I love having the opportunity to check out cool and exciting new MTB products, especially those from smaller niche manufacturers. Elka suspension opened its doors in Quebec, Canada back in 2000, starting out in the performance / racing ATV market. The company has now grown into a multi-discipline manufacturer but mountain bikers still get all the individual attention and professional support that only a pro racer would expect.
The Elka Stage 5 is a 4-way adjustable rear shock ranging in sizes from 7.5? x 2? all the way to 10.5? x 3.5?, covering nearly all the AM-DH bikes that are out there. The shining feature here is the bike-specific custom valving, a feature that no other manufacturer I know of provides standard. The shock is constructed using hard anodized machined aluminum on the body, main shaft, main piston and reservoir and features easy to use adjustments with a wide range of tuning. The clickers all have a very positive feel to them with no need for tools to turn them.
Due to the high-flowing internals of the shock, Elka uses a high-volume external reservoir to ensure adequate internal oil flow. To guarantee a long service life, Elka included long life premium seals, O-rings and wear bands in the internals of the shock plus DU bushing for the eyelets and a quality micro-cellular urethane bumper. As an added bonus, Elka didn’t want to re-invent the wheel so they used standard spring and mounting hardware (1/2? DU bushing hardware and 1.38? inner diameter springs). Looking carefully on the outside you will also notice the razor perfect lines of CNC machine work. An optional titanium spring is available for those who are concerned about saving weight.