The Takeaway: Seamless, silent, and super fast, Fox’s Live Valve Neo shocks offer impressive technology that significantly enhances a bike’s feel on the trail. Most modern suspension bikes don’t need Live Valve Neo to perform well, but you will probably prefer how your bike rides with it.
The Expanded Fox Neo Family
Fox recently introduced its Neo technology (the moniker denoting Fox’s wireless products) with the excellent Transfer Neo dropper post. And with the release of two shocks—the Float X (air-sprung) Live Valve Neo and the DHX (coil spring) Live Valve Neo—the Neo family grows even larger.
Fox uses the Neo wireless protocol to send information from wheel sensors to the shock, which tells it to engage in one of two modes: open or firm. It does all this automatically and silently, but, as you'll see below, a host of adjustments lets the rider customize the system.
The shocks are offered as aftermarket upgrades in Fox’s top-of-the-line Factory series only, but Performance Elite Live Valve Neo shocks come as standard equipment on some bikes.
Fox’s Neo post and shocks share a battery, charger, and high-speed wireless communication protocol Fox debuted with the Neo dropper. Like the dropper, Fox’s companion app isn’t required for the Live Valve Neo shocks but offers additional features.
As it does for the post, the app tracks the shock’s duty cycle (the Float X and DHX have a 125-hour service interval) and alerts the rider when service is recommended. Service recommendations are based on time alone, and the shock cannot sense anything other than electronic faults. For example, the app will not alert riders if they have a blown damper or leaky air spring. The app also provides riders with multiple options to fine-tune the shock’s feel.
Unlike Fox’s first-generation Live Valve and RockShox’s Flight Attendant, the Live Valve Neo system does not include a fork component, at least not now. Instead, it is intended for trail bikes that typically run a medium-duty reservoir shock, like a Specialized Stumpjumper or Pivot Switchblade.
At the Live Valve Neo launch event I attended at Crankworx Whistler in July, Fox’s senior product marketing manager, Sean, Estes explained that, in Fox’s opinion, automatic damping mode changes in a fork are too slow for this application. Estes stated that a system cannot sense a bump, react, and change modes fast enough and will pass feedback to the rider, who will then feel the delay. Estes said, “In an XC application, that is probably acceptable because you're gaining efficiency, so it is [a] worthwhile [trade-off]. But in a trail or enduro or downhill format, that is not acceptable.”
So, Fox currently does not have an XC-oriented Live Valve Neo system or one for gravity. Fox seems extremely likely to get there for XC, at least. However, the timeline is presently unknown.
The Live Valve Neo System
The Live Valve Neo shock’s architecture is essentially that of a Float X or DHX without Live Valve. LV Neo adds a “2-position magnetic latching solenoid” that switches the shock between open and firm mode.
If you want to get nerdier, the shock has two damping circuits—low-speed compression (LSC) and high-speed compression (HSC). The solenoid closes or opens the LSC circuit. When the solenoid selects open mode, oil can pass through the LSC circuit and, with a sharp enough impact, the HSC circuit. When the solenoid switches the shock to firm mode, oil can only pass through the HSC circuit.
The mode change is super fast: Fox says it can switch from firm to open (or the opposite) in just 1/70th of a second. The system is also virtually silent—the most noise you hear is faint clicks when the system powers up.
Although not yet available, Fox has a handlebar remote in the works that allows riders to toggle through the shock’s Active Tunes (more below) on the fly.
Live Valve Neo vs. Flight Attendant
Fox’s Live Valve Neo differs significantly from the RockShox Flight Attendant (FA) system, though it seems natural to compare the two systems. As previously mentioned, LV Neo does not have a fork (for now), does not require a pedaling sensor or power meter (like FA), and only has two positions (open and firm), while FA has three (0pen, pedal, firm).
Sensing that we would all ask why LV Neo has only two positions, Fox provided this answer in the FAQ accompanying the press materials:
“Live Valve Neo does not employ a third ‘pedal’ mode, which some riders may perceive as necessary when climbing technical trails or pedaling through low-angle technical sections. Live Valve Neo can switch between open and firm so fast that a ‘middle ground’ setting is not necessary.”
The controller and battery are integrated into the shock rather impressively. Although a NEO battery is larger than a RockShox AXS battery, Fox stealthily packages the system into the shock.
While LV Neo does not have a pedaling sensor, it does have a sensor at each wheel that sends bike angle and bump force information to the shock’s controller. The wheel sensors are about the size of a quarter and weigh just 27 grams each. They cohabitate with the front and rear brake calipers, sitting atop one of the caliper’s mount tabs. The sensor’s metal mounting ear is quite thin so the stock caliper bolts should work.
