The Push Elevensix Difference - Intro & Spherical bearings

Late last year we were honoured to be granted the exclusive agency for Push Industries in New Zealand. So we are excited to be the sole reseller and service centre for the highest quality suspension products on the market! The flagship product line is the ELEVENSIX shock but there are fork upgrade parts, tools and seals available as well. To give you some insights about why they are as good as they are, we will be posting articles that dive in to all of the features from each product.

The first edition was released in 2015 and this new model came out in 2020. Designed as the ultimate no-holds-barred mountain bike shock, not only is each valve, sliding surface, spring, rod bumper and reservoir made in the best way possible, they are then optimised for each bike it gets mounted on. And finally the internal compression and rebound shim stacks and spring are selected for your weight.

This first feature is one of the least obvious but in The Suspension Lab’s opinion, a really important one. The eyelet bushings are often overlooked but shocks get one hell of a workout as they are being ridden! As well as the obvious linear motion, they also get a huge amount of bending and twisting applied to them due to flex, worn pivot bearings or frame misalignment. This can be a source of suspension’s mortal enemy - friction! The binding from these loads not only increases harshness, reduces compliance and grip, but also accelerates wear and damage. We see evidence of this daily with severe wear and broken shafts, especially on heavy duty enduro bikes, e-bikes and frames incorporating a trunnion mount or yoke design.

The Elevensix avoids this by using spherical bearings which allow it to move axially and laterally so it can always slide smoothly without binding.

The Spherical bearing in each standard eyelet of an elevensix

Spherical bearings aren’t new technology, and have been tried on mountain bikes many times. Previous attempts weren’t very durable and not well sealed. That’s why push didn’t use a standard off the shelf item, and instead incorporated a larger bearing normally reserved for motorsport applications. Combined with a unique sealing system built in to the mounting hardware it is the ultimate low friction solution for shock hardware!