eBikes Blog
SR Suntour TACT Auto Digital Suspension from World Cup to You: Prototype Sneak Peek!
May
Racking up wins since the final Olympics as a prototype, SR Suntour’s automatically-controlled TACT digital suspension has confirmed itself on the top-tier of cross-country racing. However now, beginning with a decisive brief observe win by Tom Pidcock on the opening spherical of the 2023 World Cup, SR Suntour TACT e-suspension is nearly prepared for an official launch.
Take a more in-depth look with us from the Nové Město na Moravě observe and race pits, as we dive into what makes this upcoming digital suspension management so distinctive…
SR Suntour TACT automated digital XC MTB suspension
Let’s begin with a disclaimer that what goes on inside this next-gen SR Suntour TACT e-suspension remains to be formally undefined. Whereas comparable automatically-controlled mountain bike suspension methods from the likes of Fox & RockShox have loads of seen exterior sensors, batteries, wires, and separate parts that trace at a lot of their performance… SR Suntour TACT is nearly fully self-contained. And TACT isn’t fairly prepared for prime time but, so SR Suntour is staying tight-lipped in regards to the particulars in the interim.
However, this prototype suspension tech is being raced on the XC World Cup by multi-discipline INEOS racing powerhouses Tom Pidcock and now Pauline Ferrand-Prévot on their new Pinarellos. Plus, we noticed it on the Scott Spark bike of German racer David Record of Lex Ware MTB.
And, we’ve heard fascinating feedback from riders and mechanics about setup, customization & actual perform on the path. Plus, a patent software I’ve dug up suggests some true innovation each in a brand new sensor and an all-new kind of compression valve management!
How does it work?
Like different electronically-controlled suspension, the idea is comparatively easy: By gathering sensor knowledge on bike & path situations, an digital suspension controller can routinely open or shut the compression damping circuit of your fork and/or shock, so that you’re all the time in the best suspension mode for the terrain.
The SR Suntour answer appears to be like to be totally different in that a lot of their system is contained simply inside the physique of their Axon 34 Werx TACT fork and Edge Plus TACT shock. Certain each fork & shock are related to a single wire into the body – presumably to a central energy provide and/or CPU – however there don’t look like every other exterior sensors. And there are not any exterior controls.
What’s distinctive from SR Suntour?
That lack of exterior controls is actually one of the noticeable options, but additionally hints on the true performance & reliability of this technique. Do you actually assume that Tom Pidcock would race one thing he can’t override if he wasn’t assured in it when an Olympic medal or World Cup win had been at stake? Of be aware, sure he gained Olympic gold with this again 2021, he gained the 2022 Nove Mesto XCO olympic-distance race with it, and on Friday he gained the XCC brief observe right here with it, too. The system appears to be controllable and adjustable through a associate app on a cell phone to pick out a rider’s desired settings.
However then, you simply trip and it guarantees that your suspension will all the time be within the appropriate mode.
Chatting with SR Suntour, they talked about that in the course of the course of a World Cup cross-country mountain bike race their TACT system will change modes round 1500 occasions, or round 200x per lap over what is actually a 80-90 minute race.
However is it simply open or closed on affect?
A brand new kind of valve inside!
Speaking with a mechanic apparently conversant in the SR Suntour TACT system (however not at the moment a staff testing it), we had been advised that what actually set this new system aside from different automated suspension controllers, was that it wasn’t merely ON-OFF.. Locked or Open. Digging into some patent filings, I discovered an outline of a brand new kind of digital compression damping management valve that helps clarify how & why this might work.
As a substitute of utilizing the traditional inline needle valve that’s both closed or open, SR Suntour could also be utilizing a blind-hole valve with a rotating-body that may be configured to have a number of ‘open’ positions from a “medium” or “partially open” setting as much as “totally open”. One other advantage of this ‘ingenious’ valve design is that it requires much less power to actuate and no power to maintain closed, that means much less stress & put on, not like the needle which should resist motion with every affect and may leak below cumulative impacts.
Sensible sensors for improved uphill suspension
Whereas all of that sounds good, what may actually be the defining characteristic of the brand new SR Suntour TACT suspension is hinted at by the Sensible Sensor Expertise label on the fork and shock. Studying into that very same patent, SR Suntour is describing a “ingenious damper management association” system that features “upward raise detection”. Which means as a substitute of ready for a sensor to detect an affect like different automated electronically-controlled suspension, the TACT system would be capable of routinely unlock the suspension when a rider pulls up on the handlebar to raise or just lighten the entrance wheel to recover from an impediment.
The thought is smoother suspension actuation whereas climbing tough terrain – just like the Nove Mesto observe’s steep rooted climbs – with the intention to scale back rider fatigue and permit them to maintain their weight ahead for extra environment friendly pedaling & bike management.
This answer can also pre-emptively unlock when the wheel easily drops away to be prepared for a pending affect.
The place are the entire sensors, actuators, controllers & batteries?
Within the fork, there appears to be loads of house inside the proper fork leg to put each the actuator and 3-axis accelerometer sensors, sharing house with the damping perform. The entire TACT-equipped Axon 34 Werx forks we’ve seen retain customary rebound damping changes on the underside of the leg (and customary air spring controls on the other left leg) suggesting every thing is within the high of that proper leg. The carbon Werx crown will not be open from the underside, so there may very well be one thing hidden within the steerer tube?
As for the rear, an exterior field bolts onto the Edge shock for automated compression damping controls, whereas a guide rebound knob is angled off to the facet. This Pinarello Dogma XC makes use of a standard mount shock, however the Scott Spark that we additionally noticed testing the brand new suspension makes use of a trunnion mount. Curiously, the Scott will get an air valve in a distinct orientation for entry hidden contained in the body, however that management field on the facet of the Edge TACT shock doesn’t really match contained in the Spark, so we solely noticed it with out the usual protecting cowl.
Each fork and rear shock are plugged right into a single wire that disappears into the body – presumably for energy or centralized management. Throughout common service between races, we noticed INEOS mechanics unplug and disconnect the SR Suntour suspension parts, however we couldn’t see how complicated the wired connections had been.
OK, so when are you able to get SR Suntour TACT?
Up to now, SR Suntour has been creating and testing their new digital suspension management for racing below UCI approval as a prototype. However evidently standing is quickly to run out, and so they’ll have to make it obtainable to the general public. That signifies that already this summer season in June 2023, you can get ahold of your individual SR Suntour TACT suspension setup, in very restricted numbers – assume perhaps 100 units obtainable to shoppers in 2023. However…
This can be a very customized setup that you just can’t simply bolt-on to any bike. SR Suntour’s TACT e-suspension will solely work with the few bikes which have already served as take a look at beds throughout its improvement. That features Pidcock’s unique BMC Fourstroke, his new Pinarello Dogma XC, and the daring Scott Spark that noticed David Record of Lex Ware MTB testing.
Any mountain bike racer with the most recent variations of those high XC bikes – and loads of additional money – might purchase an entire SR Suntour TACT e-suspension improve package this summer season and have their bike refitted by way of an official service heart. SR Suntour means that pricing hasn’t actually even been thought of but, however this ultra-limited summer season launch will doubtless be costly. As soon as they’ve put the system out on this planet to extra customers – and gauged curiosity – they’ll take a look at how finest to optimize the price of the built-in know-how for the kind of riders that would profit from such suspension automation.
Certain, that’s a whole lot of information and tech hypothesis for now. However as for official particulars from SR Suntour, we anticipate to know extra following Eurobike in June.
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