The wheel sensors are extra parts dangling off the bike that could be damaged, but they are low profile and seem well-protected so I don’t anticipate this will be a major issue. Otherwise, the only drawback to the sensors I found is the sensor gets fiddly when you’re trying to center the caliper over the rotor while simultaneously trying to position the sensor properly. I found it best to center the caliper first and then mount the sensor.
The Techy Details
The big picture view of Live Valve Neo: When powered on, the shock’s default mode is firm, and the system then looks for opportunities to switch to open mode based on the information from the wheel sensors and the selected tune.
Each tune has three states (climbing, flat, descending) with independently adjustable G-force and timer parameters for each state. The G-force setting determines how big a hit is required to switch the shock to open mode, while the timer controls how long the shock stays in open mode.
“If another bump (that exceeds the threshold) is detected during the Open Timer, the timer resets, and your shock will stay open. If no significant bump is detected before the Open Timer expires, the shock reverts to Firm,” says Fox
The wheel sensors “read terrain 400 times per second,” with the front wheel sensor collecting terrain angle (determining whether the bike is in a climbing, flat, or descending state) and G-forces from bumps, while the rear only reads G-forces. “Neo communicates a command from the sensors to the controller in as little as one millisecond,” says Fox.
It stresses that LV Neo is so fast and sensitive that a hit detected by the front wheel will open the shock before the rear wheel reaches the bump. It is also constantly switching modes.
In a corner, for example, it might be closed on corner entry, open briefly mid-corner to improve traction, and close again before you exit the turn so you have a firm platform as you pump out it. LV Neo will also switch to open midair for a softer jump or drop touch-down.
So...Many...Adjustments
If you love to tinker with suspension, you’ll love Live Vave Neo.
The shocks have the typical adjustments expected on a high-end suspension product. There is pressure (Float X) or spring rate (DHX), air spring progression via air volume spacers (Float X only), and rebound adjustment. Additional clickers adjust low-speed damping (low-speed compression, 11-position blue dial) while the Firm Mode Adjust (FMA,seven-position black dial) sets the firm mode’s blowoff threshold.
The effect of the FMA and the G-force adjustment in the Fox app (see below) slightly overlap. The difference is that the threshold controls how firm the shock feels in the firm mode and when firm mode blows off (which is not the same as switching to open mode). The rider uses FMA to dial in a more traditional locked-out feel or a softer pedaling platform feel.
Meanwhile, the app’s G-force adjustment controls how big a bump it takes to switch the shock’s mode from firm to open.
But that’s just the start. A dive into the Fox app unlocks even more adjustments. However, if you prefer to keep things simple, Live Valve Neo shocks do not require the app to pair, calibrate, or ride. The system will make decisions based on Fox’s standard tunes (if purchased aftermarket) or a tune provided by the bike brand (if included with a new bike).
But if you use the app, you’ll have access to a dizzying array of tools that let you fine-tune the system’s reactions to a molecular level. These tools are nested in a friendly way, however.
On the app’s Tune page, you’ll find Fox’s tunes (Standard, Firm, Plush, Open, Closed) and perhaps bike brand-provided tunes. However, only three tunes are designated as “Active”—meaning they’re in the shock controller’s memory so you tap a tune in the app and the shock controller immediately loads it. Active tunes will gain more functionality when Fox releases the Neo handlebar remote, allowing riders to toggle through the three active tunes on the fly. The other tunes are “Inactive” (they’re not loaded into the shock but are present in the app).
Here is how Fox describes its tunes:
Standard: For most rider preferences, in a variety of terrain.
Firm: For riders who prefer a firmer platform, even when encountering small bumps and obstacles on the trail.
Plush: For riders who prefer a softer ride, favoring comfort over efficiency.
Open: This overrides the Live Valve Neo system and keeps your shock open in all riding scenarios.
Closed: Overrides the Live Valve Neo system, it keeps your shock firm in every riding scenario, except when landing a jump or drop.
Fox and bike brands may roll out new or updated tunes at any time, which riders can download (they’re relatively small files) to their phone and shuffle in and out of the active list as needed. While testing the shock, Fox introduced “Shore” and “Traction” tunes developed for North Shore and Southwestern US riding, respectively.
You can also edit the tunes in the app if none of these tunes seems right. (Yes, you can tune the tunes.)
The first editing tool you encounter is a simple bump sensitivity slider. You’d use this if you thought, “I like this tune but wish it was just a bit firmer/plusher.
The rider can also go deeper than the simple slider—Fox calls this Precision Mode—and into a set of tools that allow them to edit the fine details of each of the three states (Climb, Flat, Descend) that inform the algorithm’s decisions.
