Push Industries ELEVENSIX Coil Rear Shock: Product Review [Video]

Introduction

The Push Industries ELEVENSIX Coil is possibly the most expensive coil shock consumers can purchase, but is it worth it? Push Industries is a small brand from Loveland, CO that makes some of the most high-end suspension products on the market. They perform rebuilds and tunes on your existing fork, sell drop-in coil conversion kits like the ASC3, and they also have a custom made, custom tuned coil shock for your heavy duty trail or enduro rig. The guys at Push are dedicated to their products and are some of the best bike nerds in the industry, and that is no insult when talking about high performing suspension products. Alongside producing great products, everything is made or sourced in the USA and personally, I love supporting brands like that!

The Cool Features

When going to purchase a Push ELEVENSIX coil, there are a few bits of information you need to provide to Push to make sure you have the best shock for your bike. You provide the bike model, your riding weight and style of riding. The two most important are the bike model and rider weight. This will determine your shock’s tune and also the spring weight Push recommends.  Push can also help you decide on which spring rate to use if you sit in the middle of two. Often they will suggest going for the heavier of the two and using less preload, but more on that later. The riding style can also be tuned into the shock, but as a suggestion, we recommend keeping your head out of the clouds. If you have ever seen a video of yourself ride, you might realize we are not all Aaron Gwins, and we average riders could probably do well with the standard tune Push suggest. Myself, I am not a World Cup rider and felt at home with the standard tune for my Evil Offering. However, Troydon, our shop rider/employee, is actually a fast and aggressive rider.  He asked for the more aggressive tune as he can push a bike harder than almost everyone I know. He has nothing but great things to say about his Evil Offering with his Push ELEVENSIX shock, and that is something special for Troydon. All of the information you provide to Push will deliver a shock that out of the box will be a great ride, and many riders leave it at that. But as a suspension nerd myself, I love to tuning shocks to the extremes to find the perfect middle ground.

The Push ELEVENSIX Coil takes on a very industrial, almost steampunk style, and is sure to catch the attention of your buds or fellow riders. There are a few things that really put the ELEVENSIX at the top of the list when it comes to high-end coil shocks for your trail/enduro bike. First being that it is made specifically for each model bike. Push takes into account every single bike the shocks are made for, doing their own in-house testing with different tunes and base settings. That is already a huge difference from pretty much any other shock on the market. That means the ELEVENSIX for your SB150 or Evil Offering are going to be different.  Unfortunately, this also means they exclude some bikes that it doesn't work well with. So you get a custom tuned shock specifically for your bike, and you know lots of time went into it before you ride it. Another amazing feature is the ELEVENSIX has dual overhead valves that offer separate HSC and LSC in each setting, which allows two custom tunes and with the flip of the lever you can be ripping DH tracks, to hitting the best flow line and not miss a beat. How is that possible? The dual valves are typically set in a descending or open mode and efficiency or bump valve. The descend/open mode will be your more plush setting and they tune that for the chunkiest and roughest trails. The other mode is the bump valve/efficiency mode, providing a bit more support through the use of completely different valving.  You would never be able to have both modes match each other. The bump valve is widely tunable as well, making it more of a trail mode, or maybe a jump trail tune if that is your thing. You can also close it way off with the HSC and LSC to make it a firm climbing platform, which is nice for those long steep climbs.

Another very cool feature is getting it serviced and switching bikes. Push prefers to service all their shocks in house as not only are they the pros, but it allows them to control the quality of their work so your shock is always performing at the highest level. Their service is around $125 USD, give or take some shipping costs. Not only is that very reasonable, but since it’s a coil shock, the service interval is also much less frequent than an air shock, about 12-16 months depending on riding time and conditions. The second part about switching bikes is not something easily forgotten. If you do have a Yeti SB5.5 with a Push ELEVENSIX coil but are planning to get a SB150 next, you do not have to leave your amazing feeling custom shock behind. Push will not only rebuild it, but swap out the tune and parts needed to make it fit whatever bike you are getting next! It normally costs less than $300, giving your expensive shock even more value. In short, it should basically last forever with simple services despite swapping bikes. As I said above, only a few bikes are not supported, and that is only because Push doesn't feel some bikes work best with their coil.  It’s an honest approach and really ensures the quality of shock you are going to receive when purchasing an ELEVENSIX.

