I'm selling my works shocks to buy some elka's or p.e.p. i will probley go with the elka's because they are $200 cheaper and i don't haft to wait 6 months. Are the elkas zps shocks as good or better than the pep's what do you think of them. If interested my works are for sale for $250.Thanks

 

Go with the elka's they are sweet. Same quality or better than Custom Axis at a lower price. I have both front and rear on mine and they have the smoothest ride and resist bottoming off big jumps. Tons better than my old works. Better quality than PEP too. Call Mark at HSD racing, he'll hook you up with a sweet deal. Tell him Sean sent you.

 

I've owned TCS (works bodied), Elka, Ohlins, and PEP - a close buddy has a set of Axis and I've run his shocks on my quad for several races....

The problem with Elka is their setup. Setup being the most important thing in a shock, that's not good. Their setup abilities will likely improve with time.

As far as quality goes, all the top level shocks are good. I don't know that you can say one is higher quality than another, although I've had problems with my Elkas that I haven't had with the others.

The Pep's have by far the most complex spring setup, followed distantly by Elka, then Axis. The Axis and Elka reservoirs are prettier than the OEM style used by PEP.

One disadvantage Elka has is their fully threaded body. The reason PEPs are chrome plated is not to make them pretty, but to give the crossover rings and spring seperators a slippery surface to slide on. The threaded elka bodies cause significant drag and make grinding noises.

I can adjust my ride height with my bare hands with the PEPs, witht the Elkas, it takes an allen wrench and depending on the condition of the threads, possibly a spanner wrench.

I can attempt to answer any questions you have about these shocks...

My PEPs are the ZPS shocks, my Elkas are triple rate with sag - dual rate sag rear, the Axis were dual adjustable dual rate fronts - dual rate rear, single adjustable.

Here's a photo comparison of my old TCS's, my Elkas, and my PEP ZPS's. These are just the front shocks. The Elka bodies appear to be a bit larger, but also look that the shaft travel difference in the two....

 

The set up of the elkas is top notch, just as good as the peps. I have ridden PEPs also, don't get me wrong they are excellent shocks, they are just not as high of quality or craftsmenship as the elkas or custom axis. And the only reason you can change preload on your peps and not your elkas are because of the heavier spring on top of the elkas. I had a light spring like the top spring on your peps and i could also change preload by hand. Elkas also have larger bodies and shafts which makes them more durable.

 

Well, you've got some stuff right, and some stuff incorrect.

Yes, the PEP's 4th spring is very light - however, the real reason they're adjustable by hand is the circlip and collar combo allows the circlip to be very light, which means you can move it by hand. The Elka uses a threaded body and collar which is secured with a set screw - no way to adjust by hand as an allen wrench is needed to release the set screw, also the collar is difficult to move by hand, especially after the threads get a little dirt in them.

Elka bodies may be a little bit larger, but the benefit in fluid life is marginal - anyone serious about their shocks should have them rebuilt at least once a season.

The shaft diameter is the same (look at my pics), PEP, Elka, and Custom Axis all use 5/8" shafts. PEP shocks have more shaft travel than Elka (again, look at my pics and this will be obvious to you).

Again, I own Elkas setup for me, TCS's setup for me, and PEPs setup for me, and have used Axis setup for a buddy that who's parameters, skill level and riding style are the same as mine, only he outweighs me a little. Out of all these shocks the PEPs are the best setup followed closely by Axis - the Elkas fall in below those two.

If the PEPs you rode were not specifically setup for you, then you cannot compare them. PEPs have a VERY specific setup for rider weight, skill, machine setup, etc... This is what sets them apart. If you look at their spring setup the precision they're setup with is VERY evident.

Also, if you look at serious racers that pay for their shocks, most of them run PEP followed by Axis.

I also race with a few guys that have purchased Elkas - the comments I've heard from every one of them echo my feelings - the hardware is pretty good, but you have to send them back several times to get the setup nailed down.

The Axis I've spent time were setup a little soft of the high speed damping for my liking, but that's the only complaint I have with them.

I can understand your support for Elka being Canadian, however, don't make them out to be something they're not. They're new into the ATV market and it shows with their setup experience. They're learning fast, but the other top builders have been building their databases for years...

