I have a 2004(?) Spec’ Enduro which now has a completely buggered rear shock. Because of the age of the bike I don’t want to spend a fortune, but want to get a shock that will do the bike justice.

(For those who know the bike type the shock I’ve taken off is a fox with lock out and duel travel setting which allowed the suspension to be set at 4 or 5.5in – I don’t really see either of these functions as necessities.)

Thanks very much for your help.

I replaced the Float RL on my 2004 Enduro Pro with an RP3 off here.
Slightly longer eye to eye length, but same stroke length.
200mm x 50mm is the size I got. The std shock is 193mm eye to eye.
So I put my flip flop link on the slacker setting to compensate for the added length.
I may add that it has deffo improved the ride, having propedal is a definite plus.
Cant say I miss the itch switch much as a result.

This is a tricky one…

Right up until the summer, I had a 2004 Enduro as my xc full suss. Brilliant bike, but the shock was on it’s way out so I had a similar quandary – do I replace the shock or update the frame and I chose the latter.

The problem with the 02-04 Enduro is that the shock is a custom length, so you won’t get an off the shelf one to fit that will keep your existing geometry. However, some companies will machine down the shock shaft to give you the correct 7.675″ eye to eye length. I don’t know what else there is out there within a reasonable budget that’ll fit. Some of the new Rockshox line looks pretty good and is certainly better than a nine year old Fox Float, but I don’t know whether any of them will fit your frame without fouling anywhere.

Give Simon at LoCo a call – he’s pretty good and will give you a no BS summary of your options.

There aren’t really any cheep options, you could go on ebay and get something, but by the time you’ve had it serviced/tuned it’ll probably be most of the way towards a new shock.

If you plan on keeping the bike then I’d just get an RP2 from TF/MOJO/LOCO or similar. On the other hand for ~£300 you might pick up a last generation stumpjumper with 120mm travel (the one that looks like a kona/turner) for not much more. No gaurentee that the shock or bearings aren’t FUBAR as well, which would add about £75/each.

How buggered is it? Unless it’s completely FUBAR then getting it serviced might still be the most cost effective option, could get it pushed by TF?

Bigyinn’s compromise is probably the best option out there…I’d guess that despite the bike being in the slack setting, the additional shock length is going to put the geometry right back into the steep H/A, high BB setting. You really don’t want to go for a shorter shock as the already low BB will make the bike very rock garden unfriendly.

As TINAS said, you’ll have to have a secondhand shock serviced/tuned and you could find yourself back at square one.

I have ran a PUSHed Float on my Enduro right up until I retired the frame. It’s very, very good but when you add up the cost of a service, PUSH tuning and a new shock shaft it won’t be cheap – not far from the cost of an OEM RP2 from CRC or similar.

not every ebay shock needs servicing/set-up.

Some riders appear to 😉

I’d see how much the original will actually cost to be fixed, rather than assume it’s buggered… otherwise I wouldn’t spend any money on anything but a fox shock (*especially 2nd hand – it’ll still need servicing), as any I’ve tried or seen have been a waste of time & ended up being replaced with something decent (fox) later

* I totally disagree with Al.

not every ebay shock needs servicing/set-up.

Some riders appear to

Indeed you could get lucky and pick up a shock that’s come off an identical frame, and tuned for an identical rider.

In the other 99 cases out of 100 it’s either tuned for Mr Average on Average Bike Co’s Mediochre SLX, or already been tuned for someone/thing else.

There’s probably some inbetween grey areas, like picking up a NOS shock with the right tune, but it’s a fact that shocks need servicing occasionally, a shock that someones selling probably hasn’t just come back from a service or might even be faulty (there’s always a reason for selling), and custom tunes are relatively cheep.

The stock tune on my pitch was crap, a new air can went some way to solving that, it’s just come back from a custom tune at LOCO and it’s now a world apart from how the bike felt before (well, before before the damper split it’s guts).

Best £20 upgrade? Probably. Only downside is the lyrics feel like the weak link now!

Best £20 upgrade? Probably. Only downside is the lyrics feel like the weak link now!

😀 Thank you, that’s made my day 😀

we can tune the lyrik too 😉

@Si

Will be in touch in the new year, my Wolf Ridge feels @rse with the current shock tune.