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In late August Fox released LiveValve. It’s electronic, it’s automatic, and it’s cripplingly expensive. The overall concept isn’t brand new, Fox have wanted to simplify suspension for years. Terralogic was one way they went about it, as was the IRD electronic lock out system, as a way to make suspension lockout faster and easier. After putting racers on IRD, Fox found out that they would use the lockout more than twice as much. But Fox could do more.

LiveValve can make adjustments 480 times an hour, with feedback from the sensors on the fork and swingarm 1000 times a second, with adjustments taking 3 milliseconds. So no, you can’t do the same thing. The controller knows if you’re going uphill, on the flat or downhill, so it’s not about to make your suspension locked out as you launch a huge drop. Input from the sensors feed into an algorithm to determine whether the valve is Open, or Firm.

The Open mode can be adjusted, but the the Firm mode is set by the bike manufacturer to suit the suspension on your bike. There’s a lot going on, and for more details we’d recommend reading up on the system on the Fox website.

There are a couple of 2019 bikes coming with LiveValve as stock, otherwise the system starts at $4369 as an upgrade to a Giant Anthem Advanced Pro, or Rocky Mountain Thunderbolt (as an example). Still keen? Contact Sola Sport to find out if they do a kit for your bike.