Got the upgrade itch for my Cotic Flare max which came with the stock X Fusion rear shock.
No problems at all with X Fusion but considering upgrading with a DVO Topaz or Cane creek DBinline. Question is will I notice much difference, I’ve always considered the front forks to be more important but am I missing something?

I went through a similar thought process. The XF shock is pretty good although always felt a bit over-damped to me. I spoke to Jake at Sprung Suspension and his view was the best in-line shock in terms of price/performance/reliability was an Ohlins.

I ended up buying my Mojo3 before so it never got done, but I’d take his advice, I’m sure you’d notice a difference but it might be hard to quantify that in terms of cash spent! What I’l probably do is spend £95 and get Jake to service/tune the XF McQueen forks. He reckons there is loads he can do with those that you’d really notice with the standard parts. The XF isn’t particularly ‘tunable’ apparently.

Anyway… Tom on the STW staff has a FlareMax with an CCDB in-line. He seems to rate it as an excellent upgrade…

I haven’t tried out any of the aforementioned kit sadly however can comment on my experience of something similar. Had a basic x-fusion on my pitch and fancied a change as it took a lot of pressure to get the sag right and then it didn’t deal with small hits at all, swapped it out for a rockshox monarch rc3+ and fitted 3 or 4 spacers. The bike has basically been transformed and it’s one of the best upgrades I’ve made yet imo

yes, coil the bitch

I did a demo of the FlareMax with the XF shock and was really impressed, so unless you have a specific issue I’d hold off for now.

You can’t have failed to notice that the Cane Creek inline shocks have had huge reliability issues, and I’m not sure if the new DBair IL is even on sale here yet.

Amazing performance but they seem to have more than a 50% failure rate and only a 1-year warranty.

DB air IL is on sale now, how did you come up with more than a 50% failure rate lol and its a 2 year warranty according to CC.

Because 100% of the owners I know have had them fail, as have most people on the internet.

Apart from you for some reason.

lol

Thanks for the inputs, my mates running a DBinline and loves it so far but the reliability reports do put me of.
Think Chakapings bang on but you know what its like when you get the itch!

A couple of people at a local DH this year (Flare with an air CCDB and a Rocket with a coil CCDB) were both having bother setting them up to suit them right. I like the set-it-and-forget-it ness of the X-Fusion shock, and the (not quite a) lockout is great.

edit- I do quite fancy trying a coil shock though 😕

setting up doesn’t actually take much effort but it can go wrong lol

My CC DB inline has been great for three years – two services… I love it!

An X2 Float if you can get one that will fit – or a coil IL – don’t bother with the air one.

Rear shocks are just as important, I noticed that moving to a DHX2 from a Monarch RT – a good shock that is well setup improves chassis balance and reduces feedback through not only your pedals but the whole bike – including the bars. High and low speed rebound adjustments make a pretty huge difference in terms of dialling in playfulness and grip as well.