Ride more, get fitter. It will climb better then
heehee..naughty
Yeah, wife and I have both got '09 and '10 Fives with 'Boost Valve' RP23 shocks and compared to the my Pace 405 (that I've just got rid of) and particularly my new Giant Anthem X, the Fives feel more sluggish on climbs ('tho the Giant weighs at least 2.5 lbs less than the lighter of our Fives - and it's much more of a XC biased machine).
IMO, the new 'boost valve' RP23's are excellent, the choice of the 3 ProPedal settings really come in handy - and I very rarely run without PP on. The PP threshold is un-noticeable when you start really hitting stuff - I've had full travel out of the shock in the firmest setting and not really noticed that its giving up full travel (if ya know what I mean?!).
For this year, Orange have tweaked the boost valve tune and the '10 bike climbs slightly better and the shock is more controlled in the mid-stroke - the bike has a perkier feel than the '09 shock tune (with the same sage setting).
So I guess you could try an RP23 with the latest tune - guessing it's gonna be cheaper than a new bike :wink:.
er..apologies if you already know, but it might also be worth trying running your existing shock with a bit less sag. Our local Orange dealer recommended 20% for more pedally rides and up to 40% for mucking about type stuff. I normally run about 30% sag, but when I tried 20% on the '10 bike it reet perked it up on the climbs.
Good luck!