We go behind the scenes at Nitron

Top suspension experts reveal all their shocking secrets

New bikes come with shocks and forks that are built down to a price. Even if they’re any good, it’s a lottery whether they will suit your particular weight or riding style. That is where suspension specialists Nitron come in. Nitron have been designing and building shocks for 20 years. Based in Oxfordshire, they also offer fork cartridge kits and even complete 43mm right-way-up forks. Nitron were founded by Guy Evans in 1998. Evans, who had worked as a design engineer for a variety of suspension firms, said: “I was frustrated by the desire of those companies to cut costs. I knew if I did something that was good quality, it would succeed.” And succeed it did. The firm now have more than 200 dealers around the world.

All of Nitron’s products are UK-designed, billet-machined and hand-assembled using parts sourced from British firms wherever possible. Every fully rebuildable shock is tuned to the customers’ needs with the correct spring and damping.

Nitron take your requirements and translate them into the right shock absorber. Our own experience with Nitron’s products on various long-term test bikes has shown that they tend to be right straight out of the box.

The firm use cutting-edge technology, such as shock dynamometers, five-axis CNC machines and the latest 3D CAD techniques. The collective experience of the team covers machining, materials technology, hydraulics and even F1 racing. Nitron adopt a modular approach which means that as well as the hundreds of shocks already listed, the firm can build one-offs too.

Each shock contains between 50 and 70 components. All five of the firm’s rear shock models are adjustable.

The base model has one-way combined damping with the more expensive options having twoway rebound and compression and three-way rebound plus high- and low-speed compression. You can also specify a hydraulic remote preload adjuster. Twin-shock bikes are catered for too.

You might think all this means a premium price but prices start at £414 for the NTR R1 monoshock, up to £930 for the Race Pro.

Technicians Chris Hodson (left) and Jordan Hodder load carefully weighted springs onto a shock

Paul Dowsett sorts through different parts prior to assembling a new shock

Nitron founder and MD Guy Evans started Nitron in his garden shed Exposing the internals of a Nitron TVT (Tri-Valve Technology) fork cartridge insert Scott Maskell, Nitron’s chief motorcycle engineer, checks fork cartridge fitment