Ext Shox Aria Standard shox

Shock absorber as light as air

As this is the first air shock from EXT, it is called the ARIA, “air” in Italian. It is completely saturated in novel technology and design approach. Though the EXT brand has become synonymous with unrivaled performance of coil shocks, our knowledge of air spring technology actually began with the William F1 active suspensions project a long time ago, developing products for the highest forms of racing.
EXT took the innovative dual-positive air chamber concept originally made for the Era fork and formatted a new version of it to fit the unique needs of the Aria application. From this groundwork we have created a shock featuring a noticeably improved air-spring, cable of reaching high levels of sensitivity and support currently only achievable with coil sprung shocks.

Features

• AS3 technology: the dual positive chamber featuring only 2 dynamic seals to separate the 3 different chambers. (EXT unique patented design)
• Positive chamber +/++ (low/high) with endless adjustment potential via 2 separate air valves to finetune the spring characteristics
• Negative self-activating large volume chamber
• Unique air seals design based on aerospace technology
• Lok 2.0 technology
• 14 mm superlight weight internal shaft
• Large 28mm hydraulic main piston
• Adjustable Hydraulic Bottom-Out Circuit (HBC)
• Proprietary “Super Finish” surface treatment on sliding parts

Technolgy

Hydraulic bottom-out control
The HBC system is a position sensitive damper valve made of a secondary piston assembled below the main one, and an inner tube near the bottom of the damper. When the rider gets close to the end of the stroke, the secondary piston goes inside the inner tube, forcing the oil flow through a calibrated orifice that characterizes the end stroke ramp up. EXT’s HBC system engages just in the last 15% of the stroke and it’s also externally adjustable to match your weight, riding preferences and style.
This system makes the compression progressive, allowing lower spring-rate settings of the dampers and offering a balanced feeling and better traction. So, you can rely on a very plush feeling and a great support on the last millimeters of your bike’s rear travel. On the graph it is shown how HBC controls the last part of the stroke. The peak on the right side is the strength achieved by the shock when the HBC is full closed. The Hydraulic Bottom Out Control adjuster is located just above compression valve.

Lok 2.0 system
All of our MTB dampers feature the LOK 2.0 proprietary EXT technology, (aka pro-pedal switch), already well-known throughout the product line up. A 2-Way lock-out system improved to avoid any kind of bobbing while you pedal on every types of surface. Completely customizable, the LOK system has a blow-off valve that prevents any kind of damage if you forget the LOK lever before a downhill ride. It is made up of a completely independent valve system that controls the oil flow in a separate chamber and allows you to get the support needed for the best pedaling efficiency. In open mode, the LOK circuit is excluded, and when closed, the oil must flow through a preloaded shimmed valve increasing compression force. This shim-based design provides enough sensitivity and support to increase overall traction on rough terrain. Now, the LOK 2.0 system can also be custom tuned based on rider preferences.

Air spring 3
The core of the Aria is in the innovative dual positive air chambers and a large negative self-equalizing chamber. This system allows for extensive control over the shock’s air spring curve characteristics, giving you fine tune capabilities throughout the entire stroke. The dynamic nature of EXT’s twin positive air chambers virtually eliminates all negative aspects intrinsic to the volume spacer systems of competitors.