TESTED: MRP Ramp Control

Words: Lachlan McKillop

If someone can make something simpler and more user friendly I’m all about it! We are all time poor to some degree and when we jump on our bikes we want to be able to adjust as many things without tools to give ourselves more trail time. MRP launched the Ramp Control unit earlier this year, it offers on the fly adjustment for a selection of RockShox forks in the single and dual crown ranges. The idea is sound and makes sense but how is the product by one company going to work with a different companies fork? This was a product I was amped to get my hands on and put to the test because the token system is something I love and for someone to make it more on the trail friendly is rad. 

When the RockShox Pike hit the market it really changed the game. It took me from a converted Fox rider straight into RockShox and what a relationship it has been since. The Pike was a great fork but the underlying feature that stood out was the token system. The token system was revolutionary in the sense that riders could now make their fork ramp up as much as they wanted. I'm assuming all that are reading this know what fork ramp up means (if not please Google it). Having the adjustability that only the pros had talked about was now at the fingertips of the rider.

The system can be set with changing tokens (plastic threaded inserts) in the fork that basically restrict the size of the air chamber and changes the bottom out features of the fork. Now the only downside to this is that you firstly have to take the air cap off the fork and secondly there is a process to installing and figuring out what tokens should be run. MRP has created the ramp control cartridge to combat this. Instead of a plastic token system the air assembly replaces the top cap and tokens and allows on the fly ramp up adjustment. Meaning you can change how your fork ramps up trailside in a split second, a very nice feature.

Setting up and riding the MRP Ramp Control

Installation of the ramp control system couldn’t be easier. Take out your old top cap with a 32mm socket, give the threads a clean, use the supplied slick honey to coat the threads of the cartridge and done! It’s that easy. I had it in my fork in no time and was ready to take it to the trail. Having on the fly ramp up control was a pretty damn cool feature to say the least. 

I had the cartridge in my forks and it was time to hit the trail and I was going to be playing with this bad boy all day to see how it felt. My first few rides I ran the cartridge with adjustment through the 16 clicks at all just to see what it felt like. It ramps up similarly to running 1 token in the fork. The next few runs were set at the highest adjustment for some binary testing and it rides as though there are 3 tokens in the fork. It was a noticeable difference and really nice to be able to adjust on the trail. I felt as though the fork in the mid stroke did not ramp up like my original token set up, offering for some riders a smoother ride in the mid stroke. For the rest of the month using the fork I changed between 8-16 clicks on different tracks to see how the forks felt. I found I used the control more at the higher end of the range as I do like my fork to ramp up a lot. I wish that the clicker however went a touch further giving a more extreme amount of ‘tokens’ to play with.

Verdict

The Ramp Control is great, it does what it says and gives the rider on the fly ramp control. Installation is super easy and MRP even supplies a great online instruction if you are stuck. For the rider that is looking to play with their fork but does not want to be taking their forks apart on the trail this is a great idea. You can experiment and play with how you fork feels. I think MRP have created a good product that lives up to their promises.

Hits:    

 – Simplifies suspension tuning

– Easy to use trailside

Misses:

    – Could have a larger range of adjustment for aggressive riders    

RRP: $215

From: stevecramerproducts.com