Hi all, just wondered if anyone has any experience of the Ohlins Gold Shock compared to the standard shock on the Evo?

The Ohlins is approx £450 UK £ are they really worth the money?

Noticeably better than standard,but standard is good enough for anyone below national championship level

Probably not worth the money unless you are a top rider, standard beta shock is more than good enough for most in my opinion.

I've heard they make a huge difference in comparison to the standard shock, but As said above they are only really needed at top level riding, with big steps and jumps and hopping on the rear wheel etc. BUT if you have the money to blow then it's definitely worth every penny (apparently)

My comments are based on MX rather than trials, as since the introduction of monoshocks on trials I have never felt the need to buy a non standard shock.

On MX bikes I felt ohlins were no better than standard and under acceleration on short stutter bumps (CR500) worse than standard.

The most cost effective and performance gain suspension improvement was to fit the correct springs for my weight and ability and have the damping re valved to suit springs, weight and ability. Bits like low friction seals, low friction bushes and top grade fluid were installed at the same time.

Interesting comments. A better shock tends to have more action. (As stated above not all riding situations need this) Trick riding can be learned quicker. The standard shock can work fine for the top riders because they are spot on with all techniques. Kind of a double edge sword type thing. One thing for certain, some one does make money off them.

The main reason I bought an aftermarket shock <Hi Lineaway>, was durability, and servicability. The OEM Sachs shock fails and the shock has no damping. And even if it doesn't fail, it will eventually lose damping. The 2013 Evo stock has very good valving. Interesting enough, the 2014 shock is totally out of whack. This is because the shock was meant to go with different linkage, like the 2013 Factory 300, but then they nixed the new linkage. The shock was set up for the different linkage. This has been confirmed by shock dyno. Anyway, I agree with most- Stock shock is good enough for most, but will eventually fail or just need service. That is why most people buy an aftermarket shock. I used to service Ohlins and they are very high quality. Hope this helps.

That`s interesting on the linkage thing for the `14`s. Peters just rode our last event on his new bike. I`ll remember to ask him next weekend how it`s working!