Axis & PEP

[BigGun400EX]

Witch shock is better for a 200 - 215 pound rider for jumpin/MX. I've herd allot about both being better then other shocks but noone has realy said witch of those two are better or how they compair to each other. By the way all I wanna know about is the top of the line shock from both companys. Anyway thanks for any help.

[MOOCAZEN]

WARRIORMAN AND NACS400EX ARE GOING TO TELL YOU THAT PEPS IS GOOD, THEY BOTH ARE ACTUALLY,SO IT DEPENDS, ALL I KNOW ALOT OF PROS ARE RUNNING AXIS, THE MAIN DIFFERENCE ALSO IS THE PRICE TOO, IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE LLOKING FOR SOME LET ME KNOW

[Foxrage]

Hey moocazen i havnt posted anything about peps 4 ever i actually like axis the best. What a ****in *** whole i cant believe you said that. I was actually thinkin of buying your shocks cause i just got about enough money. Not now if i know your going to be an *** hole.

[MOOCAZEN]

BRO BASH ALL YOU WANT THATS FINE WITH ME

[DVS_Freestyler]

haha, you edited the wrong word :blah no flame intended ;)

[MOOCAZEN]

ASK SHOOPE1 OR REDROOSTER OR MONKEYNUTS IF IM A JERK, I ACTUALLY HOOK PEOPLE UP, BUT HEY THATS COOL SAY WHAT YOU WANT

[MOOCAZEN]

JUST TO ADD, WHY DONT YOU GO TO THE THREAD "PEPS SHOCK"
THEN GO AHEAD AND SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN,

[Foxrage]

Look you stero typed me so i stero typed you as being a jerk just cause i post i like pep i have never bashed axis or pep if i had the money i would by axis. Dont call me a jerk cause im not the one that was talken about someone i have never even posted that kinda stuff. Buy the way do you think i could get those axis to pe triple rate you have 4 sale? How mudh does it cost to get them revalved? What can i buy worth of 800?

[DVS_Freestyler]

kids be nice now :square

[Dave400ex]

Moocazen I have never said PEP was better then Axis. They are about the Same, well I think Axis may be a little better then PEP. I just don`t have the Money for PEP. I say what I know about both. If you look in the Thread "pep shocks...." by 400ex21 I posted a lot of Good Info on PEP Shocks. You can`t go Wrong with either Shocks. I have never bashed Axis or PEP and I have noticed how the Pro`s are starting to run Axis. You just need to add your thoughts and keep us out of it because we didn`t say anything. Everything I say about Shocks is from Experience or Stuff I was told by Racers, or things I have Read.

[Blake24]

MOOCAZEN uses cap-lock in one more reply, iam gonna go es loco........SO PLEASE STOP IT NOW!!!!

[trx400ex]

i dont see what mooc said that offended them so much... childish behavior tsk tsk:D har har:macho

[Dave400ex]

TRX400EX if Moocazen would have said you were going to say PEP sucks or something you can`t say you wouldn`t be Mad. Just don`t worry about it.

I dont care what yall think but PEP (in my opinion) are better than AXIS. I have ridden both and like the feel of PEP better than AXIS. Just thought you would like to know.

[trx400ex]

actually i wouldnt have cared, guys remeber this is just a website

[mrusk]

I am with trx400ex on this one. You guys really over reacted.

When it comes down to axis and pep personal preference is the deciding factor. I know guys that swear by pep and others that swear by axis. Is one of the guys wrong? No its just personal perference.

matt

[Dave400ex]

Yeah I might have gone a little far, but oh well. I`ll just let Moocazen make himself sound stupid from now on.

[trx400ex]

Originally posted by mrusk


When it comes down to axis and pep personal preference is the deciding factor. I know guys that swear by pep and others that swear by axis. Is one of the guys wrong? No its just personal perference.

matt
yup, this is about a close as an answer to "which one is the best" as you will get

I think I'm missing some threads, I can't find any that have Moocazen bashing PEP's or anybody for that matter. In reference to shock preference. I don't personally know Moocazen, but I DID buy his AXIS shocks which are in "like new" condition. As I've posted before, you don't put ELKA's into the same category as them. AXIS are far superior. I've had them both & believe me, even the craftmanship is far better on the AXIS. You get what you pay for. If you want pretty colors, buy the ELKA's, but if you need performance buy the AXIS or PEP's. The only reason I switched from PEP's to AXIS was the fact that my PEP's didn't have any rebound adjustment. Hats off to PEP's, AXIS, & OHLIN's..... If you can't afford any of those, choose Work's.


Bert :cool:

[James70214]

Warriorman
What personal experience do you have with axis and PEP shocks? HAve you ridden both?I don't think so. I had both and axis are better fo woods, the PEP are awesome for motocross. The ZPS Syaytem they have is second to none.

