I have never heard anything bad about PEP, but I was wondering nonetheless what people felt about these two and what their experiences have been with them? I have heard Axis are hard to dial in. Thanks.

 

I've talked to a lot of racers about this and 90% say that pep are about 1 fraction better but the waiting list is too long. the axis are great shocks and there is almost no waiting list but you pay out the a$$.

people that don't have the money for axis and the time for pep, go with elka the fronts are the same as the axis but the price is the same as pep.

hopes this helps a little and doesen't confuse you more.

 

When I got my PEP ZPS's they said 9 weeks,it took 10.I thought that was acceptable.In race season,yes you may wait a lil longer.
A quote from Wayne(PEP)::Junk is readily available,good things come to those that wait. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]
As far as dialing them in,the PEP will be the closest the first time.W/axis this will vary by dealer.I hear that legacy does a great job on set-up the first time.

 

I heard PEP used works bodies at first but that they haven't used them in a while according to the guy who sells PEP in our area. I have never ridden Axis but I have ridden PEP and I thought they were incredible.

 

ELKA has one BIG advantage over PEP and AXIS. And that is ELKA for a long time has been on the snocross curcuit, and know a lot about shock setup and use better bodies than PEP by far. PEP's advantage is that they have more knowledge about suspension setup when it comes to ATV racing. But that is rapidly changing.

 

I have owned & raced every shock out there in my quest to find "the best"

By far the best setup I've found so far for my fronts is an old set of TCS (works bodies) that I had a lot of custom work done to (i.e. 5/8" shafts, etc) - all custom springing and valving. Nothing "TCS" about them anymore except the sag spring.

PEP vs Axis - both have their good and bad points, but neither is necessarily always going to outperform the other. Setup is key - for instance, I'd much rather have a set of Works shocks that have been setup well than a set of poorly setup Axis or PEP shocks (yes, Axis and PEP do setup shocks poorly more often than most will admit).

Elka - They claim vast snowcross experience - granted I am far removed from that scene - but I searched my butt off trying to validate this and came up with ZERO - no Elka snowcross shocks for sale on eBay, no Elka converstation on the sled messageboards or usenet, no used Elkas on sled classifieds, etc... No retail Elka snowcross sellers on the web, no hits on Google when searched for "elka snowcross" (except Elka's website [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img])-- nothing anywhere... An established player generally has a lot of "Buzz" on the net, no matter what the subject. So I question those claims.

Also, their basic shock design changed several months into their entry in the market - changing things that should have amounted to "lessons learned" from their vast experience in the snowcross market.

I also seriously question those that claim that the Elka bodies are "vastly superior" to PEP or the other companies. I know for certain that the older ones had issues & I personally think the threaded bodies are a disadvantage.

Don't judge a shock's performance or the quality of the bodies by their appearance.

PEP does *not* use Works bodies. From what I understand, they haven't used Works bodies since the early 90's. Although they may look like Works, they are not if you look closely. PEP chromed bodies are easier to maintain & the hardware stays moving freely more than the other brands I've tried.

Below is my experience, others are sure to differ...

First lets look at rear shocks (since that's where the bulk of my complaints are) - keep in mind, setup is key - just because I didn't like a particular shock doesn't mean it's junk, (unless there's a design flaw) it likely means it wasn't setup correctly:

I didn't like my OEM PEP ZPS rebuild shock - probably the worst rear shock I've ridden to date. Most likely the problem is both underspringing and under valving - caused some very serious handling problems, dangerous under some conditions in my opinion.

PEP ZPS rear (their body - actually a Fox body) - seems to be a good shock, although still seems undersprung & needs some other setup work. Reasonable performance though. This is the rear I currently run.

Elka rear (thier body) SSD (ZPS) - poor. Not enough rebound damping, softer than stock compression valving - more spring than stock, but still not enough for a ZPS style shock. The soft rebound may have been a design flaw since they have changed their hardware since I bought mine. I have not had it apart yet to see if this is the case. I also had an internal rubber bumper come apart in this shock (I'm told, as the shock was under warranty & the shop did the work) after about 1 or 2 races which required a rebuild.

Axis rear - rides nice for general trail riding, but too soft for my liking when you get aggressive (who's not going to ride aggressively after spending $2,200 on shocks?). Was setup for XC, but bottommed too easily when pushed thru square edges, etc. Likely needed more high speed compression damping and/or more spring.

TCS rear (OEM rebuild) - WAY too firm. Found an air bubble in the shock body after only a small amount of use - was likely there from day one since it hasn't leaked since. However, was better than my PEP OEM rebuild, even with the air bubble.

Ohlins rear - on a different quad, but this shock absolutely rules - am investigating further to see if I can emulate it's setup for my race quad. Not a ZPS style shock.

FRONTS:

PEP ZPS set 1 - setup for XC & my parameters -- I thought they worked fairly well, although not as well as I was made to believe by everyone that swears by them. My opinion of them changed after riding my custom shocks mentioned above. Although they perform fair, they don't work nearly as well as my others.

PEP ZPS set 2 - bought used - setup for MX -- actually my initial thoughts are that they are very similar to my other set although with a few strange performance quirks - later found both shocks had air in them. Haven't rebuilt them yet.

Axis fronts - not many complaints, perform similarly to my PEPs but with less flexibility on the external setup. Setup for XC, but a touch harsh in the smaller rough (i.e. braking/accell bumps, worn out trails, etc). All in all, a huge improvement over stock, but still not "amazing".

TCS fronts - setup for MX, seemed to work fairly well - at the time I was really into jumping and was mainly interested in a shock that didn't bottom easily - they fit that description. Fairly harsh on the trail, although I did race them XC for quite a while.

Elka fronts - setup for XC - hard to say on these shocks... My opinion probably soured by the very poor rear that came with them. Hard to analyze the fronts when the rear is not working. All in all, felt fairly similar to the Axis from what I could tell - maybe a bit more firm & harsh - seem to jump well.

One other interesting note on the Elkas - At the time they were providing shock dyno runs when you bought your shocks (maybe they still do?). I started collecting scans of these from other people that purchased them for a period of time --- almost every set was nearly identical. Now, keep in mind that the shock dyno does not show the effects of the springs.

Ohlins - on a different quad - too soft for aggressive riding. Rides like a magic carpet for recreational riding though. Aggressive jumping produces poor results.

TCS/Works bodies with custom work --- I didn't even try these shocks for a long time because they felt so stiff with the quad sitting statically. Once I gave them a shot I was amazed at how well they rode. They seem great for XC, they jump well, corner well, etc... Only complaint is maybe a touch too much main spring. When going thru braking or accel bumps (when both shocks are compressing equally by small amounts) they will get a bit "bouncy".

Well, that's about all I have to say about that [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] -- Take it for what you will. Don't expect that just since you pay a ton of cash or buy a certain brand name that they'll be right.

The best advice that I can give is to ride the crap out of them before their "setup warranty" runs out & don't be afraid to send them back for changes, I can almost guarantee they won't be the best they can be the first time.

Spend time on other people's quads - even stock ones after you get them. New shocks always feel good at first, because they are different. Seems like I've always got to get several races and a significant amount of play time on a shock before I can make any decent observations about them.

Good luck & I hope you don't spend nearly as much money as I have on shocks.

 

Thanks guys. I will hope to test the PEP ZPS this weekend. Wayne was a great guy and is the most thorough I have ever seen. Hey LT80, you keeping Angela's boyfriend away from her shocks?

 

I think you mean fiance...but I could be wrong...