Riding & Tuning the ELEVENSIX

I bet if you have read this far you are wondering how it rides… well, simply amazing. The ELEVENSIX really does an amazing job at what you would expect it to do. It rides like a coil and comes out of the box with a solid base tune and ready to ride. From taking up small chatter and keeping traction, to feeling solid and comfortable on the biggest of hits, the ELEVENSIX is really an exceptional shock. As I said before, the shock comes with a base tune that is a really good starting point for many riders. One thing Push wants riders to know is that you start with their base tune and finish up the fine-tuning to land on something that works perfectly for you. Many riders will probably leave it how it came, which is fine for some and will work well. But it’s only a starting point, and you will not be taking full advantage of the shock and the dual vales.

We were given a handful of springs to use and choose from, so I started with a 425 lb spring and .5 turn of preload. First I wanted to ride the shock just as it was sent. The shock felt great and provided me with much more traction and control as you would expect from a coil shock over an air shock. But I quickly realized I had a bit too much sag and felt the rear was sitting a bit too deep for my preference. This led me to add some preload to the spring to try to reduce the sag. Going in .5 increments, I added and tested sag and feel on the trail. Once I got to 2 full turns of preload I went up in spring weight to the 450 lb spring. While you could run 2 turns or more of preload, you typically also have to add some rebound along with adding preload, making the shock work a bit harder to get that oil through the rebound and slow the shock down. I talked with Push about the set up and they lean towards the way I do in that riding a shock “more open” is typically better for the shock and often feels better too.  

After riding the 450 lb spring, I landed at about 1 turn of preload, giving me a nice 29% sag, perfect for any style of trail riding from DH to jumps and anything between. Once I had sag and ride height feeling good, it was time to get the HSC and LSC dialed for both valves. Starting with the shock setting more open, I hit runs on the same trail or similar style trails, and slowly dialed them both in until the shock felt hard or “choked” off. Then backing both off to find that balance of support, control, and traction. Riding a lot of different trails, ranging from very steep and chunky, to more flowy and flat, I wanted to have a feeling that would work all around. Next, I did the same with the bump/efficiency valve. With this mode, you could go either way you need, a trail or jump style tune, or a climb mode.  I wanted to try both and found that the second valve had great support and felt amazing for smooth trails that had lots of jumps or hopping around. But with most of my riding, I climb up some steep trails or fire roads, and I found for most of my riding that having a descend mode and a solid climbing mode better suited me. So that second mode became mostly closed off, something like only 4-6 positions out on each HSC and LSC from fully closed.

The result?  A perfectly tuned coil shock for my Evil Offering that checks all the boxes I like in a shock. Providing traction and control over extended chatter and really making the bike feel planted in any “Oh S**t” moments. A significant highlight for me was just how consistent the shock felt, from familiar local trails to some trails I had never ridden.  I could trust the bike and know how it would handle a feature. This does have a lot to do with the bike, but if your rear shock is not set up properly, things could go from bad to worse fast. I did manage to bottom out on some big hits, drops and g-outs, but the shock composed itself and was ready for more. No spiking of air or packing up, the Push ELEVENSIX just flat out works! And with the switch of the lever, you are ready for that steep climb back up, with enough traction to keep the rear wheel hooking up, but firm enough to not lose any much needed energy.

Pros

• Custom, custom, & custom. Bike model, rider weight, and riding style
• Performance is top level, no gaps or unmet needs
• 2 completely separate compression modes
• Ability to swap from current bike to new bike, could be the last shock you buy
• USA made & serviced in Loveland, CO
• Great value given all factors
• Looks

Cons

• It's expensive, the initial $1200 isn't easy to swallow
• Not made for every trail/enduro bike out
• Not easily changed for other riders (all coil shocks)
• Heavier than air (all coil shocks)
• Looks

Final Thoughts

The Push ELEVENSIX really is an amazing shock that offers great value once you consider all these factors. Yes, $1200 for a shock might almost seem like a typo, but with the performance, the custom tunes, wide tunability, able to swap and service for a reasonable price, and (probably the best part) the fact that you’re supporting a Colorado-based company, it really does delivers all that value. You really get all the best parts of the coil experience, from traction and small bump compliance to the reliability everyone loves from coil shocks. The custom tune for the bike and rider weight really does put it above all the competition, and the added fact that you have two compression valves to dial in your ride puts it up at 11.6% more rad! If you are not sure if coil is right for you, check out our air vs coil comparison video and blog to find out how a coil shock might work great for your riding.

How good really is the Push ELEVENSIX shock? Our time spent on the ELEVENSIX was a great time on the bike and nobody at the shop was ready to give our demo shock up, so we purchased it from Push and now our employees and shop riders can all use the ELEVENSIX on the Evil Offering. If that doesn't speak on how much we loved the shock, you just read a lot of ramblings….