Update Rockshox Flight Attendant: New features for E-suspension & hardtail solution

An electronic suspension system such as the Rockshox Flight Attendant System offers developers completely new possibilities for optimisation. With a constant stream of new functions and ideas, they can respond specifically to the needs of top racers like Nino Schurter. The goal: to make the fastest cross-country racers in the world even faster.

However, Rockshox does not want to limit the new features to the professional circuit, but is making them available for all bikers to buy and update. Until now, Rockshox Flight Attendant was always designed as a system consisting of fork and shock. Hardtail riders were left out in the cold. In the latest version, however, mountain bikes with a rigid rear end can also benefit from the advantages of the electronically controlled suspension fork.

Rockshox Flight Attendant opens and closes the suspension elements of a mountain bike fully automatically and at lightning speed. No human or mechanical lockout system in the world can keep up with the speed of the electronics. Using data from a pedalling sensor or power meter, the smart control unit independently decides on one of the three modes: Oped, Pedal or Lock.

The idea is to provide racers with an efficient chassis when high power inputs are required and to release the reserves of the suspension elements when necessary. If desired, the underlying algorithm learns and reacts in a personalised way to the rider's requirements. Naturally, all parameters can be controlled in an app. Communication works wirelessly via radio. The energy sources are the individual AXS batteries familiar from Sram derailleurs.

>> We have summarised all the information about the Rockshox Flight Attendant XC System here.

>> Also new: Rockshox launches new Signature series and revises the Deluxe damper

Launch Control for lightning-fast starts

Launch Control, the English term for traction control, is likely to be familiar to motorsport fans. The function ensures that racing cars, for example, can pull away from the starting line with maximum power but without losing grip. The drive torque of the wheels is regulated so that they do not spin.

Behind the new feature for Rockshox Flight Attendant suspensions on mountain bikes lies a slightly different function and an exciting little story. The electronic system made its World Cup debut on Nino Schurter's bike at the legendary competition in Lenzerheide.

After the XCC short track race on Friday, Schurter suggested a new setting to his team. Flight Attendant should allow him an explosive sprint start and then automatically return to automatic mode so that he could concentrate fully on the race.

That very night, Rockshox software engineer Grant Rudd got to work over a pizza. He reprogrammed Schurter's suspension software so that it can switch to auto mode after a certain time or when the bike hits a bump without his intervention. The update was installed on Schurter's bike at one o'clock in the morning. A few hours later, the Swiss rider took his historic 34th World Cup victory.

>> Our interview shows what really makes MTB superstar Nino Schurter tick.

Launch Control will be made available to all Rockshox Flight Attendant riders in the course of the season as part of an update. The function is intended for optimised race starts with locked suspension settings. It can be activated using the buttons on the fork crown.

As the start area of cross-country races can be extremely hectic, the electronics automatically return to automatic mode. Sensitivity and timeout settings can be customised in the Sram app.

With the help of a Charger Race Day 2 Flight Attendant upgrade kit (649 euros), owners of current Rockshox SID and SID SL suspension forks can energise their suspension and benefit directly from the new functions.

The first turns of the pedal are the most important. Launch Control allows me to accelerate from the starting line at full throttle without having to think about the suspension. - Nino Schurter, Scott Sram MTB Racing

>> A detailed test of the Rockshox Flight Attendant XC suspension can be found here.

Rockshox Flight Attendant for hardtails

Hardtails are the efficiency machines among mountain bikes. Rockshox has therefore decided to make Flight Attendant available to hardtail riders without restrictions as part of a fork-only update.

The Lock function promises the best power transmission, while the pedal and Open modes are designed to offer control and comfort. Full-suspension bikes designed specifically for racing efficiency with their own rear suspension, such as the Specialized Epic World Cup or the Trek Supercaliber, should also benefit from the Rockshox Flight Attendant System with the fork-only function.

Deactivated pedal mode

Previously, the lock mode could be deactivated in the Sram app, for example, if riders wanted their suspension elements to never lock out completely. A new feature is now the ability to override the pedal setting in Auto mode.

The result is a system-controlled, direct transition from open to lock, i.e. from completely open to blocked, or vice versa. According to Rockshox, such drastic on-off settings can benefit both enduro and cross-country riders.

>> Fox also recently presented an electronically controlled damper with the Live Valve Neo System.