[Mity Mo]

I will agree with those who say its just personal preference. To answer your question us big guys have to use some sort of a zero preload style shock. For one main reason. If we dont the shocks for larger guys are very stiff and sit your bike up higher than most. I weigh in around 265lbs. So I know your pain. but either company can build you an excellent shock for your weight and style of riding. i chose TCS Long travel shocks. And I cant say enough about them. But I aslo have ridden and raced on ZPS and Axis. I thought they all were excellent performers. I just couldnt pass the deal I got on my TCS shocks. Just be sure to have them valved for your weight and style of riding. I think you will be very happy with any number of shock choices. Mo;)

Ok here we go.

I was riding at my track withthree other guys. My 400ex with PEP suspension, Craptor with Axis, Banshee with Works redone by baldwin, and a Cannondale Cannible with TCS SCS. Also all had extended a-arms. I rode all of them a lot. We rode for a good six hours. At the end of the day i had made a decision on which was better. 1) My 400ex w/ PEP not b/c its mine either. 2) Craptor w/ Axis. 3) Cdale w/ TCS. 4) Banshee w/ works. So theres my experience if it helps.

[mrusk]

400exracer- You can't compare shocks that way. No matter what kind of shocks are on a banshee it will never handle as good as a 400ex. See what i am saying. You have to compare shocks on the same bike.

I said it several times and i will say it again: With Pep and Axis is comes down to personal preference!

matt

I didnt say how they handled. I jumped them all on a 60ft tabletop. I compared how they soaked up the landing. I know they dont weigh the same but it doesnt matter that much.

[trx400ex]

some bikes have advantages in some areas, what 400exracer did is somewhat accurate, not perfect, but it gives you some idea

[harebounder]

You can't just ride each shock and say that one felt better than the other. One might have been set up more to your riding style and weight than the other one does anyone that has that certain shock on their machine is going to tell you they like them better than the other. Most top pros i see are running custom axis or peps with an exception of a few running tcs, elkas, works. So take into account when you are buying shocks do some research don't always count on what the majority of people recommend because they are gonna say that the shocks they are running are better. I did alot of research before i bought shocks. Money wasn't a problem for me because i would have bought the best the first time. I chose Elkas because i e-mailed them just for some info and the owner called me later that night. I come right out and asked him why he thinks i should run his shocks. They are made with the same materials as custom axis for example 5/8 inch shaft Stainless steel spherical ball bearings. Tcs uses elka's bodys for their shocks. I was also into snowmobile riding and when i look at a company that has been making shocks for sno-cross you compare the weights of atv's and snowmobiles the shocks must hold up well. Also take a look at turn around times with company's. How long before you get them? How long if something goes wrong with them or you need them revalved Racing in a series with pionts all of this you have to take into consideration. I am not saying elkas are the best but they seem to have the same quality materials being used as the other brands. If you serious about a big investment and shocks are a big investment call these places that sell them ask them what they think. Most aftermarket companys out there have people that work for them riding the stuff they sell. Call the quad shop, denton racing, golden west cycle, k@k. See what they think are the best for what you are doing and go from there.

[Dave400ex]

I have Rode on PEP Shocks. They are Great. I know Axis are better, but I don`t have the Money and they don`t Rebuild Stock Rears. PEP is the Second Best. I have been told my many XC/GNCC Racers to get the PEP ZPS Shocks and that`s what I`m going to do. I don`t care what you Guys think or what Setups I have Rode.

[Pro400EXC]

OK, I don't know if this is true or not,but i hear the PEP ZPS is better for MX than XC, also most Pro-Production guys are runnin AXIS shoxks, with the exception of Curtis Crump,and my buddy Greg Trew. I think AXIS has a better WOODS shock. But hey,anything is better than stock, I tell you what.

Thks,Pro

[Evan]

I dont know if you guys know this or not but some of you are talking about some shocks like AXIS being soft. Well there is reason for them being soft. When you tell them what skill level of rider you are that determines how soft they will set them. If you tell them you are a pro style rider then your shocks will be pretty soft. If you tell them you are a Novice/Begginer then they will make them hard for you. Why? Think about it, pros rarely make a mistake and come up short on a jump, therefore they land on the downside most of the time and if you land perfectly most of the time then it doesnt take much of a shock to make the landing feel good. Begginer/Novices's on the other hand are constantly making mistakes and the shocks need to be setup to handle it, if not blown seals can happen and other problems. I made the mistake of telling them I was a pretty good MX rider and my AXIS are pretty soft. But me being pretty light I can handle them and not do damage to them.

Which shock is better? Why does it matter? Get which ever one you like. Its not like you or I could tell a difference except between when one breaks alot and a works shock. In other words get which ever name brand you like as long as they are not known for problems like some shocks that I will not mention but we all know which ones.
I like to put the shocks in catergories. The TCS, Works, and PEP are one catergory. Then there is Elka. Then there is AXIS. TCS works and PEP all seem to build there shock the same. Elka and Axis build theirs differently.

I have never ridden on anything but stock and AXIS so I dont know which brand should be better. I am planning on getting TCS on my R and but I would like to try a set of PEP. I am not brand loyal, but I will not try Elka and dont ask me why. I hope they make it a but what the shock industry needs is more manufacturers, that would cut the price alot.

