12 Responses to “Shockster”

1. 1 Guitar Ted  on Apr 14th, 2005 at 6:26 am

   Are these guys still around? I noticed that the site had highlights of the ‘98 Interbike. I think they are “no longer”. At any rate, I do know these devices were roundly criticized, and dismissed back in the day. Guys on the Vintage, Retro, and Clasic forum of MTBR don’t have much good to say about them, either. I’ve never actually seen one, or talked to an owner of one. Perhaps they actually work. I’ve just never heard anything good about them.

2. 2 Mike Miles  on Aug 17th, 2006 at 11:51 am

   The company (Bike Control) tanked several years ago but the assets were sold via the net for some time afterward.

   Most of the criticism from hard core riders may be valid (3 pound system, lengthened wheelbase by 1-1/2″, add-on instead of integrated) but the benefits of lowcost retrofit upgrade, no pogoing, no permanent modifications were lost. It was also missed that it was a lead-in for hardtail riders to try FS before committing $$.

   Every pro rider that tried it was impressed that it had value but not for hard-core.

   Problem in sales was a result of advertising to the wrong market (bike magazine readers - wrong target, too sophisticated on bike technology). They tried to seed the market by sending units to bike shops to try out but fewer than 10% were actually installed. Turned out the that most of the shop mechanics were hardcore bikers and wouldn’t install them because they didn’t think it could be any good. They forgot that it was a sales pull tool to help migrate hardtail buyers into trial FS frames at a small incremental cost.

   A great lesson in marketing problems and mis-targetting.

3. 3 John Evans  on Jun 6th, 2007 at 4:09 pm

   I’ve had one of these since they came out and love it.
   I’m 6′7″ so a typical suspension bike makes me look like one of those tweekers on a kids BMX bike. Does anyone know if there are still places to get parts?

4. 4 cosinusleistung  on Jul 22nd, 2007 at 9:28 am

   @john evans

   if you need a new shockster, try ebay germany ( http://www.ebay.de ),

   for example

   ebay-item 250115837518 from german ebay trader :

   e-h-bikestore ( worldwide shipping! ),

   you can also call the Owner :

   Jessica and Sascha Hoeckelmann

   bike-tuning GbR

   Edith-Stein-Straße 1

   37434 Gieboldehausen

   Germany

   Phone/Fax: 0049-5528-999180

   mail: info@bike-tuning.net

   or ebay-item 230152630747 from german

   ebay trader : sportsandmoreshop_de

   you can also call the Owner :

   Sams´s SportsAndMoreShop

   Owner: Mr. Holger Pfeuffer

   Schlesier Str. 3

   97332 Volkach

   Germany

   Phone: 0049-09381-717876

   Fax: 0049-09381-717875

   mail: info@sportsandmoreshop.de

   hope this will help you.

5. 5 stephanie  on Aug 1st, 2007 at 6:08 pm

   i actually have on new, still in the box that im trying to sell on craigslist. the guy who owned bike control, lester earlston is actually one of my dads best friends and came up with the idea because my brothers used to race. they work wonderfully i got 6 of them and used two on my bikes and have sold the rest. i will sell you my new never used on that i currently have posted on craigslist for $100 plus shipping. you can email me at stephaniexchristine@yahoo.com if you want it

6. 6 Craze  on Feb 16th, 2008 at 3:22 pm

   The reason the company went out of business is that the Shockster was a POS. You don’t get something for nothing, and you don’t get a well-balanced active full-suspension bike by bolting on 3 pounds of lead. Not to mention the thing ruined the carefully balanced sizing and balance of the hardtail by lengthening the wheelbase and shifting weight too far to the rear, so now you have a poor-cornering bike. Good riddance to bad garbage.

