A Very Deep Dive on Suspension with EXT’s Franco Fratton, Pt. 3

Bikes & Big Ideas

Jun 08, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 173

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Episode description

EXT Suspension founder Franco Fratton is a wealth of information when it comes to all things suspension, and in the third installment of our deep dive on suspension series, Franco and I cover everything from the tradeoffs between air and coil springs to the history of coil springs being used on wheeled vehicles; EXT’s new Aria air shock; inverted vs. conventional forks; and Franco teases an upcoming EXT project as well.

TOPICS & TIMES:

Air vs. coil springs & their historical uses (1:28)

EXT’s Storia vs. Aria (13:39)

Packaging limitations & the modularity of bikes as a double-edged sword (22:15)

Why EXT started with coils, and the lessons learned to get to building an air shock (32:55)

EXT’s upcoming dual-crown fork (38:59)

Inverted vs. conventional forks (39:29)

The future of MTB suspension (41:42)

Active suspension & how we could get there (52:42)

A Very Deep Dive on Suspension, Pt.2 (Ep.146)

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