Another note I think its funny that we pay 800 for a nice set of shocks for our 6000 dollar quads but yet you would pay somewhere around 400 for a set of 4 nice shocks for a car. Myabe when quads have been around as long as cars the shocks will be that cheap.

[kabd69667]

People buy a brand of shock, kinda just like what brand of quad you get. They think that their brand is the ****. No matter if there is a better brand out there, your not gonna admit it cuz your confident in your brand. Just like the yamaha-honda thing. If yamaha comes out with a yz426 or 440 racer, several 400ex riders are not going to admit how much better it is than the 400ex. I've had no problems with my elka's, my neighbor hasn't had problems with his pep's on his 'r, i just have to find someone with axis around here.

I know what you mean about brand names. But I didn't buy these w/ that intention. As far as "Axis" (THE BEST!!!!!). I just got some from moocazen & they're beyond awesome. I raced on them today, & had almost no arm-pump by the end. They soaked up every hit that I encountered. The ones I bought are dual adjust, Dual rate, but you honestly won't need the adjustments unless you race on a lot of different tracks(I didn't have to touch them once) . :cool:

[Evan]

Yeah I know what you mean about AXIS I have them on my EX, triple rates on the front and dual rate rear, all comp adj. I love em wouldnt trade them for anything. I have a TCS rear shock for my R and cant wait to try it out, I will be trying to get PEP ZPS on the front if possible.

[86atc250r]

All this talk about which is best, then trying to categorize the shocks by people with little to no experience with any or all of the brands is ridiculous.

Here's the deal from someone who's owned and raced them all and has nothing to gain from your purchase decision.

First of all, all the top mainstream shocks offer excellent hardware (PEP, Axis, Elka, TCS). As far as hardware goes, you can't go wrong with any of these four and all are fairly comparable. None can be categorized as "Best" or really even "better" than the other, they are all different and have their good and bad points (which are all minor).

Now that's out of the way, we need to talk about what's really the most important thing. Setup...

Setup can make or break the shock. You can get a set of Works shocks that will outperform a set of Axis shocks quite easily if the setup is bad on the Axis and good on the Works.

Companies like Axis and especially PEP have an edge over the others because of their heavy involvement and in some cases trackside support in national level racing - not because there is some magical voodoo in their shock hardware.

PEP has built a huge database over the years of what does and does not work for various combos and rider capabilities. Axis hasn't been around as long, but they are doing the same. Elka has only started their work with national level riders and if they keep at it, will someday have a huge pool of experience to draw from as well - I still consider them to be in the learning phase.

As far as real world performance on my quad, setup for XC.... The best feeling shocks I've had so far are my PEP ZPS. Keep in mind that these are just my experiences, others may differ.

Axis is 2nd - the Axis I had bottommed too easily, and I'm not talking about when landing jumps. They rear would give me a harsh bottom when high speeding thru a narrow washout and the like. Obviously they would also bottom out pretty harshly if you landed out in the flats (which on some of our courses you must, there is no other option). This would cause me to back off in places, which is not a good thing.

The PEPs are very well balanced, the Axis were biased a little too much to the rear.

The PEPs use a light spring rate with somewhat firm damping to control body roll but offer a decent ride. The Axis used a heavy spring rate with fairly light highspeed damping and heavier low speed damping to do the same.

All in all, except for the bottomming of the Axis, both shocks felt pretty good -- given the choice and money not being the object - I run the PEPs.

Elka - My Elkas were sprung too heavy in the front and too light in the rear. The rebound on the front was too slow and too fast on the rear. The compression damping was medium and light on the rear (lighter than a stock 400EX rear shock as shown by my dyno readings). These all added up to some handling problems for me and I had stock suspended quads giving me fits out on the trail.

TCS - not really a fair comparison as mine were the older type and setup for MX. They had good bottomming resistance but the rear was WAY too firm on the compression damping and too slow on the rebound. We adjusted both and they worked better for XC, but I tired of the maintence - they were built on standard works bodies which required frequent crossover and lower bushing replacment. They also used 1/2" shafts up front.

So... As for who's the best? None of them. There is no "best". These four are all good hardware, but it's going to boil down to who can set them up the best for you and what you're doing. So far, for me it's been PEP - but that doesn't mean everyone's PEP shocks will outperform everyone's Axis shocks. That also doesn't mean there isn't some lesser known shock builder out there making wicked shocks out of Works bodies either.

Choosing a shock is a big decision, the best advice I can give is talk to them all, be truthful about your skill and setup. Don't try to fool the system by telling them you weigh more than you do. Take advantage of the valving warranty and have things you don't like changed before it's too late. And most importantly, don't settle for a shock because of a short wait time. You've waited this long and it's a lot of money - patients pays off in the long run.

[Dave400ex]

I went to a Local XC Race Today and most of the Guys had Works. There were a few TCS and Elka Shocks, even one set of Axis, but it was mostly Works.

Gabe that is Great Info. I know I will be Happy with my decision to get the PEP ZPS.

Warriorman what kind of riding do you do?

[Dave400ex]

XC Riding and soon to be Racing.