The best of both worlds?
PUSH ACS-3 drop-in coil system converts your existing air sprung Fox 36 and RockShox Pike fork into a plush coil affair that still has tuneable end stroke.
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What’s in the PUSH ACS-3 kit?
- Coil spring (available in 7 spring rates, 125-230 lb rider weight range)
- Lower plunger assembly
- Preload cap with 2 spacers
- Air Bump Stop
- A receipt for $389 (no UK pricing available yet)
The system is launching with 160mm Fox 36 suspension forks (2015-17 Float and TALAS models). Kits for other travel 36 forks and 2018 36 forks are apparently imminent.
Rock Shox Pike kits will be made but as yet there’s no mention of exactly when. There will be no Lyrik or Yari ACS-3 kits due to the narrower inner diameter of the stanchions.
The PUSH ACS-3 (Advanced Coil System) replaces the air spring assembly in your air sprung suspension fork with a coil system. It’s not just a pure coil system though. it’s something of a coil-plus-air hybrid really.
The coil acts as the spring for the initial stroke and mid stroke but the cunning thing about the ACS-3 is that there’s an adjustable Air Bump Stop in the mix too that assists with the end stroke and bottom out handling.
To adjust the Air Bump Stop just simply unscrew the fork’s external top cap and adjust the pressure with your shock pump as normal. Less pressure for a linear feel. More pressure for more progression. Pressure range is 5-50 psi.
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The overall idea being to offer the best of both air and coil: coil’s famous sensitivity and lack of stiction, combined with air’s tuneability.
Much like any coil forks you can also adjust the preload of the coil via the 2 supplied spacers. This gives you the opportunity to adjust static sag and ride height.
The coils themselves are colour coded and made from “precision wound high tensile CrV-Si suspension spring that is shot peened, preset, and powder-coated to ensure the lightest possible spring with the most exact rate”.
The coil is allowed to rotate inside the fork during compression. This is done via its lower spring bearing (that red plastic cylinder). This affords improved small bump performance as it prevents the coil binding on its fittings.
So all in all, the PUSH ACS-3 won’t be like the super-linear bottoming-out and bind-tastic aftermarket ‘drop in’ springs that you could get back in the 90s for your old Judys.
What are PUSH pushing?
“The popularity of the Elevensix rear shock lit a fire under us to offer that same level of performance to the front end of
our customers’ bikes,” says PUSH’s Darren Murphy, “The ACS-3 takes two already noteworthy products [Fox 36 and RockShox Pike forks], and then adds yet another level of performance. It makes the awesome awesomer.”
“Why is everyone always trying to sell you on “coil-like” performance? Because nothing beats a coil when it comes to small bump sensitivity, traction, and mid stroke performance. The biggest hurdle is modern MTB coil forks lack the big hit performance and bottoming control provided by today’s air systems. What if there was a complete system that provided both?”