.

@Bill
Is that a new proto, or an old picture? because the linkage is looking a bit different to the pictures posted a while ago. And, what size is that frame pictured?
 
udi

udi

swiss cheese
Got a price in AUD Bill?

Hoping it won't be too far off the USD conversion.
 
J

JONO WADE

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I've used elka shocks on race quads for years and they're considered one of the better brands on the market and i've never had any problems with them. Although fox shox tend to handle better on quads, unless you really fork out and buy the "factory" line of elka shocks.
 
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dhd

dhd

Downhill Direct
Same frame design with new linkage system...... Works just peachy especially with the Elka!
 
dhd

dhd

Downhill Direct
udi said:
Got a price in AUD Bill?

Hoping it won't be too far off the USD conversion.
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Just off the top of my head I reckon we could do them around $550-$600ish depending on the freight costs to get them out here.
We were just getting test shocks for our bikes, but if anyone wants to go ahead and get one I'll put my hand up and offer to get some in. Just PM me!
 
Viv92

Viv92

Eats Squid
dhd said:
Just off the top of my head I reckon we could do them around $550-$600ish depending on the freight costs to get them out here.
We were just getting test shocks for our bikes, but if anyone wants to go ahead and get one I'll put my hand up and offer to get some in. Just PM me!
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Damn. So we still won't have a dedicated distributor/spare parts/servicing guy in Australia?
 
dhd

dhd

Downhill Direct
Viv92 said:
Damn. So we still won't have a dedicated distributor/spare parts/servicing guy in Australia?
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No...that wasn't what I said at all. There are plans afoot for Elka to have their gear distributed and serviced in Australia. From what I understand they are in negotiations to get things in place. Until that happens I am able to get you a shock if you want one. I am pretty damn sure someone like Tekin will be able to service them if needed.
clear as mud?
 
Viv92

Viv92

Eats Squid
dhd said:
No...that wasn't what I said at all. There are plans afoot for Elka to have their gear distributed and serviced in Australia. From what I understand they are in negotiations to get things in place. Until that happens I am able to get you a shock if you want one. I am pretty damn sure someone like Tekin will be able to service them if needed.
clear as mud?
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Haha yep. Cheers. Any idea on the price here? EDIT I'm an idiot... $600 sounds pretty damn cheap.
 
F1234K

F1234K

Likes Dirt
From the review it sounds pretty damn awesome! I am loving the price too. The Elka and the CCDB shocks make sense to me as far as pricing goes as they are slightly more expensive (or not?) than say a Fox or Rockshox, but they are better so it's worth it. I am not so sure why the Stoy is almost twice the price though...

It might be worth someone in the know doing a comparison review, but from my personal opinion of the shocks I have ridden so far (which unfortunately doesn't include the Elka) the CCDB comes out on top for both performance and value for money (in Aus since it is cheaper than the RC4 and the Stoy).

It sounds like with the Elka coming in the market there will be even better choice for performance per dollar than before :)
 
S.

S.

ex offender
F1234K said:
From the review it sounds pretty damn awesome! I am loving the price too. The Elka and the CCDB shocks make sense to me as far as pricing goes as they are slightly more expensive (or not?) than say a Fox or Rockshox, but they are better so it's worth it. I am not so sure why the Stoy is almost twice the price though...

It might be worth someone in the know doing a comparison review, but from my personal opinion of the shocks I have ridden so far (which unfortunately doesn't include the Elka) the CCDB comes out on top for both performance and value for money (in Aus since it is cheaper than the RC4 and the Stoy).

It sounds like with the Elka coming in the market there will be even better choice for performance per dollar than before :)
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In my personal opinion, having ridden all of them quite a bit, the BOS was the best performing. However, Udi tried one for a while on a Sunday, and he didn't like it at all from what he's told me, but I'll let him elaborate on the how and the why if he wants to. He is one of very few people whose opinion on suspension I take 100% seriously. Basically, while the tune I got was stellar, from Udi's experience it seemed like not all their tunes are completely dialled (though he is a lightweight and it's a fairly heavily damped shock). I've owned a CCDB for almost a year now and while it's great, especially in terms of adjustability, it's not perfect. I'd place the Elka on par on many levels, though where it mainly loses out is the ridiculous smoothness that the CCDB and BOS both have. The adjusters are great but they don't give you that "wow this is super precise" feel that the CC/BOS do either, and while standard DU bushes are great from a cost/simplicity/compatibility point of view, the needle bearings and spherical bearings in the BOS and the CCDB respectively really help to reduce overall stiction to almost zero. However, unlike the CCDB, setting up the Elka is a piece of piss due to the semi-custom valving you get from the factory.

I may do up a full comparison at some stage, though I'd like to ride an Avalanche shock first... but those things are pretty rare.
 
P

plum163

Likes Dirt
The Stage 5 looks awesome value for money (hopefully still will be by the time they get to AUS). Good to see another manufacturer coming into the market and producing a quality shock. Hopefully it will bring down the price of some of the other high end gear.
 
TeKin Suspension

TeKin Suspension

Squid
dhd said:
No...that wasn't what I said at all. There are plans afoot for Elka to have their gear distributed and serviced in Australia. From what I understand they are in negotiations to get things in place. Until that happens I am able to get you a shock if you want one. I am pretty damn sure someone like Tekin will be able to service them if needed.
clear as mud?
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We would like to take this opportunity to make it quite clear that TeKin Suspension currently has no plans to service or tune a brand of suspension other than Fox Racing Shox. Fox is a brand that we choose to associate ourselves with due to the superior manufacturing qualities and designs that facilitate the highest level of performance, across their entire range of forks and shocks.
 
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