In precision mode, each state’s tunable details are:
Angle: How steep a hill is required to trigger a tune’s climbing (1.0 to 8.0 degrees) or descending (-1.0 to -8.0 degrees) mode. Anything between the set climbing and descending modes’ angles triggers Flat mode.
Mode: Confusingly, each mode has a Mode—coupled or decoupled—option. This setting sets whether the system reacts to inputs from the front and rear wheel sensors (coupled) or only the rear wheel sensor (decoupled).
Shock Override: There are three options here—open, live, or closed. If open or closed is selected, the system ignores inputs from the wheel sensors, and the shock remains open or closed. So, a rider can choose closed for climbing mode and open for descending mode and only have the shock “Live” for flat mode.
G-Force: The force threshold needed to switch the shock to open.
Timer: How long the shock stays open.
You can also save an edited tune as a new tune, reset all the tunes to default, create your tune from scratch, and share any of the tunes on your phone with others.
And, because you want to know, if any of the system’s batteries die mid-ride, the shock reverts to open mode.
Prices, Weights, Sizes, How To Buy
Besides Fox’s aftermarket options, at launch, the only bikes available with Live Valve Neo shocks are one special edition Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper 15 which sells for $13,500, and most of Pivot’s full-suspension family.
In Pivot’s case, the Live Valve Neo shocks are an upgrade that costs $1,300 (Live Valve Neo air shock only) to $2,200 (Live Valve Coil shock and Transfer Neo post). Pivot offers the shock-only upgrade only for e-bikes, while its muscle bikes are only sold with the shock-and-post upgrade.
Fox representatives tell me other brands will have options in the future, but “launch dates are not established.”
With battery, my sample LV Neo shocks weighed:
- Float X: 624g (210 x 55 standard eyelet)
- DHX: 665g (205 x 65 trunnion without spring)
Those weights are about 140 grams heavier than a standard (no LV Neo) version of the same shock.
Two elements comprise the aftermarket product—the Live Valve Neo Kit and the shock.
- The Kit ($399) includes everything but the shock: front and rear bump sensors, a Neo battery, a charger, and a charger cable.
- The Factory Float X Live Valve Neo costs $999, while the Factory DHX Live Valve Neo costs $949 (spring not included).
All in, a Float X LV Neo costs $1,398, while a DHX LV Neo with Fox SLS shock spring costs about $1,478.
The Float X LV Neo is offered in the following sizes:
- Standard eyelet: 190X45mm, 210X55mm, 230X65mm, 250X75mm
- Trunnion: 165X45mm, 185X55mm, 205X65mm, 225X75mm
The DHX LV Neo, meanwhile, is offered in the following sizes:
- Standard eyelet: 210X55mm, 230X65mm, 250X75mm
- Trunnion: 185X55mm, 205X65mm, 225X75mm
Fox notes that both LV Neo shocks “can have travel reduced in 2.5mm increments up to 7.5mm.”
Ride Impressions
I tested Live Valve Neo shocks—a Float X and a DHX—for about two months. The Float X I received came with Fox’s aftermarket tune, so I’ve swapped it into a few different bikes. The DHX is custom-tuned for a new e-bike—however, I can’t tell you about that bike yet.
Due to the seemingly infinite number of tunes and customization options, I spent most of my time riding the shocks with the standard tune. But I also rode all the bikes I fitted with Live Valve Neo shocks with standard Fox shocks, so I know how much LV Neo changed their performance.
A trap many riders might fall into—I know I did—when considering Live Valve Neo is thinking of it as something that only improves the feel of a bike when pedaling and climbing on smoother terrain. It does that, but I found the stuff in between more interesting.
One example I noticed was on a slower technical section of trail with lots of square-edged rocks to crawl over. The shock is firm and offers a nice platform for pedaling up to the rock, but it will be open when the rear wheel hits the bump so the rear wheel tracks over the bump smoothly and the rider doesn’t get bucked.
As the rear wheel drops off the other side of the bump, the shock absorbs that hit. Instead of an oscillation or two (which you’ll get unless you have the rebound set very slow), the shock firms up and immediately calms the bike. This means less wallowing and less rearward weight transfer (which can destabilize the front wheel and lead to a wandering feeling as you try to pick your way through technical sections).
Overall, I found that bikes with LV Neo felt calmer and experienced less pitching—and excess suspension motion and squish—when I didn’t want it. Bikes also felt crisper, not just on smoother bits of trail, but also when driving out of corners and sneaking in a few pedal strokes between features and obstacles along the trail. And, importantly, I never found it diminished the character and performance of the bike in rough terrain where you want the suspension to be open.
