EXT Aria Damper

The hype surrounding our new air shock has been brewing for quite some time and we are happy to announce the wait is over! Due to the reputation of EXT’s current line up, it has been highly anticipated that this would be a revolutionary project - and the final product does not disappoint. An air-sprung rear damper has been the missing piece in EXT’s already extensive line-up of high-performance suspension products, entrenched in years of research and development. 

As this is the first air shock from EXT, it is called the ARIA, “air” in Italian, which is saturated in novel technology and design approach. Though the EXT brand has become synonymous with unrivaled performance of coil shocks, their knowledge of air spring technologies actually began in the Williams Formula 1 program developing products for the highest forms of racing. Early on in the project it was clear to EXT’s team that they wouldn’t be satisfied with simply adding an air can to their existing coil-shock structure - high performance necessitated a complete, ground-up, re-design. Thus, EXT took the innovative dual-positive air chamber concept made for the Era fork and formatted a new version of it to fit the unique needs of the Aria application. From this groundwork they have created a shock featuring a noticeably improved air-spring able to reach high levels of sensitivity and support that are currently only achievable with coil sprung shocks.

Blister Gear Full Review of EXT Aria

"By combining the excellent damping and the bottom-out control of the company’s coil shocks with a highly adjustable, dual-chamber air spring, EXT has created one the most versatile high-performance air shocks we have tested to date. The spring curve can be shaped to suit your frame specifically, and the damping adjustments are effective and offer a good usable range. Many marketing departments will use the words “coil-like” when describing their air shocks, but in EXT’s case, we feel it’s actually justified – you can indeed set up your Aria to closely mimic the feel of a coil shock. But you can also make it very progressive, or settle for something in between. For those who really like to tinker with their set-up, this high degree of adaptability should put this shock right at the top of your wish list now."

VITAL MTB EXT ARIA Long Term Review

"When the Era was introduced three years ago, it made a lot of noise in the market. We were always impressed by the amount of control it offered, but it wasn’t easy to set up for comfort and the damper felt best suited to a more aggressive riding style. The v2.1 is much easier to live with out of the box, and we don’t feel like it has given up any of its capacity for hard charging. It is now a more versatile fork which strikes the perfect balance between comfort and support, ready to live up to its full potential for more riders, while still allowing tinkerers to really get into the nitty gritty of tuning it just how they like it. Cheap it is not, but it’s a very well-made product that will deliver the kind of performance you should demand from a fork with this pedigree and price tag."

VITAL MTB  Long Term ERA 2.1 Review

 "The EXT Era V1 was an extremely good fork with a few quirks, most notably how progressive it felt deep in the travel when in its longer-travel configurations. The latest Era V2.1 feels much more like a refinement of the same general recipe, rather than EXT going in an entirely different direction. But they’ve done a great job of improving the performance in a few key areas (the aggressive progressivity first and foremost), made it easier to effectively tune, and tweaked the damper in ways that should give it a more useable adjustment range for more folks.

Like the original, the Era V2.1 is still a fork that I think is going to appeal most strongly to riders who want a notably supportive, highly-tunable option and are willing to put some time and effort into dialing it in, but it’s easier to set up than the original, and with an appropriate setup, the performance is pretty special. It’s an outstanding fork and one that’s got a home on the front of my personal Enduro bike for the foreseeable future."

Blister Gear long term ERA V2.1 Review