BDSriderDWK Posted March 31, 2016 Report Share Posted March 31, 2016 I just bought a full set of shocks from Stadium Suspension. When doing all of my research on which suspension to buy, both here and across the google, it seemed that info on Stadium was very few and far between, so I wanted to put my experience out there, and maybe others that have had experience with them can chime in. I ride a good mix of terrain, but primarily long, whooped-out/rocky desert trails with a couple buddies. I had non-adjustable HLS fronts and a stock rear, and they worked well, but wanted to take advantage of the long-travel Alba arms (never really like having to use the stock-length adapters). The Elka Legacy kit is what really got me shopping for shocks, and it still seems like a pretty good deal, but Knowing there are better options out there would bug me, and I would have probably ended up upgrading from them anyways.. So I narrowed the search to 3-way adjustable, long-travel setups. Probably more adjustability than I will ever really need, but being a performance/suspension nerd, I figured why not! (Never really came across a 4-way, don't seem to see high/low speed rebound adjustments like on high-end racecar suspension. ?) Riding these isolated trails, and reading some about the potential to be stranded by a blown air shock, I crossed the Fox evol's off the list. I really liked the concept and they look great (not to mention most on BHQ seem to swear by them), so it was hard to do. But I decided a sprung setup was better for me. That left a few options with some backing from reviews of riders on here (fyi, I haven't posted much here, but have been lurking/learning for a long time. Much longer than I have actually had an account): -Elka stage 5 -Custom Axis -PEP -MotoWoz (not much info) -Stadium -Custom Axis: seem to be a top pick of many racers, most threads that ask for the "best of the best" generally end in a lot of Custom Axis claims, and I believe it given their Penske roots. But the price tag kept me away, given a full set would be close to cresting the $3k mark. X-Crossed off the list. -PEP: probably second with the number of kudos thrown their way. Similar price tag to Axis. Can't lie, the color scheme also was a turn-off. I have a pretty specific color scheme, and am kinda OCD about it. Ya, I can PC/anodize, but dropping that kind of coin, I want it to go from box to bolt-on to beautiful. X -MotoWoz: not too much info on em, seem to come up as an affordable option, but again, they are kinda ugly.. Lol! ~$2.5k for the fronts & rear. They also seem to only come in 2-way adjustability. X -Elka stage 5: these are beautiful shocks. The aluminum housing was a big draw to me, as its pretty cool that they seem to be the only ones doing it. They gotta be quite a bit lighter than the others. Really nothing but love on the forums for the high-end Elkas. Over $3k was a tough pill to try to swallow, so I tried to see what else was out there. -Stadium: probably the least amount of in-depth coverage. Just about any time they came up, it wad met with "haven't actually used them, but I have heard good things" or "I have nothing bad to say about Stadium". They seem to be a popular go-to for rebuilds, and most have had good things to say about them in that regard. There is some hood reviews in the snow sled world, and there are some talk of some really fast people in the racing world riding on Stadium. Were claimed to be really expensive, but it kinda depends on the USD-CAD exchange rate. They are ~$3k CAD for the full set, but depending on the exchange rate (was as good as 1.45 early this year) you can get em for close to $2k!! Seems to be a bit more stable around 1.25-1.3, which still works out to a smokin' deal. So I gave em a call. Terry at Stadium is a top notch guy. Always willing to talk setup, anxious to find out what will work for your riding and seems very knowledgeable. The customer service at Stadium is the one thing that seemed to be reviewed out there on the interwebs, and it was always in a good light. I talked to him a few times, always returned my calls promptly. Emails, not so much, but its easier to chat on the phone anyways. After a few chats, a look at the exchange rate, and my inkling to be different, Terry had me on the hook for a set of their 740-P2 triple rates and a 740-H2 rear. Turn-around was pretty quick. About two weeks from order to ship (ordered on a Thursday, shipped 13 days later, at my door in 18 days). They are very high quality, super-stoked to get these bolted up! Terry even included alternate progressive-wound springs and lighter first-stage springs for additional tuning! Here is what I got for a bit under $2.5k USD at a 1.3 ex. rate: The rear bolted up great. Perfect fit. gonna get a little creative for a reservoir mount, again just want to do something a little different. Drew up this bracket in CAD to have waterjet cut from 1/8" aluminum. Bolts to rear airbox tabs and will use vibe-damping pipe hangers from good ol' McMaster! Will be easily adjustable from under the seat, and a pretty slick mounting location if you ask me. Fronts needed smaller spacers (not Stadium's fault, the Alba arms have a ~31mm opening for the lower connection rather than the 32mm stock spacing. Probably no PC clearance in the design) so Terry sent me the smaller spacers right away. I will post pics when the fronts are mounted up, hopefully this weekend. Once I get some rides on them and play with the adjustments, I will post more of my experience. Just hoping that I can help the next person to come across my dilemma with their build and get a bit more info on Stadium out there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDSriderDWK Posted March 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2016 Close-up pic of the rear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hp2000 Posted March 31, 2016 Report Share Posted March 31, 2016 In For the ride review. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDSriderDWK Posted April 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2016 Got my bracket to mount the rear reservoir made, fits perfect! Got the smaller spacers for the fronts, will get them bolted up and hopefully have some time to get out in the desert! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenworthkid Posted April 10, 2016 Report Share Posted April 10, 2016 I wanna see a pic of the whole quad!!! That thing looks NICE Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickedcarbine Posted April 10, 2016 Report Share Posted April 10, 2016 Wow, pretty sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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