Push Industries ACS3 Fox Coil Conversion Kit: Customer Review

Push Industries has been on top of the suspension game for a while now so it was no surprise that they came out with the ACS3 Coil Conversion Kit. Now riders can convert their existing forks to coil with one, easy to install conversion kit. In this review, our customer Jacob picks one up to match his ElevenSix rear shock. Check it out!

Overview

I recently purchased a Push Industries ACS3 Fork Coil Conversation Kit for my 160mm Fox Float 36. I had previously swapped the rear shock on my Orbea Rallon to an ELEVENSIX, and while the 36 is a great fork on its own it was just too unbalanced, especially over small to medium chatter when paired with the ELEVENSIX out back. I had heard many great things about the ACS3 conversion so I decided to give it a try.

Unboxing

The conversion kit comes well packaged in an easy to open box.The instruction booklet that comes with the kit is very detailed and the images in it make the install a breeze. In fact, I was able to do the install in about 10 minutes with no issues except for user inflicted error. The spring comes with some Push Industries branded shrink-wrap installed on it. I assumed this was simply packaging and removed it. However, it is there to prevent the knocking noise that I experienced when compressing the fork. I contacted Worldwide Cyclery and Andy promptly responded and got me in touch with the guys over at Push. We were able to quickly diagnose the issue and they sent me some replacement shrink-wrap free of charge to quiet things down, problem solved. I wanted to share this to prevent someone from making the same mistake I did, completely my fault, and to highlight the great service both companies provide. Tuning was a breeze as Push provides recommended settings for the all the adjustments on the fork and descriptions of how the various air bump pressures will affect bottom out resistance. I went with 27PSI in the air bump as I prefer a fork that stays a little higher in the travel if landing a bit nose heavy.

Setup and First Ride

With everything installed, knobs turned, aired up and ready to go, it was time to head out to the trails. On the first descent, the improvement was immediately obvious. I had been getting hand fatigue from the vibrations the 36 was not quite eating up. That was completely gone after installing the ACS3 kit. The level of suppleness and added control that this kit provides blew my mind. Small rocks and roots just disappear and places where the front was previously skipping the wheel just stayed calmly planted. Next, I went to test the one thing that had me the most worried. As I mentioned previously, I like a fork that is somewhat firm in its final third of travel to help with not immediately bottoming out when I land nose heavy or to flat. Since coils are known for being linear this had me worried. That worry was completely unfounded as the air bump does exactly what is supposed to do makes the last third of travel progressive just like an air fork and prevent uncontrolled bottom outs.

Final Thoughts

I have been riding the conversion kit for a month now including one race and a couple of shuttle DH days. I’m still blown away by how this kit has transformed my fork. It truly is the best of both worlds. It allows for the compliance and suppleness of a coil but allows ramp up to be tuned from linear to highly progressive just like an air spring. In short, this kit completely changed my fork for the better and not only would I recommend it I would purchase it again without a moment’s hesitation.