Hi all

First off, apologies that my first post is a question, but I have been lurking on here a while and think I can trust most of the opinions on here 🙂

I am planning to upgrade the shock on my Titus el guapo and have narrowed it down to either a ccdb air or rs vivid air r2c.

The bike is used for everything from trail centres to dh and is currently running a lyrik rc2dh fork.

Any advice, guidance or experices with these shocks would be appreciated, even better if it’s on the same bike.

Thanks
Kb

Just a bump as any advice recommendations/suggestions would be great

Have the vivid on my nomad, no complaints at all, works really really well right it of the box, no experience with a CCDB air, only the inline, which takes a bit of fettling

How do you find the vivid when climbing? Do you ever wish you had a lockout?

My EG came with a CCDBA fitted. Its great. Thats all.

The CCDB Air on my Norco Range is awesome. I hardly ever think about it, it just does what it should, keep my rear wheel on the ground tracking the terrain, takes small hits, big hits and jumps without me ever having to pay it any attention. And the Climb Switch is awesome. That is all.

Thanks for the responses so far.

The bike is currently running the standard monarch rt3 that came with the frame which while is performing ok it feels out performed by the lyrik fork when things get a bit rougher.

From what has been said so far and reviews I have read ether will be an improvement but when spending that amount on a shock I want to make sure I get the best for the job so the more feedback the better.

I have the el guapo 29 with the ccdb and its great, just gets on with its job if I was buying a new I think I would get the climb switch one for fire road slogs.

At least with the ccdb you know you can get it set up for the frame, and there will be recommended settings or there. Don’t know the adjustments / base tunes you get with the vivid, but do you think you can get it set up right for the frame?

Generally you can get the Vivid Air for a fair chunk cheaper than the CCDB Air (assuming you want the CS version).

I had a CCDB on my Nomad – it was a pain to setup in general, and a pain again to then refine to how I wanted it (lively). When talking with TF that’s a more due to a trait of the way the shock rides – it’s a bit of a ground sucker. If you want something more lively (fun/poppy/whatever you want to call it) then the Inline is the better option (if it doesn’t blow up).

I have a Vivid Air on my Reign – which I like for the most part, apart from it’s got a bit of heft to it. I don’t miss the climb switch, but the Giant system climbs well anyway. I could get the VA feeling the way I wanted a lot more easily, which is a bit silly, as it only has one less adjuster than the DB. Maybe down to the adjustable range being a lot tighter. Once it’s set, I don’t want to spend ages tweaking settings – i’d rather be riding than making notes about how different 2 setting feel over a section of trail.

So, in summary, Vivid for me.

Hob Nob you mentioned the weight of the vivid. The specs put it around 50g heavier than the ccdba, is the difference noticeable on the trails?

DeeW I am a serial tinkerer so if it can be adjusted it will be. Then adjusted again and again and a few more times for good measure.

Hob Nob, did you try the CCDB on the Reign or Vivid on the Nomad? Just asking because the Nomad has an unusual leverage curve which means it’s hard then soft then hard, so it’s difficult to set up for good small bump sensitivity without being unsupportive in the mid stroke (hence lacking ‘pop’).