Should I upgrade my Fifth Element Air rear shock?

andymc06

Hello all

After reading the recent "stick or twist" post I have decided to keep my 2005 Specialized Enduro Expert rather than buy a newer bike. I have sent the Fox 36 Talas forks off to MOJO for a service.

My question is - Is it worth servicing the Fifth Element Air shock or would it be money better spent upgrading it?

Having spoken to TF Tuned it seems that a Fox Van RC coil is the most appropriate (and cost effective) upgrade for a new shock but at £275 or £335 push tuned it's a lot of cash to spend on a 2005 bike. I would like the rear to hold up a little better under pedaling. Is the performance improvement worth it?

Any suggestions or advice would be gratefully received.

nicklouse

IIRC the 5th for that frame was a one off and you may find there could be some fitting issues. BUT I may be thinking of a different Spesh frame.

I would have it serviced.

andymc06

You can get an Enduro specific Fox Van RC but yes it is an awkward frame to get shocks for!

The measurements are 8.75 x 2.5 or 222 x 63.5 for info.

andymc06

Spoke to TF tuned. The fifth can't be serviced anymore apparently. So the question is - Is the performance improvement of the fox van RC worth £335 (push tuned)?

whytesteel

Have just joined the forum and found this thread specifically because I wanted to spread the word.
I wanted to keep my Marin Rock Springs back on the run rather than buy a new full suss. My fifth element rear shock was not holding air so needed attention. Was perturbed to find TFT dont service the Fifth Element Air any more so I started searching the net, just in case there was a chance. I found www.thebrokenbike.com run by a guy called Kyle and based in Canada. I emailed him asking if he could post me some new seals which would enable TFT to service the shock (i'd rung them to ask if they would) but Kyle said send the shock over as he has special tools for use with these seals which apparently are not the original seals (claimed as better than the originals). I decided to take a chance and sent my shock over to him. We kept in touch by email at the appropriate times and he emailed a paypal invoice which enabled payment there and then including conversion to canadian dollars. The shock is currently winging its way back to me so will let you how good his service has been, but I must say his service and help so far has been excellent. Total Cost was £81.11 which included £12.50 post from here and his charge including return post of £68.61.
Hope this can be of help to anyone on tight budgets. For the record I will have spent about £370 to get my Rock Springs back on the run as a good working full suss rather than buy a new bike or new shock which i could ill afford.

benpinnick

I would personally probably go for a cane creek DB Air for that bike, it offers the home tunability that allows you to mess about with it, and comes in your size as standard. Its £400 odd, but hey, whats £65 between friends?

jehosophat

The price of a new shock is pretty ridiculous these days if you pay anything like full whack - lots of good frames with a good shock as well on Ebay for similar money!

Get the shock serviced or find a replacement shock on Ebay. I went for a 2010 Float R to replace the 5th Element on my Blur on Ebay, it had never been used as it came off a new frame where the guy was upgrading to a RP3, under half price... Look for something similar...