 

I agree at the start people might have had to have them revalved but they have already come a long way. I know lots or riders and racers who got them and never needed to change one thing. You might have just had a bad experience. And as for new to the sport, Elka has been making shocks for sleds used in snowcross for years. Yes I know that they are not quads but they have their similarities. And no the only reason I support them is not because I am Canadian. They have excellent customer support as well. If you wanted PEP to change something you would have to wait months, just like when you first order them. I also doubt that you would be able to remove that collar clip by hand. The PEPs that I have tried used a pretty heavy clip that had to be removed with a screwdriver or something else to pry it with. Also the larger bodies are not used for overall longer life. They are used with the same principal in mind as resevoirs, they keep the fluid cooler during races or aggressive trail rides which in turn keeps it from breaking down. Another reason that most top pros don't use Elkas is exactly what you said in your reply, they are new to the sport. If you look at the GNCCs, a lot of the top pros use Elkas. I am not meaning to start a war, I am just stating that Elkas are just as good as other top manufacturers.

 

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Gabe, the Elka shocks you have are the older style. They started using a totally new body that has a different style mounting and increases travel by an additional 1.5 inches. I have the old style PEP tripple rates with rezzies(non adj) up front and PEP rebuilt/revalved rear on my 86. I have Elka long travel fronts w/tripple rates and comp. adj on the front and Elka rear dual rate on my 88 w/ comp and reb adj. The PEP's are very very good and do everything well. However, they do bottom a little too easily for me. My Elka's are very good. They are set up a lot stiffer for landing heavier jumps. They do everything well, but are a little more work going through the bigger whoops like you would find along sand highway. This is because they are set up for the bigger stuff. I can just back off the comp. a little bit and they are pretty good, then I just put them back when I get into the dunes.
The only thing that I don't like about my Elka's is they kick just a little on the braking bumps. I just can't get rid of that, but it is very livable. The aluminum cross over rings and spring seats have been replaced with plastic units, I just ordered a set from Elka. That takes care of the binding and excessive noise they make. Plus, Elka shocks come with rezzy mounts that are pretty cool, unlike the rubber pad and hose clamp set-up the other guys make you get yourself.
So you are correct, they had a lot to learn, and unfortunately, you and others were the learning curve for them, but I have to admire a company that puts out a quality product and is constantly looking to improve.
Are you looking to unload any of your other aftermarket shocks? Might be able to help you out if you are.

 

It's good that they're taking care of problems - also good to hear from you, haven't even seen you post in a very long time.

The last set I dealt with was still WAY too firm for cross country and that was just about 2 or 3 months ago. They were the newer bodies with the updated shock head. I think Mark or Martin (at Elka) told me they have 1cm more travel than mine which equates out to just under 1/2".

My PEPs actually have about 1/8" too much travel for my stock control arm and tie rod setup. When turned to lock and topped out they'll slightly bind the tie rods and lift the arms.

Another thing that irritated me was I collected several Elka dyno sheets from various people of various weights, various skills, and various setups from +2 MX to standard XC and all the dynos were nearly identical.

Watch he plastic spring seperators, they suck - my TCS had plastic hardware and they require frequent replacement and caused problems... I would much prefer to see them switch from the threaded bodies to the setup PEP uses on their ZPS shocks - that would cure the spring drag problem without having to go to plastic hardware. I would also like to see higher quality springs.

I got some of the new rezzy mounts they are nice... Pep could have done much better than the slit rubber hose I got, but they did throw in a very nice set of neoprene shockwears.

On my shocks - my Ohlins are on the Cannondale, the PEPs are on the 400... The TCS's and Elkas are in a box. I am, however, currently using the multirate spring setup from my Elkas on the Ohlins so I can lower the quad for flat track...

I'll dump both the TCS's and Elkas someday, but currently I'm using some of their hardware.

Well, gotta get in to work. Later...

 

I just decided to order the pep limated mass and have pep modify my rear shock. I talked to my friensds today that ran the pep zps and the limated mass and he likes them both he said since i'm not raicng pro i would better off with the limated mass. I decided not to go with the elka's because they are kinda new to the sport and i don't know anyone who is running to see if they liked them around here. But thanks though.