Review: Fast Suspension Ride E Shock
In my eyes, there are two distinct forms of boutique consumption. One yields the finest and most complex version of a given object, allowing the end user total control and specificity. The other hands all control over to some outside expert, giving the user peace of mind in having limited choice. The Fast Ride E shock falls into the latter category, with very limited user control, but plenty of high-level work done ahead of time to make sure you're in the right hands.
The Ride E is valved to specifically match the kinematics of a given bike, so you'll have to provide some information on that front should you choose to order one.
The Ride E is valved to specifically match the kinematics of a given bike, so you'll have to provide some information on that front should you choose to order one.
Coil IL Details
• Monotube damper
• Adjustments: Low speed rebound, Open/Flow/Climb mode
• Speed-sensitive hydraulic bottom out
• Sizes: Standard, 210x55/52.5/50, 230x65/62.5/60/57.5 | Trunnion, 185x55/52.5/50, 205x65/62.5/60/57.5
• Weight: 897g (w/ 475# spring, 230x65mm)
• Price: €649 without spring
• fast-suspension.com
• Monotube damper
• Adjustments: Low speed rebound, Open/Flow/Climb mode
• Speed-sensitive hydraulic bottom out
• Sizes: Standard, 210x55/52.5/50, 230x65/62.5/60/57.5 | Trunnion, 185x55/52.5/50, 205x65/62.5/60/57.5
• Weight: 897g (w/ 475# spring, 230x65mm)
• Price: €649 without spring
• fast-suspension.com
The external adjustments available on the Ride E shock are very simple, with 35 clicks of low speed rebound, and a 3-position dial on the top of the reservoir that allows you to toggle between Open, Flow and Climb modes. Those three modes feel like a typical climb switch, significantly firming the compression up with each click.
The rest of the setup is taken care of during the initial build, removing any high or low-speed compression adjustment from the end user experience. High speed rebound is internally adjustable via the shim stack, but you'll have to send the shock back to Fast should you want to make that edit - I never felt the need to do so.
The only knob you'll be playing with.
Setup
I've been riding the Fast Ride E on my Frameworks Trail Bike for the past 6 months, happily aboard a 475 pound spring since the get-go. After sending in the bike's kinematics, Fabien at Fast asked for my target sag point and rider weight, and the resulting spring weight ended up being perfect for my usage.
I've adjusted the low speed rebound a couple clicks here and there, but have mostly settled on 14 clicks from closed being my optimal point.
I haven't felt the need to toggle the three-position lever all that much on this bike, as it naturally climbs well, and I've found the Flow mode to be too firm for any serious descending. It feels more like a climb switch to me, with the fully-closed Climb mode acting more like a full lockout. On rare occasion, I'll toggle the shock to Flow for a sustained road climb, but for most of the test it has remained in Open mode.
Performance
I don't wade into the coil vs. air debate too much, primarily because there are strengths and applications to each, and both have their place. That said, there's something about the relative simplicity, aesthetic, and quality of grip provided by a coil shock that can really strike a chord on the right bike. The Frameworks feels like one of those bikes, where air shocks do work, but where things really feel optimized for coil. The leverage ratio is fairly progressive, with a starting ratio of 3.05:1 and an overall rate just shy of 30%.
The Fast Ride E might just be my favorite shock I've run on the bike, thanks to a very smooth build in the damping through the stroke, and the soft catch provided by the hydraulic bottom out. No small part of my preference comes down to the overall simplicity of the damper though, with a wonderfully thoughtless setup and operation. I'm more than happy to spend a day bracketing settings and fussing over one or two clicks, but sometimes you just want to switch your brain off and go for a ride. This shock facilitates that feeling better than most, and per my intro, happily places control in the hands of the tuner.
The Ride E's hydraulic bottom out kicks in at the last 25% of travel, which is a touch more than most other HBO-equipped shocks on the market. RockShox hits around the 20% mark, depending on the build, and I can't profess to feeling a strong difference in that 5% discrepancy. What I can feel is the characteristic of how this bike bottom's out with the Ride E installed, and that is a very pleasant sensation indeed. Some hydraulic bottom-out systems can feel a bit aggressive, taking the edge off the ramp at the end of the shock stroke but not totally eliminating that feeling of hitting a hard stop. Perhaps due to the higher percentage of the stroke it takes up, perhaps due to the bike-specific tune, the HBO on the Ride E eases into the end of the stroke in a very controlled manner, without any noticeable hard point.
The rebound out of that deep stroke is equally smooth, thanks in part to the architecture of the HBO system in the Fast shock. The bottom-out piston is self-centering in the cup, making sure there is as little stiction as possible in that phase of travel. The piston itself also moves slightly during rebound as to avoid any sticky feeling.
All subtle ride feel aside, the shock has been dead quiet for all 6 months on test, the character of the damping hasn't changed, and the simple adjusters have remained effective and easy to turn. Through a sloppy wet winter to the first bike park laps of the season, this shock has remained a favorite baseline to return to.
There's no jounce bumper on the Ride E, but thanks to the HBO you won't miss it.
Pros
+ Excellent, quiet performance
+ Truly a set-and-forget component
+ Boutique setup to your specific bike
Cons
- 3-position mode adjust feels redundant, could be a 2-position
- Costly compared to other high performing coil shocks
Pinkbike's Take
 | Though I enjoy the process of honing in on optimal settings and spending time to dial in suspension, sometimes you just want to turn your brain off and go for a bike ride. The Fast Ride E feels like the perfect shock for that mentality, with very little external adjustment - just excellently performing damping meant to be pushed as hard as you can. |
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I tried a DHX2 on my spire and like to run really fast rebound, with this I get annoying top out noise with a coil shock but with my float X2 it’s dead quiet and quick.
