RockShox Announces Flight Attendant Aftermarket Upgrade Kits
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The Takeaway: A high-dollar kit to upgrade some bikes’ suspension to the electronically-controlled RockShox Flight Attendant system.
Kits only offered for seven bikes: Canyon’s Spectral and Spectral:ON, YT’s Capra 29 and Jeffsy 29, the Specialzed Enduro, and the Trek Slash.
More Flight-Attendant-equipped bikes, and upgrade kits, coming in the future.
Kit contains fork and shock, pedal sensor, batteries, charger and fender.
Pedal sensor only officially fits in select cranks.
Upgrade kit prices start at $2,799.
It’s been a while since we’ve heard news about the RockShox Flight Attendant system. The wirelessly linked electronically controlled dampers were only available to buy on a select few five-figure (or nearly five-figure) mountain bikes. It is seriously impressive technology that reduces the time and effort needed to switch a fork and shock’s damper modes to almost zero.
And if you’re the sort that likes to change suspension modes a lot during a ride, it’s an amazing system. Just don’t expect Flight Attendant to help you set PRs: According to my timed testing I found that it didn’t result in any speed increase on the trail despite claims that, “You’ll ride further, faster and with less energy used.”
Starting today it’s slightly easier to acquire Flight Attendant as the system is now offered as an aftermarket upgrade kit. There’s a big ol’ but here though: It’s only available for seven bikes.
Essentially, they’re the same bikes that were initially available with Flight Attendant. The brands and models are:
Canyon Spectral 2019-2022
Canyon Spectral:ON 2023
Canyon Neuron 29 2021-2022
Specialized Enduro 2020-2022
Trek Slash 2021-2022
YT Capra 29 2022
YT Jeffsy 29 2019-2022
Since its initial launch, a few other models have joined the list. There is now a Santa Cruz Megatower ($13,999), Merida’s One-Sixty 10K (€11,900), and Giant’s Trance X Advanced Pro 29 SE ($8,500). No kits exist for these three models yet though you can probably read the tea leaves as well as I can. RockShox also states that, “Flight Attendant will be seen across a greater range of bikes in the future”
Another painful point: it’s not a drop-in upgrade. The kits consist of a complete fork (Pike, Lyrik, or Zeb Ultimate Flight Attendant) and shock (Super Deluxe Ultimate Flight Attendant) along with a pedal sensor, batteries, a charger, and a fender. You can’t upgrade the existing suspension even the bike already has a RockShox fork or shock.
Plus, the pedal sensor only comes in versions to fit Shimano EP8 e-bike crank (for the Canyon Spectral:ON) or some SRAM DUB cranks. I confirmed with a RockShox rep is that it fits all XX1 and X01 DUB crank spindles, but other DUB cranks are more of mystery: The rep could not provide specific guidance and would only say it fits in some and not in others.
While those are the only officially supported cranks, I’m hopeful clever individuals/brands will find a way to stuff the sensor into other cranks with a shim, or perhaps just a bit of duct tape will do.
As you can probably now guess, the upgrade kits are not cheap. The Trail Upgrade kit (Canyon Neuron 29) sells for $2,799, the All Mountain kit (Canyon Spectral, Canyon Spectral:ON, YT Jeffsy 29) sells for $2,849, and the Enduro kit (Trek Slash, Specialized Enduro, YT Capra) will cost you $2,899. If you also need to buy a compatible crankset they cost $554 (XX1) or $377 (X01); SRAM’s DUB compatible bottom brackets start at $41.
In addition to your wallet getting about three-grand lighter, your bike will get about 300 grams heavier with a Flight Attendant upgrade.
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