Not to detract from it, but from the photos as clear as I can see them I would be hesitant to pick the order of shock/tyre failure. I'd probably say very roughly 57% shock first though ;) Go along pretty much any major road in the UK and odds are you will see the entire tread portion of (usually) a truck tyre sitting on the side of the road, presumably the sidewalls stayed on the rim after it delaminated...
Even if it was the shock that went first (and let's assume it was for the sake of the argument), I still wouldn't see it as cause to write them off completely. How many other catastrophic failures of ikon shocks are known? As is the nature of 'things', things sometimes break seemingly of their own accord. Yes, there's always a reason (manufacturing defect, fatigue, mistreatment, maladjustment, etc, etc, etc) but those reasons are very rarely endemic.
Also, what is it that makes YSS, works, RAM et al 'better' than Ikon, or for that matter OEM? That's a genuine question by the way (I think everyone on here knows by now my stance on the RAM 'testing' procedure so no need to go there again), is there an actual measurement of 'betterness' or is it once again "some bloke on the internet says so"? I know what makes, say, Ohlins better but they're not exactly a 'budget' choice.
Actually, scratch all that - I'd be happy to run an Ikon shock and if they get a very bad reputation I reckon the price will come down :hehehe