I have tried the most minimal preload and setting rebound as fast as possible without top out noise and the coil feels like a soggy dead log back there.
175lb rider 500lb/in coil spire.
Soggy dead log is usually some combination of:
- Spring too light
- Compression tune too soft (base tune not adjusters) (An standard CM tune should be fine for a Spire)
- Rebound too firm (slow)
Some people do like that feeling ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Maybe this is established truth? If not, i wonder if it could be the top of the spring bouncing off it's seat, due to the quick rebound rate.
I kind of wonder what would happen if there was a nonmetallic spacer beneath the seat, like these Sprindex jobs:
sprindex.com/collections/frontpage/products/sprindex-beanie (it's not a beanie haha)
Could solve the problem either way? but I don't know anything, don't listen to me haha
550lb spring is definitely on the very high side and likely a band-aid solution for other setup issues.
Air shocks do not have this problem because of the negative air chamber.
The Float X does however have a top out bumper inside the shock between the piston and seal head.
Is there a possibility to have the "flow" setting custom tuned?
If Fast is setting up the shock for a specific bike/rider, can I get them to custom tune the "flow" setting so I can have a setting for fast flow trails, and one for jank?
That might make a world of difference, and make for a very versatile rear shock
In the roughly-same price range you have the Novyparts Novya which is 50€ more but fully custom (bike and rider). Although you'll have to add another 80€ to get the 3 position version (which replaces the HV knob)
If this were an old 5th Element/Curnutt/Manitou shock with position sensitive damping throughout the stroke, then it would make more sense.
Your point about the lack of info regarding how Fast tunes the damper differently based on kinematics is also a good one. I'd also like to know how they vary it for rider weights on a given kinematic. It could be they have a really well thought out formula for tuning dampers for specific use cases, but these sorts of custom tuning claims are also prone to being a sort of hand waving "trust our magic formula" situation that allows for a lot of misrepresentation.
Therefore I think this Fast Suspension shock is a very solid solution if you enjoy your bike and want to make it a tad bit better with a shock that is a bit more frame specific.
Where is it manufactured? The website suggests they outsourced production but no further details.
www.fast-suspension.com/en/content/4-about-us
Did you and Kaz get to compare this and the SV8?
Fast Suspension, known for their high-performance mountain bike suspension systems, manufactures their components in Grenoble, France. This location is central to their operations, including the design, production, and assembly of their suspension products. The company's commitment to quality control and precision engineering is evident in their decision to keep manufacturing in-house within this region.
But I don't know which company produce parts for them.
Of course street prices fromm RS are lower, nur the company actually wants more than the Ride E is offered for.
Fast comes with absolute custom tune, best HBO Design, Made in Europe and If I am Not mistaken, a Superlight spring is included
Does this mean that the total shock stroke is 30% as long as the travel in the rear wheel?
The progression of a bike's rear suspension is a measure of by what percent the Leverage ratio changes over the stroke.
At the beginning of the stroke if for every 3mm of vertical wheel travel the shock utilized 1mm of shock stroke that gives a LR = 3. If at the end of the stroke for every 2mm of wheel travel the shock used 1mm of stroke, that gives you an ending LR = 2. This results in an overall progression ratio of .33/ 33%. (3-2)/ 3).
It depends a bit on travel and usage, but generally speaking linear suspension designs work best with small volume air shocks, somewhat progressive suspension designs work best with high volume air shocks, and progressive suspension designs (25% and above) work best with the linear coil shocks.
Hope that helps.
Like any serious shock .
So the entire range of bikes generally come with the same shock tune and the smaller/ lighter/ taller/ heavier riders are hoping that the wide range of external adjustment can make the shock work for them.
However there are XS, S and XL bikes in the line up that will be ridden by riders that are outside the weight range of that 'stock' tune.
In the past five years some companies have made a better effort to design and tune for the entire size range of their bikes (Norco Ride Aligned for example, Santacruz moving to size specific chain stays) sometimes including different shock tunes (Trek for smaller riders).
Getting the bike kinematics (including frame size), rider weight, preferred sag and, perhaps, ride style/ preference allows for a lot of for the rider internal tuning that reduces the need for the wide range of external adjustment. In addition the additional attention that can be made in checking components and assembly (in addition to the shock not having sat on a shelf for 18 months between production and use) can make a significant difference.
There is nothing quite like a shock that has been tuned for the rider and their bike assuming that the rider was honest about weight and ability and the tuner knows their craft.
That's been my riding experience anyways.
A 150mm e-bike, rides more like a 130mm bike, in my opinion.
What I'm having trouble understanding is why you think a 150mm e-bike rides like a 130mm regular bike. Can you elaborate? Most people seem to find that suspension works better on e-bikes, for exactly the reasons we have discussed above, namely that the e-bike has a more favorable sprung-unsprung mass ratio due to the weight of the motor and battery. That improved sprung-unsprung mass ratio will reduce the displacement of the bike chassis for a given bump and suspension actuation. That seems to make the e-bike more plush, and track better in rough corners, whereas your comparison to a 130mm bike seems to imply the opposite.