I had a Specialized Epic which i sold last year and am now after a new bike, but bit confused by VPP on the Blur, or propedal on the Orange 5 i’m thinking of getting.

so, VPP – in thoery this means i dont need propedal or any shock lockout as the suspension design eliminates pedal bob when climbing?

Propedal – what exactly does this do?

i’m a bit confused by the bikes specs – If VPP on the Blur means i dont need shock lockout or propedal, why do Santa Cruz spec the frame with an RP23 that has propedal…

and conversely, the Orange 5 which is just a single pivot design and has no special anti bob linkages just comes with a Float RL shock. So does this mean i have to keep locking it out every time i hit a big climb? On the 5 the RP23 with propedal is an upgrade, is it worth upgrading to this?

I’ve got demo’s on the bikes arranged in a few weeks, just want to know a bit more about how they work and what i should be doing with the shock / propedal settings before i demo them so i can make the most of it.

I never really had any confusion or had to adjust lockout settings with my epic as it had a brain shock.

Thanks

I’ve had a BLT2 with the RP23 for 3 years and reckon it’s a really good combo. The RP23 does not lock out, but has 3 stages of propedal.

I’ve found that the propedal works well for stopping bobbing when I’m on the road or LR tracks, but for lumpier stuff it seems to climb better with the propedal off – I guess it tracks the terrain better so seems to give more grip and power. It does seem to be a great climber

So I leave the propedal set to maximum 3, and just turn it on for roadwork.

Like you I had an Epic but after a few other hardtails I picked up a Blur with a Pushed Float RL, the lock out has been removed. I was well worried that it’d bob all over the show but a mate with a Tracer said “it all makes sense off road”.

He was right, it climbs better than I do, i’ve not noticed any loss of traction that used to happen when the Epic had auto locked out and on the roads the VPP link works well when you’re spinning the cranks hard but if you stand up it does bounce a bit, I guess thats where the propedal would help. My mate uses the propedal on the hardest setting when it’s on the road (if you have it you might as well use it) but he confesses most of the time he forgets to turn it on.

I’m normally a skeptic of all the varying suspension designs but i’m well impressed with VPP, definitely try it off road, not just in the car park and “it’ll all make sense”.

The 5’s seem very popular, 2 of the lads I ride with have ’em so they must be doing something right, they tend to leave the propedal on all the time but I’ve got a Blur so I only flick the propedal (at stage 2) on for climbing and so on. It’s brilliant

2011 Orange 5 came with RP23
2012 Orange 5 comes with RL
Other than that the frames are the same so try and find a 2011 as the RP23 is a better shock and works really well. The Pro Pedal in effect stiffens up the initial travel of the shock and you have 3 different settings. I have mine in position 2 and flick it on when climbing.

I have a Blur XC with propedal and I reckon the VPP design makes it almost redundant. It’s a useful crutch on older, less-evolved suspension designs though.

druidh – Member
I have a Blur XC with propedal and I reckon the VPP design makes it almost redundant. It’s a useful crutch on older, less-evolved suspension designs though.
POSTED 3 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST
Meaw 😀 . To be honest I tend to agree with you. Owned a 5 and a nomad (so the same vvp as the blur) and IMHO the nomad, although heavier, climbs better. It seems to track the ground far more than the 5.

demoed both bikes with RP23’s
Blur LT seemed like it was just there never really needed.
Took the orange out and the rep made sure it was set to 3 bobbed like hell otherwise on the climbs.

Had an RP3 on my heckler and it was rubbish, upgraded to RP23 and all is much better. On that experience the RL on a 5 will probably be unpleasant!! Looking at the prices it’s cheapest unless you know someone flogging one to take the factory upgrade

I have a 5 with a RP23 and climb at trail centres with it on level 2, level 3 on the road and off when descending. If I’m riding more natural stuff I tend to leave it on level 1 unless I’m descending something worth me dropping my saddle.
My pall has a Carbon Blur xc and leaves his pro pedal off as he thinks it makes no difference. When he enquired at Jungle they said that the shock is set with a minimal pro pedal tune.
Make from that what you will.

I never use pro pedal on my VPP2 blur which has the rp23, never found it to be bobbing really.