Look Ma, no shock!

Would be awesome for cooling, as if DT shocks aren't troublesome enough.

Well I like their thinking! Good to have some genuine innovation for once rather than just another wider headset, bigger wheel, extra sprocket.

By the way it's Swiss not German, and being protected from all the dust & cr@p a shock usually gets thrown at it, an annual service may be the only attention it needs.

Interesting business model too - order direct from the manufacturer and delivered right to your door.

I'll certainly be watching with interest...

It's a DT Swiss shock, and they have a service agent in Australia - you don't have to send your Fox shock back to the U.S. do you?

Fair enough Fairy1.

I've no experience with DT Swiss parts except their spokes!

I've had enough problems with Fox - three out of four bits of Fox suspension I've owned had to be returned for warranty repair, but thankfully the LBS and Oz service agent made it a relatively painless process.

My LEV also had to have a new cartridge under warranty a week before I was due to go to Rotorua, but the Oz service agent pulled out all the stops and got it back to me in time.

So, I agree that reliability, ease of servicing, and a good local agent is important, and if DT Swiss don't cut it in this department then I'd have second thoughts about a bike that comes with one.

And I'm reminded of chain drives in factory machinery, and internal gears in vehicles, which last hundreds/thousands of times longer than the equivalent on our bikes, because they are protected from the elements whereas our bike machinery is constantly exposed to grit, water, and mud.

Or just ask anyone who's worked in a mine or offshore which bit of equipment lasts longer and needs less servicing - one exposed to the elements or one covered?

As I said, I'll be watching these guys with interest, as I think they've got an interesting idea there. Only time will tell if they're onto something, or the naysayers were right.

Hats off to your experience Flynny!

However, my understanding of why our bicycle drivetrains wear so quickly differs a bit from yours, as I've not heard it being about shifting force before. I understood it's a combination of factors around the overall design of modern derailleur systems and the conditions of use they are exposed to. To cram so many gears in modern systems the chains, sprockets & chainwheels have become narrower, concentrating same force on a smaller surface area. Then, in order to give the chain more lateral flexibility to span multiple gears, bicycle chain manufacturers went from sleeved bushings (which are still used on motorcycle chains, industrial chain drives, and some single speed bicycle chains) to the swaged bushingless design in the 1980s. This makes the surface area of the bushings in contact with the pins even less, and allows dirt to penetrate more easily into the bushing. Then you regularly douse the whole lot in dust, water & grit and you get a lovely grinding paste which works its way into the bushing and creates the wear we're all familiar with as chain stretch.

Anyway, at least it seems there is one thing we can agree on - that things that are protected last better.

Which means what it comes down to with that new shock design is A. whether enclosing it does indeed protect it better, or is dust and grit still going to get in there, and B. ease of access to inspect & maintain, which becomes even more important if the answer to A is no!

Unfortunately I don't think anyone can answer that based on just the pictures released so far, which is why my attitude is to applaud the innovation, but a wait & see as to whether I'd want to spend my hard earned cash on one.

And agree, gearboxes and maybe belt/shaft drives are where it starts to get really interesting...