7. 7 dave  on Mar 16th, 2008 at 7:30 am

   I have two installed on recumbent bikes, and four new in boxes on the shelf. I’m working on a mod where I can install a disk brake mount on one side. This requires machining a replacement left side bracket. The Shockster is a beautiful piece of design. I have one on a Rans Screamer tandem (with extra heavy duty springs) and one on my F-40 Lightning recumbent. They don’t pogo at all. My wife loves the smooth ride on the back of the tandem. I paid full retail (200) for the first one and bought the heavy springs (for the tandem) before the company folded. Lightning bicycles sold them as an accessory, but then closed them out on eBay. I bought the other 5 for 10 bucks apiece! If I ever get around to building a carbon fiber recumbent tandem frame, I suspect I’ll incorperate a lot of the design in to that frame. The extra 3 pounds is offset by allowing the use of lighter wheel/tires due to the reduced pounding. Any suspension system adds weight to a bike, this one works better than any I’ve tried. The bikes I’ve used it on had the handling improve, as the increased wheelbase added stability. I’ve never had a failure of any sort.

8. 8 Richard  on Mar 25th, 2008 at 1:09 pm

   Anyone know of any other sources for one of these things or would part with one of yours?

   I am looking for a temporary solution to bumps and hits offroad that would be addressed by one of the Shocksters. I have a healing back injury and a hardtail that has way too much invested into it to toss aside for a full suspension frame. I only need something to keep going on the trails for a few months and suspension seats and seatposts just plain suck.

9. 9 dave  on Mar 26th, 2008 at 7:45 am

   Try lightningbikes.com. They still show them as an option for their bikes.

10. 10 Robert  on May 7th, 2008 at 2:24 pm

    I’m getting ready to try a Shockster (gift from a friend) on my short-wheelbase recumbent (Actionbent Jet Stream I). I appreciate the comments here. Rider and load should be under about 200 lbs, but I am concerned that the brake braze-ons won’t be strong enough and the whole thing will fall apart.

11. 11 Pedalplane  on May 8th, 2008 at 7:51 am

    I have shocksters installed on two recumbents. I have one on a Rans Screamer tandem, and one installed on an F40 LIghtning (basically a P-38 with full body). Neither bike has any brake bosses in the needed position. The Rans only has aluminum telescoping seat stays instead of frame tubing. The weight load is carried only by the frame dropouts. Only brake forces are transferred to the seat stays. I had to make a simple bracket to attach the shockster to my tandem. After four years of riding the tandem with the top of the shockster attached with 4 plastic wire ties (two on each side) I have had no failures and no bending/distortion of these lightweight ’seat stays’. The brake forces on my tandem, are certainly much higher than anything you would have on your single bike. I bought this shockster when the company was still in business, so I got extra heavy springs from them. Mind you, were pushing 350+ Lbs down the road! My experience says you can easily exceed the 200 lb limit, with the standard springs. Combine that with a suspension fork, and you ride like a cadillac, with absolutely no pogoing. Of course my experience goes against Shockster and Lightning’s recommendations (Lightning still lists Shockster as an option). I did have to dispense with the drum brake in order to use the Shockster on my Rans, but my Magura hydraulic rim brakes stop it fine. I do go through brake pads quickly, as stopping twice the weight requires four times the force (and heat). I always carry spares, which easily pop in. Eventually I hope to machine a part which will enable me to install a disk brake, but the thing really stops fine as is. I have completely abused the shockster on the tandem. I have the dropouts spread apart in order to accomodate my extra wide rear axle; a stress never intended by Shockster. I bought four spares thinking I would eventually break, or have excessive wear on my tandem shockster. Hasn’t happened. Three are still in their boxes, and one has been disassembled for my aforementioned machining project.

12. 12 Dan  on Jul 25th, 2008 at 1:19 pm

    I have a Lightning Thunderbolt A-10 which was purchased with a shockster.
    The bike has 10,200 miles (and another 3000+ on a trainer) No trouble.
    I bought a P-38 a couple of years ago and the Thunderbolt didn’t get used much. However, I just traded its skinny road tires out for knobbies, and it’s a lot of fun. It’s probably going to get a lot of bouncing in the future. . .

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