Because the solenoid is so fast and quiet, it can seem like the shock isn’t doing much. Selecting the Open tune—which disables the solenoid and leaves the shock fixed in open mode—and riding for a few minutes will convince you otherwise. It’s stunning how often LV Neo finds opportunities to change modes—though, importantly, this depends on the selected tune and the finder details of that tune.
Besides the system’s cost and extra weight, I did not find performance drawbacks when riding the LV Neo. It only serves to make a bike feel better.
Occasionally, I felt the shock “pop” as it switched from closed to open mode after the rear wheel hit a bump. Some reasons for this might be a too-short timer, a too-high bump threshold setting for the front wheel, or the front wheel somehow avoiding the bump the rear wheel hit. However, the shock can switch modes so quickly that this sensation never causes performance problems.
After all this time and swapping back and forth between a bike with and without LV Neo, I’m left feeling like it is an impressive and seamless piece of technology. It’s easy to install and use, plus, it definitely changes the character of the bike it is equipped on.
Should You Buy It?
So, does it work? Absolutely! But is it so fundamentally game-changing that, now that I’ve ridden with it, I can’t, like a dropper post, imagine going without? For me, the answer is no. I don’t think it makes a bike’s suspension performance $1,400-plus better.
In Fox’s media kit, they say things like, “You’ll ride faster and conserve energy while you’re at it,” and, “Riders gain every performance advantage for a faster overall ride.” But I emailed a Fox representative to get timing and power data that might back up those statements, and the response I received said, “I do not have testing data I can share.”
When they first launched Flight Attendant, RockShox said similar things about increased performance but, like Fox, offered no data to back it up. That’s why I went out and did some real-world testing myself, which was the foundation of this story. Spoiler: I saw no significant difference in my speed with Flight Attendant and without.
Later, when RockShox launched the XC version of Flight Attendant, the brand provided some data to back up its claims by saying that, in testing, Flight Attendant made riders 1.8 percent faster.
I have not yet done back-to-back timed testing with and without Live Valve Neo. But I have taken the LV Neo-equipped bikes on some of my most ridden testing trails, and so far, I have not set any PRs riding LV Neo. However, I have been consistently quick on the LV Neo bikes.
Even so, I don’t race often or intentionally chase Strava KOMs, so faster doesn’t matter much to me. I care about the experience, and by that measure, I find riding with LV Neo slightly preferable to riding without it.
I also greatly prefer it to Flight Attendant. Not because FA is bad (it isn’t) but because LV Neo is silent and FA is noisy, and the mode switch delay in FA’s forks bugs me.
That’s why I would pay to upgrade to LV Neo (if offered) on a higher-end bike I intend to buy. It is quiet and seamless, and I prefer a bike with the system to the same bike without.
But I wouldn’t specifically seek out Live Valve Neo when shopping for a new bike. A bike wouldn’t vault to the top of my list of bikes I was considering purchasing simply because it had LV Neo.
That’s because I don’t think modern mountain bikes need LV Neo (or Flight Attendant) to perform well—if one does, there’s probably something fundamentally wrong that slapping an automatic suspension on will not fully address.
There are whisperings that technology like Live Valve Neo is becoming so fast and seamless that it will allow engineers to design bikes with different kinematic choices because chain-torque-induced anti-squat (which has its own set of compromises) isn’t needed to make a bike pedal efficiently and support the rider’s weight on uphill sections of trail.
I am curious to experience such a bike. But we’re not there yet. Today, we’re adding electronically controlled automatic damping changes—mainly in the name of pedaling and climbing performance—to bikes already designed (and in most cases succeed) to pedal efficiently without relying on such technology.
If you’re a person who is constantly twiddling a lockout lever (and wishes they could more), or you felt like your bike wasn’t whole until you added a remote lockout system, Live Valve Neo will make you exceedingly happy.
For the rest of us, I cannot imagine any rider would find anything they didn’t like about riding a bike with LV Neo. Whether this $1,400 plus suspension accessory is necessary hardware for your bike is a matter of taste and preferences rather than a revolutionary performance improvement.
A gear editor for his entire career, Matt’s journey to becoming a leading cycling tech journalist started in 1995, and he’s been at it ever since; likely riding more cycling equipment than anyone on the planet along the way. Previous to his time with Bicycling, Matt worked in bike shops as a service manager, mechanic, and sales person. Based in Durango, Colorado, he enjoys riding and testing any and all kinds of bikes, so you’re just as likely to see him on a road bike dressed in Lycra at a Tuesday night worlds ride as you are to find him dressed in a full face helmet and pads riding a bike park on an enduro bike. He doesn’t race often, but he’s game for anything; having entered road races, criteriums, trials competitions, dual slalom, downhill races, enduros, stage races, short track, time trials, and gran fondos. Next up on his to-do list: a multi day bikepacking trip, and an e-bike race.
