The GENIE In My Back Pocket

6 months ago with the launch of the Stumpjumper 15, Specialized decided to come to the game with another addition to the realm of suspension… Genie. With past endeavors like their Brain System having mixed reviews and relatively poor reliability, can Genie stand up to its claims of providing better ride quality, and more importantly will it stand up to the test of time? 

First off, Genie came to the market claiming better traction to mimic the feel of a coil and then insane end stroke support for when you send it deep and need the bike to keep its composure. It does this with a larger air volume and a position sensitive airspring, much like you see in large off-road bypass truck shocks. And their claims on feel are very true. From the first ride on a bike that was poorly set up, to having spent months dialing the shock in since then, it has been great. 

From the get go, the small bump sensitivity on any bike equipped with Genie is better than almost any coil shock. Braking bumps, fast chattery sections of rock gardens, it all feels muted and controlled when on a genie. This is done with a much larger initial air volume allowing for the very supple feel. 

Send her deep and then you feel the amazing progression in the rear end keeping you a little higher in the travel and providing control without sacrificing other areas of riding. The main piston moves by the bypass valves which immediately reduces air volume and creates much more support. It makes short(er) travel bikes like the Stumpjumper, able to easily handle big bike park lines, jumps, and drops without a need to change set up, add air pressure or feel like you need a DH bike. 

The shock has been excellent, but it's not without its downfalls. Being a decent hungry rider, I find myself in bike parks doing many thousands of feet of descending in a given day. After multiple consecutive descents on a hot day we started to find the shocks' limitations. Hot damper oil and a relatively low amount of it in the Float meant that by the end of the descents, inconsistencies with damping started to appear. Rebound would be controlled on one section then seemingly gone for the next. 

Luckily this was quickly addressed with a simple spec change and a move over to the Float X variant of the Genie shock on heavier bikes that demand consistent and predictable control.

With Brain having mixed consumer feedback, especially in the reliability department, this was the first thing to be addressed by Specialized, and working with Fox they got that sorted out. The Fox Float and Float X are some of the best and most reliable shocks on the market, Specialized took note when approaching their engineers. Working off of these platforms, Genie keeps the excellent, and improves on the great. A new main piston and outer air sleeve work harmoniously to achieve that coil like supple ride and trophy truck ending support. 

My ending consensus is that this is one of the best shocks to hit the market in a long time. It's simple and that's what makes it great. It's not trying to re-invent a valve, or use more complex twin tube designs, it works off of tried and true concepts to deliver really good ride quality. It may not have the boutique appeal that an EXT or a Push have, but it does have 95% of the small bump sensitivity, and a whole lot more in the end stroke support. And all of this at a much cheaper price of a Float X means that I think it's one of the best pieces of suspension tech to hit in the last 5 years. Ride it and I know you'll be inclined to agree.