Undecided between getting the Push 11/6 or the EXT for the Bullit

[BTTR]

Hello everyone.
Have a Bullit (build S, but soon with some suspension upgrades) and i'm really undecided between getting the Push 11/6 or the ETX (E-Storia or the Arma - if it fits)
I'm a long time Push 11/6 guy (have them in all my other 3 bikes besides the Bullit), but since the Bullit is an E-bike i don't think i'll need the dual independent circuits that much (i never even use the firmier one on my non E-bikes..), so i might try an EXT.

I know the E-Storia will soon be available, but i wonder if it wouldn't be better off with the Arma, since i don't think i'll really need the V-lock on an E-bike.
Does anyone know what are the main performance diferences between the Arma and the Storia?
Will the Arma fit the Bullit?
What will be the advantage (if any) of getting the Arma instead of the E-Storia for the Bullit?


Any help/suggestion is appreciated, especially from who has experience with both the Arma and the Storia.

 

[BTTR]

Are you riding at the top 10% of skilled MTBers (actually EMBTers) for you to really benefit from a change? Or do you just want to burn money?

why are you choosing a spring over air? - bike is designed for air

I have a push and it makes the DHX2 feel like Walmart shock but thats totally fine. I have an X2 and it’s super light. I had the RS SD and it’s poppy. My friend had an EXT and it had zero pop. Will you notice the difference? Are you riding good enough?

with the current bike setup how much PSI are you running F/R? How many volume spacers F/R?

You have both the Push 11/6 and the X 2 for the Bullit?
Which one do you use regularly?
Your friends Ext is for the Bullit, too? Is it the Storia or the Arma?

 

[Phatboi]

I have just has an EXT Storia fitted to my Bullit. I cant give you a comparison with the original Super deluxe coil as i didn't use it. Ive only had one ride on the Bullit and that was with the EXT Shock. I didnt believe the hype but the EXT shock really felt very different from all previous shocks ive had ( coil & air) it was simply amazing! I was fortunate to have the shock fitted by the UK agent (Mojo Rising) who also set up my suspension ( forks & shock) to ensure the shock was working really well for me on the bullit with my fox 38 forks.

for me there were two lessons;

1. The EXT shock is like Magic it just calms everything down
2. Having correctly set up bike / suspension makes a huge difference.


Riding trails i know well i felt so much more confident, the first berm before a small gap jump i always attack and feel the need for a comfort touch of the brakes, not this time!! the Bike just felt like it was so well balanced it didn't need any braking input to reassure me.

To conclude its the best £ ive ever spent on any MTB piece of kit.

Mark

 

[BTTR]

I have just has an EXT Storia fitted to my Bullit. I cant give you a comparison with the original Super deluxe coil as i didn't use it. Ive only had one ride on the Bullit and that was with the EXT Shock. I didnt believe the hype but the EXT shock really felt very different from all previous shocks ive had ( coil & air) it was simply amazing! I was fortunate to have the shock fitted by the UK agent (Mojo Rising) who also set up my suspension ( forks & shock) to ensure the shock was working really well for me on the bullit with my fox 38 forks.

for me there were two lessons;

1. The EXT shock is like Magic it just calms everything down
2. Having correctly set up bike / suspension makes a huge difference.


Riding trails i know well i felt so much more confident, the first berm before a small gap jump i always attack and feel the need for a comfort touch of the brakes, not this time!! the Bike just felt like it was so well balanced it didn't need any braking input to reassure me.

To conclude its the best £ ive ever spent on any MTB piece of kit.

Mark

Cool. Good on you.
That kind of mimics what happened to me when i ditched the oem Rockshox on my V4 Nomad and put on the 11/6.
It just transformed the bike to another level....

My main doubt this time is between the 11/6 or the EXT.

But one of the things that's kind of holding me back for now is that, unlike what happened with the V4 Nomad (that worked like sh*t with the oem shock), the Bullit actually works very good even with the oem shock.

 

[Phatboi]

Yep Bullit is amazing!

