Shock Factory FAQ's
Shock Factory Frequently Asked Questions
Who are Shock Factory?
Mike Capon was born in England and soon developed a passion for anything with an engine, and later went on to race motorcycles in both British and world road racing championships, winning two titles in the process.
A true all rounder and motorsport enthusiast, he entered the motor industry (including working on the famous Group B, MG Metro 6R4 rally programme) before turning specialising in the area that fascinated him: suspension and in particular, shock absorbers. Over the next 20 years, he gained extensive knowledge and experience in this field, specialising in the design and development of shock absorbers. This culmintated in 2011, when Mike set up Shock Factory in Isère, France, to design and manufacture high quality shock absorbers.
The company quickly gained an excellent reputation in France, along with an increasing number of customers. With Mike’s growing reputation for a high performing, quality products at affordable prices meant that Mike didn't stay on his own for long, and he quickly grew. Now, a whole team manages requests and assembles Shock Factory shock absorbers every day, shipping them all over the world.
Where are Shock Factory based?
In March 2024, Shock Factory moved into their brand new, 8,600 sq.ft., purpose built workshop in Sermérieu, a small rural town in northern Isère - France. The new 8,600 sq ft premises were specially designed and tailor made for the manufacture of shock absorbers. The facility is fully equipped with cutting-edge technology including five electronic filling machines, three computer controlled shock dynomometers. In addition, they have a large number of suspension specific tools, many of which have been developed and manufactured in-house.
None of this would have been possible without their team of ten dedicated and highly-skilled workshop staff, who assemble every single shock absober products by hand, and the office staff, who deal efficiently with all the orders and administration.
What type of Shock Absorber do Shock Factory manufacture?
We are often asked what type of shock absorbers Shock Factory manufacture. Well, they're gas dampers, with internal volume compensation, which contrary to popular belief is not necessarily a remote reservoir shock absorber. It's simply a damper in which the gas and oil that make it up are never in contact. Shock Factory offers a range of monoshock and twin shock units, all of which are designed, developed and assembled entirely in-house.
This damping system offers exceptional sensitivity and consistency, to give an excellent combination of comfort and performance. The wide range of hydraulic adjustment on the shock absorbers allows the user to modify the bike's behaviour very easily. With a few clicks more or less, you can change the way your the bike reacts and easily set it to your needs. Their experience means they are able to respond positively to a wide variety of requests and find the solution that's right for you, whether you're a seasoned competitor or a novice biker, to give you a quality shock absorber that meets YOUR needs as a rider.
Are Shock Factory shock absorbers good quality?
Shock Factory manufacture excellent quality shock absorbers, that stand comparison with all the well known, major brands. This is backed up by large numbers of repeat customers, excellent customer reviews and magazine tests, as well as outstanding results in competion and racing. Their full catalogue of shock absorbers runs to over 1,400 different models, and every shock absorber is built to customer order and specifications, and every single shock absorber is dyno tested prior to being sent out to the customer. This process means that individual customisation, such as longer or shorter shock absorber lengths, lighter or heavier springs can be built in at the time of order, at no extra charge.
Pricing - How do Shock Factory keep prices so competitive?
Well, it's simple: The Shock Factory's philosophy is QUALITY, PERFORMANCE AND COMFORT AT A GREAT PRICE!
To achieve this, their first focus is on the product, and then try to eliminate any unnecessary costs. For example, their extensive experience means less trial and error in design and conception, while in house manufacturing efficiency based around a highly skilled team and modern equipment enables cost control, all without compromising on the quality of their shock absorbers.
Why can't I buy direct from Shock Factory from the UK?
Winding Roads have been a dealer for Shock Factory since 2014, and involved in importing and retailing quality motorycycle accessories since 2004.
Following the UK departure from the EU in 2019, shipping goods to and from Europe has become more complicated. As a result, customers ordering goods from the EU don't pay VAT to the retailer selling the goods as they used to. Instead it is charged directly to the customer when the goods arrive in the UK. This is all handled by the courier company, who also charge a fee for this service, as well as the VAT owed to HMRC. So, as well as delaying the delivery of goods, it also adds price confusion and additional expense and hassle for the customer.
In order to keep their products as competitively priced as possible and to avoid delays and confusion for customers, Shock Factory appointed Winding Roads and Bike Revival as UK distributors to handle all their UK sales. This means that we sort out handling the customs and VAT stuff, while the customer only pays the price they see at time of order, with no extra surprises or handling costs on delivery.
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