First Ride: RockShox Flight Attendant Trail Suspension System – Pinkbike

Models

If it’s a RockShox product that says Ultimate after the name, you’d be safe betting that it’s now part of the updated Flight Attendant family. The range now includes everything from XC to Enduro, only omitting the DH bike products, though plenty of World Cup coverage seems to indicate that they’re working on something in that space.

Pike Ultimate is the 35mm chassis fork, offered in 120mm to 140mm travel. Geared towards lighter and sportier trail bikes, the Pike will be well suited to bikes like the Santa Cruz Tallboy or Specialized Epic EVO.
1960g, $1,499 USD

Super Deluxe Ultimate is the smaller volume and lighter of the two air shocks available, but don’t let that make you think it’s sequestered to short-travel bikes. Before Vivid came around, the Super Deluxe was spec on anything from trail bikes to DH race bikes, and with the new air can options that range is still just as wide.
560g, $949 USD

Lyrik Ultimate also uses 35mm stanchions, but is meant to encapsulate the all-mountain realm of bikes. With 140mm to 160mm of travel, it will pair nicely with things like the Trek Fuel EX or Yeti SB140.
1624g, $1,449 USD

Vivid Ultimate is the more gravity-oriented air shock, with adjustable hydraulic bottom out, massive air volume, and the new Touchdown damper that bypasses compression damping in the first 10% of the stroke.
780g, Not available aftermarket.

Zeb Ultimate is the beefy 38mm chassis fork, handling bikes in the 160-190mm range of front travel. Meant for bikes like the Specialized Enduro or YT Capra.
2450g, $1,599 USD

Vivid Coil Ultimate is built around the all-new Vivid Coil chassis, using the same damping technologies found in the Vivid, but with a coil spring instead of air. All the typical benefits of coil apply, and the tradeoffs might just be reduced with the help of the suspension robot. Read on to get some thoughts on that front.
1130g, Not available aftermarket.

Updates

There are a bevy of software updates that have gone into the Flight Attendant (FA) overhaul, and much like using the system itself, you don’t really have to think about them. The FA algorithm considers more points of data, has a longer memory, and uses all of that to change its performance to better match your rider profile. The name given to that latter system is Adaptive Ride Dynamics, and principally it’s the mind behind the system. You choose your Bias Adjustment – basically how firm/soft you want the system to bias towards – and it collects data points that influence how it’s performing, giving better fidelity to the changes it makes.

Key to this data aggregation is having a power meter paired in the system, which differs from the first version of FA that only implemented a pedal cadence sensor. That power data collected by the meter gives the algorithm a better sense of where your given thresholds are, so it can differentiate between Low, Medium, High, and Sprint outputs. You can also set those thresholds yourself in the app, but I chose to let the robot do the thinking for me.
That’s the final key detail here: beyond pairing the system, you don’t actually have to do anything else. You can edit mode settings and fine tune the effort thresholds, or you can just ride and let the system do its thing. I’ve barely opened the app since putting the fork and shock on my bike, and the settings have noticeably changed with time.

A note to people who already have first-gen Flight Attendant on their bikes: updating your firmware will get your system more in line with the most modern version, but not entirely. To increase the fidelity of data collection and get the best algorithmic learning out of the system, you’ll want to have as many of the connected components as possible. Namely, the power meter and Transmission drivetrain are going to help a lot.

Some FAQs

SRAM put together a very thorough FAQ packet for the Flight Attendant update, and I figured some of them were worth plugging directly in here, as I’m sure the questions will come up.

Comparing the same bike with or without Flight Attendant, how much weight does the system add?
Including the fork, rear shock, pedal sensor/power meter, both SRAM AXS batteries and the difference in weight between a 1- and 2- button left controller, the system adds around 220g for XC components and 308g for Trail/All Mtn/Enduro components.

How do Flight Attendant’s Bias Adjust and Adaptive Ride Dynamics work together?
Think of Bias as the first step to personalization: you can set the Bias to trend toward Open, Lock, or a balance of the two positions. From there, Adaptive Ride Dynamics gathers rider effort data, and uses that to meet the rider where they are on that ride. For example, if you’re riding in the Low Effort Zone, you’re probably soft pedaling along and the system will trend toward the Open position. If you’re putting out more effort and you’re in either the High or Sprint Effort Zones, you’re going to likely prefer that it is firmer, and it’ll trend more toward the Lock position. All of it is based on the initial Bias setting, which will determine whether the system will trend in one way or the other.

Ride Impressions

With racing in mind, I have been nothing short of impressed with the XC Flight Attendant (FA) system I’ve been running on my Epic for the past few months. I still have some skepticism about whether your average non-racer is going to benefit from the system enough to warrant the cost, but that’s ultimately a decision for the consumer.

Perhaps a noncommittal answer, but when it comes to Flight Attendant’s trail guise, my feelings are cloudier still. The Zeb / Vivid Coil combo I have on my Frameworks feels like a lot of extra complication, cost, and weight for minimal gains at best. The bike already climbs well, especially from a preservation of geometry perspective, so the dynamic firmness isn’t patching a hole in the initial design. This is a bike I never lock out – partially because the switch is inconvenient to reach – but I have been happy to feel the rear end firm up on consistent fire road climbs and paved commutes to the trailhead.

Technical climbs are where things start to feel a bit counterintuitive, as those situations tend to be made easier by a bike’s ability to maintain traction, conform to bumpy terrain, and isolate the rider from any erratic movements. That said, FA prefers to stiffen up in those circumstances, as you’re putting down power and that’s read as an effort where efficiency would be beneficial. There were a few moments where I wished the suspension would just open up completely, but it was fixed in Pedal mode or in a Split State. The shock still has some give in Pedal position, but the traction simply doesn’t compare to Open.

My feelings are rosier to the system when applied to bikes with a more 50/50 split between climbing and descending. Pike and Lyrik bikes especially, as they can really reap the benefits of efficiency while still pushing on descents. If you’re someone who likes to turn yourself inside out on climbs, lives in a place where those climbs reward efficiency over compliance, and still want the best possible descending performance on the descents, FA Trail could be the ticket.

All these thoughts aside, at the end of the day the system still rests upon the very capable Charger 3.1 damper, so at least you can rest assured that things are working very well when the system is open. Mechatronics aside, I’m just pleased with how well the Zeb and Vivid Coil work on my bike, and have felt great pushing it on gnarly trails.

Speculative Ideals

Part of me still thinks the potential of a system like Flight Attendant can’t be fully realized with bikes as well rounded as they currently are. The benefits of an active system that biases towards pedaling efficiency could really be taken advantage of on a bike with compromised efficiency in pursuit of better descending. I wonder what could be achieved when playing with FA and a bike with very low anti-squat, for example. This kind of concept is best tested in the real world, so if any companies are keen to play with the idea, hit me up.

In a more tangible sense, I think Flight Attendant can be a great pairing with bikes like the Specialized Enduro, which still holds its own despite being a little long in the tooth. Most of that bike is perfectly current, but the slacker seat tube angle and very active suspension might fall a little short of current climbing expectations. An active lockout could easily alleviate this, and keep the bike held up on the climbs without getting in the way on the descents.