I cant be sure why its so good, as ive only ridden it with EXT shock & tailored suspension set up. I have a fox X2 air shock that can fit and im sure i will try that out to see how much difference the EXT shock makes, but the X2 wont be custom tuned to me on the Bullit so thats bound to play a part in overall performance.

If you can get to an EXT agent and have the bike set up around you on an EXT id say go for the EXT. if you can only mail order your shock I don't know which shock will work best for you.

 

[MBag85]

I've ran the stock RS ultimate and the other week stopped it out for a X2 and the difference is mega. Not sure what SC do to make it a custom tune, but after dialing in the X2, it's super poppy and butter on big hits.

 

[jbrown15]

why are you choosing a spring over air? - bike is designed for air

I have a push and it makes the DHX2 feel like Walmart shock but thats totally fine. I have an X2 and it’s super light. I had the RS SD and it’s poppy. My friend had an EXT and it had zero pop. Will you notice the difference? Are you riding good enough?

Why do you feel like the Bullit is designed only for an air shock? Doesn't Santa Cruz offer it with a coil?

I again with what you said about the EXT though, I've heard from a few that the EXT seems like a shock designed to keep the rear wheel glued to the ground to go fast.

 

[BTTR]

Across different bikes man.

I just ordered the arma for my V10. Between me and my riding friends we’ve all had to send back 4 fox shocks in the last week and half.
seems newer fox rear shocks are just mass produced junk now. Forks feel good tho

I really hope they really nail the tune for me on the arma. I’m gonna go for about 17% sag. Should be good for my riding.

Let us know how the Arma feels like when you get it.

 

[Gutch]

Love it. Zero issues also.

 

[jbrown15]

Love it. Zero issues also.

View attachment 66299

I own two DHX2 shocks, a 2020 version that came stock on my Devinci and a 2021 version that I bought as a spare while my stock one was having the blown seals fixed.

the seals are totally suspect on the DHX2 shocks, I’ve blown the seals in both shocks now and had them fixed under warranty. I love the feel of the DHX2 but I wish they were more durable.

 

[frizz]

I have the RS Ultimate Coil switched by my LBS for free after 8 weeks of riding the RS Air.

The bike is amazing. Completely different ride and absolutely love it. The coil just has the stock tune as it is not Santa Cruz OEM.

In my opinion the RS Ultimate coil is a massive upgrade and much cheaper than EXT or Push.

 

[BTTR]

I have the RS Ultimate Coil switched by my LBS for free after 8 weeks of riding the RS Air.

The bike is amazing. Completely different ride and absolutely love it. The coil just has the stock tune as it is not Santa Cruz OEM.

In my opinion the RS Ultimate coil is a massive upgrade and much cheaper than EXT or Push.

Good to know you felt such a difference between air an coil.

 

[BTTR]

Talked to EXT. after riding my push last weekend at lac Blanc and talking to ext I think the EXT will be a better shock for big hits. I over spring my push and was getting hard bottom outs with full dampening high and low speed. The push’s shocks are awesome for enduro but others have said they’re not slow enough for free ride.

I’ll have my ext shock for riding in saalbach next month and a back up rebuilt DHX2. I’ll let you know but for sure push isn’t good for hard hits and when I ordered the shock I selected 10 in 1-10 rider aggressiveness and I use it for big hit freeride so they failed me and sent too light of a tune. Pretty pissed. The ext will go on my V10 and a pro at the park told me that even with the recommended spring for his weight he’s only using 87% of travel so not to over spring the V10. He called the lenzerheide bike park ‘not huge jumps’ so I’ll take his word on it.

my fav line in Europe so far:

Go it.
I don't do BIG hits (more like medium hits) and this will go for a Bullit (don't have a DH bike), but my main concern is if the ETX will just feel dead....

BTW i contacted EXT and they told me to get the e-Storia over the Arma for the Bullit (as expected...)

Awesome lines on the video

 

[carlbiker]

Do people coil the forks also? Seems sensible to have the same kind of systems running with one another doesnt it? Push prices as of next week are going upto £1450 for the shock and £400 for the acs3 kit….

 

[BTTR]

Ended up ordering the Push 11.6.
Should be here next week.

