Hi Chaps,

After being on my second shock on my Specialized Enduro, I have the option of an Ohlins coil upgrade.

Does anyone run the Ohlins coil? I’m put off by the general idea of it being a pig to climb with, but if it’s going to be more reliable – due to the side loading bearings, then I’m in.

Any comment on how decent the shock is? Most of my riding is straight up, a bit of pushing, then straight down.

Cheers

Ricks

What happened to the other shocks?

There’s an Enduro for sale in the classifieds that has one fitted, may be worth getting in touch with him to see how it was.
Abigale is on her second CCDB first kept loosing air. Second has been OK so far. Mine lost air on a ride in the Alps but has been good since. Still think the RP23 was the better option that I had but it didn’t fit the new frame.

I won’t use anything else on my motorbikes.
The leader in shock tech in motorsport – they know a thing or two.

What happened to the other shocks?

The DBInline broke within one ride, the had a clunk when in climb mode and felt pretty awful.

The Monarch that replaced it feels brilliant, but it has a clunk in the first part of the travel – only when fully open, and it goes away if you cycle the shock really hard for about 10 cycles. It comes back eventually though.

Before anyone says it – no it’s not a loose pivot, bushing or mount 😉

I really like the monarch when it’s not clunking, which is 75% of the time. So, just tempted to replace like for like. All I want is a shock that works that wont brake – my Fox Float X was like that.

If the ohlins upgrade was available at low cost I’d want to give it a go, you could always sell it on if you don’t like it.

You should probably get your frame checked – Specialized are a little bit notorious for going through shocks because the clevis mount allows for no tolerance issues at all – problems then migrate to the shock.

Seems CC shocks are more susceptible than others to it though.

You can get a clevis mount for the Float X if you want one of those though. Not sure if yours has a non standard i2i/stroke length, but Mojo will build one to your specification too.

I would be trying for the Ohlins air for the upgrade, even if I had to put a bit towards it.

Yeah, its £220 for the Ohlins upgrade. Not sure if I need to pay for a spring on top, which is about £40.

I thought the new ones were air and not coil.

Like this

Ohlins do both, but Specialized can’t do an air one for me for some reason.

Do it do it . A few of the better enduro riders here in Sweden use them and rave about them. Plus I think like 80% of mx riders have them or something like that? Their enduro and Dh forks are out soon too .

A few of the better enduro riders

Yeah… I’m not one of the ‘better’ Enduro riders, I’m one of the ‘mediocre’ Enduro riders 🙂

Even if its amazeballs, I may feel like a tool.

Spoke to a few guys who’ve had similar problems with Spesh bikes. Seems to be a fundamental design flaw on what is otherwise an awesome bike. Bring back normal shock mounts that allow for flex and slight intolerances.

Tom KP.

I don’t think it’s the design fault on the monarch, as it was doing it out of the box. The cane Creek may well have been, but I know another rider who’s been on his Monarch on an Enduro for almost a year and has no problems at all.

Abigales was a faulty shock, no problems with the bike or the mounts. Don’t know why mine lost the air that once. Would love to pick up a 650b back end and shuttle for Abigales but they aren’t available to purchase separately.

I don’t have an ohlins on mine, but my local shop has them to test. I have used it loads of times. Uphill I was was expecting it to be a pig, especially as I tend to do steady climbs to downhills.
Once I’d turned a few pedal strokes, I barely noticed any difference to either the inline or monarch. The main thing I noticed climbing wise was that I never touched it, whereas with the other shocks I would always switch it to climb.

Downhill, or any technical sort of riding was where it absolutely excelled. It felt like the double barrel coil which I have on my downhill bike.
I’d love to try the ohlins air, but they are not in yet.

A mate of mine had a CCDBA on his enduro 29 which didnt last too long. He paid a little extra and got the Ohlins coil. He seems to like it. He’s not had any issues with it (about 6months).

https://www.rootsandrain.com/photos/1159138
https://www.rootsandrain.com/photos/1224943

Cheers Superfli – your mate has been racing forever 😉

Went through two ccdb on my e29, now with a monarch plus with their autosag.

Problem is that it blows through travel too easily, no support in the shock. So no looking at getting a custom made fox for it

Woody Hole ran the coil all year on the EWS on his Enduro. He’s 48, has a full time job and had a hip replacement so I assume it works OK in terms of pedalling!

I’ve ridden one on a Demo and it was brilliant. Hard to explain, just felt really planted and secure. I’d say well worth a try!

Problem is that it blows through travel too easily, no support in the shock

even with full compliment of bottomless rings? 😯

Kevin has just sorted out Abigales bike for next year early. Thanks to Bike Scene again. Will get her to report back on the Ohlins air compared to her CCDB air.

I’ve used a few different shocks on mine. Personally ccdba was the best. The inlines however have a design flaw and can’t handle slightly heavier riders or large hits.

The ohlins is really good.

A friend of mine is running a float x2 at the moment and thinks it’s the best so far. He won the FOD enduro in the seniors on it the other day and said it performed amazingly.

Problem is that it blows through travel too easily, no support in the shock
even with full compliment of bottomless rings?

Mine isn’t the debonair, its Specialized’s propriety one (with autosag) so will need to send it off for a custom tune..

I found I was blowing through the travel on the DBInline even with small hits.

Found that a little bit on the monarch but far less so.

The only thing that worries me about the Ohlins is tuning the bike into a sofa that can’t climb well.

The only thing that worries me about the Ohlins is tuning the bike into a sofa that can’t climb well.

If it’s anything like the CCDB Coil, it should be a surprisingly good climber – especially on technical ascents where keeping traction is an issue.

And coil shocks are very Enduro now, don’t you know?

Would it be better than an air shock in fully open mode?

I’ve got standard Fox shock on mine and its been great. Nothing to shout about, just quiet consistent performance.

The only thing that worries me about the Ohlins is tuning the bike into a sofa that can’t climb well.

Why would it be any worse than an air shock?

Because it doesn’t have an on the fly low speed compression adjust, and the Enduro does really need that with an air shock. The dbinline really did!

Coil performance over air is pretty minimal now-a-days. RS vivids being run by many a DH rider. You’re gonna add weight. Ohlins damping maybe amazeballs but the monarch is great for it’s simplicity, set and forget.

Even if its amazeballs, I may feel like a tool.

– YES 🙂

Get the monarch fixed and give it another go. You know that the FSR is a good peddler but not amazing/balls (like DW links) so a climb/lockout is essential I reckon.

Would it be better than an air shock in fully open mode?

not tried like-for-like on same frame, so can’t answer that sorry.

sounds like it’s not what you want though so try another monarch – you’re unlikely to get another bad one, eh?

It really depends on the suspension curve whether it would feel better or not.

If it’s something fairly linear, then an air shock would probably feel better than an overly progressive design which would suit a coil better.