RockShox Flight Attendant Review! (Specialized Epic vs Evil Following)

Are you trying to figure out what is the best XC Downcountry bike? Welcome to our XC Bike buyers guide! We have spent the last month testing 7 of the best XC bikes on the market and are excited to share with you guys what we think is the best one! In this video we review the Rockshox Flight Attendant found on the Evil Following and Specialized S-Works Epic. Is it worth it? How do we like SRAM Transmission? Let's find out!

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And until next time, Ride Awesome!

-Mo and Hannah
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[brianstewart]

SRAM has stated that the AXS Reverb dropper is currently not used in the calculations for FA. Or at least they did when it was originally released. I don’t think I’ve seen it formally confirmed but many people have said the plan is to take it into account at some point.

I find Transmission to be far superior to any drivetrain I’ve used and it seems to shift well enough for the best XC riders in the world so I don’t think it is holding any of us mortals back. It is interesting that you said it was more difficult to setup as that is potentially the biggest benefit to most people. It is basically idiot proof to install but you also noted that it needs to be torqued correctly which is true. I torque everything to spec because it would drive me insane if I didn’t. If that isn’t true for the user then it isn’t a great choice.

Great review and great series. I have both a Mach 4SL (upgraded to FA) and an S-Works Epic 8 and agree with pretty much everything you said in the reviews. Both are outstanding bikes and I’m fairly certain that is true for all of the ones you reviewed.

[samharris]

I just tested FA upgrade kit on both Mach 4 SL and Epic Evo 7 over two weeks back-to-back same day same tires same everything. It is so noisy on the Epic Evo, I hated it. But it is much quieter on the Mach 4 SL. I think it knows from compression readings it doesn’t have to lock out as much. The better pedaling platform of the Mach 4 SL leads to fewer electronic interventions.

Also learned the Bias setting has a big impact on how frequently it intervenes. Best to think of it not as -2, -1, 0, 1, 2 but rather open +1, +2, +3, +4, +5. The higher the bias, the more it tries to squeeze out every last bit of efficiency at the cost of more adjustments (every one of which is noisy).

[IthacaDon]

RockShox/SRAM probably won't allow you to run this test but I would love to see some real world data before I spend money on FA and power meter. The test is: A hilly ~6 mile loop with tech sections and some long steep fire road climbs and short grunt tech climbs as well as rough down hill sections. Turn off FA, do the loop. Turn on FA do the loop. Rest in between. What is the difference in time and power? Have Hannah do the same. Maybe a 3rd person too. If you have Strava or some other program you could get a TSS score and see the FA show less stress.

Showing this data is real proof that FA is worth the money and effort, IMHO.

[matthewandelin]

Can you share what shock settings you liked on both the epic 8 and the evil? Meaning air pressure and rebound?

[tolitsdterrible]

Never had an experience with flight attendant yet but one the first questions in mind is that how would you know if it's really working? Then you said you can hear the electronics working. Well, that's good I guess. 😊

[johndef]

The cable management looks nicer but not really an advantage.

[devincook]

It's a hella-good system when one of your complaints is a half a second "zizzz" noise.

[pandatactical]

Transmission didn’t solve a problem? No hanger or adjustments?

[jd]

I have to agree with your thoughts on Transmission. Coming from GX AXS and moving to X0 Transmission was a complete downgrade for me.

[XCRiders]

Transmission made the new bikes with it gain weight too.

[Paganiproductions]

I prefur my simple setup on my xc hardtai's whit simple lockout that just works

[TomCollins-ch]

I had the Fox live Valve 1.5 on my Giant Trance Advanced, It kind of works the opposite way of Flight Attendant where it is firm at first and then opens up at bumps, needless to say I didn't really like it and converted my bike to acoustic shocks. It was just too firm and progressive all around and was based on the Fit4 which doesn't have very good small bump sensitivity. Having said that I'm no engineer or expert, I did lose a little efficiency and climbing ability and lots of cash lol.

[notpablo]

wished the brain suspension is available for purchase

[RookYZRM]

I’m counting 7 batteries to manage on those bikes, again hard pass on that noise for me.

[wescot]

Nice videos and awesome bikes but unaffordable for most enthusiasts

[topchoice]

I think FA and live valve are the dumbest things for your MTB