Tried the search and got some ideas but not much in the way of reviews… Just wondering if anyone’s stuck a coil shock in a Hemlock, and what the result was? I know there’s some issues with clearance that means DHXs won’t fit, but I gather Vans will. No idea about the blingy options…

Reason I ask is that literally the only thing my SX trail does better than my Hemlock is soaking up little hits (*). And I know it’s not just the shock, the Hemlock’s biased towards pedalling whereas the SX is biased towards jumping buses. But, I use the Hemlock for uplifts sometimes and it’d be nice to have a more active rear end. And it’s so easy to swap a shock, I could use the RP23 for most rides and keep the coil one by for close quarters.

Soooo… Anyone tried it and got any useful input?

(* Well OK- the SX is probably a lot tougher but I’m not convinced I need it, after having the Hemlock drop off a fort william gondola and not even notice the impact. I’ve already broken the bits that break 😉 )

I’d say emailing Cotic would be the best idea.

It’s more rider/owner experience that I’m after here, rather than the mechanics of doing it. Cheers though

My Bro-in-Law tried this with his Hemlock, I can’t recall why he swapped it back tho, certainly last week he was back on an air shock, I’ll ask him or point him to this post. He doesn’t really do much DH stuff, I think it might have originally been just to see what dif (if any) it made, not sure tho. I think he was aware of clearance issues with the DHX, so not sure what the eventual outcome was. I’ll email him.

Ah, that’d be great, cheers!

Would like to know more myself, with the 120 rockers the RP23 is great but it’s a bit overwhelmed with the 150 rockers so I guess it needs a different tune or a different shock. My 5Spot (RIP) was brilliant with its Romic so I guess I’ve been spoiled.

Hi B.A.nanas Bro in Law here.

First off, mines the 100/160 model.

I put the Van R on because at £190 new it seemed like a very reasonable & reliable thing to do as my Pearl had just died (shock not Granny).

Cy recommended an RP23 by the way.

Tftuned said try it before you think about Pushing it so I have, although they defo recommended a coil over air if the 300g didn’t bother you. My conclusion is that i am not good enough to tell the difference between the two. This was with the 160mm rocker.

I have now used the cheap Pearl, a Float R, RP2 and the Van R. I have decided for my riding that 100mm with an air shock is what I like. Even if I rode a DH course it wouldn’t be at DH pace..

So if you are capable of pushing the Van R hard enough to warrant it and you need a 200×50 then I have a barely used one for sale.

Hi Northwind whats the eye to eye ?
I have an Manitou IXS 6 you could try
Mines a 190 eye to eye and 50mm

Thanks a lot Mugboo! Not convinced I’m that good but I think what I’m hoping to get out of it, you wouldn’t need to be that good to benefit from- that increase in suppleness/activeness. But whether just changing the shock would achieve that, I don’t know…

Later hemlock is 200×57 but thanks both of yez… Mugboo, how much did you have in mind for the Van?

I figure half my money back would be good.