 

[carlbiker]

I went EXT in the end, just fits in nicer colour wise and I liked that they prefer you to come in and let them fit it for you, they also have very gnarly trails in Wales were there based. The shock performed better than expected, or the bike did maybe, or maybe that was just me! ?

I did bottom out the fork though…..

 

[BTTR]

Nice!
Is that the E-Storia or the "normal" one?

 

[carlbiker]

Nice!
Is that the E-Storia or the "normal" one?

oh……. Christ I don’t know but you’ve just reminded me lol! I bet it’s the e because it’s an emtb…I’ll go check

seems it’s the normal, no mention of e anywhere

 

[BTTR]

The Bullit was already very good out of the box (better than my Nomad 4 was before i installed an 11.6 there), but now it's even better!

 

[Swiftdaddy]

Are you riding at the top 10% of skilled MTBers (actually EMBTers) for you to really benefit from a change? Or do you just want to burn money?

Exactly.. people are always looking for reasons to spend money on their already expensive top spec’d bikes.. I guess that’s why brands dump all that money into advertising. Seems to be paying off.

Looks nice at least

 

[BTTR]

Man, what a shitty mentaliy...
If you like to have a great bike with a not so great shock (THAT is a waste of money...) go ahead.
Or if you don't notice the differece between a lousy shock and a good one, then yes there is no point in buying an 11.6, for instance.
But i like to make an already great (and expensive) bike a lot better and do feel the differece, so, to me, it's surely worth it to make the upgrade.
Have you ever tried a Push 11.6?
Regarding marketing, lousy products need marketing...

 

[BTTR]

I know you prefered the EXT.
My RS was not the SD Ultimate, but i still liked it. (the best OEM SD for me, so far)
So what?

 

[BTTR]

Yeah a lot of people, especially in the US, vouch for Avalanche and their rebuilts, but i also have never tried their products.
And are you talking about the coil or air SDU?

 

[Dan_eng]

I run my Bullit with a X2 and HSR it’s completely open. Isn’t a coil going to make the bike less lively?
X2 felt like a huge improvement over the RSSD air.
I want to get a Storia for my Megatower, but I’m not sure how much of a difference will it be over DHX2. Push is out of question because living in Europe would make the service too complicated…

 

[BTTR]

I run my Bullit with a X2 and HSR it’s completely open. Isn’t a coil going to make the bike less lively?
X2 felt like a huge improvement over the RSSD air.
I want to get a Storia for my Megatower, but I’m not sure how much of a difference will it be over DHX2. Push is out of question because living in Europe would make the service too complicated…

You don't have to be in the US to get your Push serviced.
You have at least two places in the UK PUSH ElevenSix Rear Shock or PUSH ElevenSix-R

And PUSH 11.6 Dämpfer | MRC Trading & Suspension in Germany

 

[Dan_eng]

You don't have to be in the US to get your Push serviced.
You have at least two places in the UK PUSH ElevenSix Rear Shock or PUSH ElevenSix-R

And PUSH 11.6 Dämpfer | MRC Trading & Suspension in Germany

Thanks a lot for this info.
Has anyone tested both shocks? Could I get a feedback on this?

 

[Singletrackmind]

Exactly.. people are always looking for reasons to spend money on their already expensive top spec’d bikes.. I guess that’s why brands dump all that money into advertising. Seems to be paying off.

Looks nice at least

Since you can't take it with you, might as well burn while can

 

[Matzotom]

View attachment 69425
I went EXT in the end, just fits in nicer colour wise and I liked that they prefer you to come in and let them fit it for you, they also have very gnarly trails in Wales were there based. The shock performed better than expected, or the bike did maybe, or maybe that was just me! ?

I did bottom out the fork though…..

How are you finding the coil on the orbea? I've had push 11/6 on my last 2 non ebike and the Rise is my first ebike. I've not really tried to dial the suspension in yet so I don't want to be too judgemental but it definitely feels like it has less grip in turns than what I'm used too. My Evil also has the push coil and damper conversions in the fork too which is probably affecting the handling.