MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
[b]Introduction[/b]
After much discussion on some other threads, I ordered a spring kit from Richard at CRConception. Richard asked for my weight, sag preferences etc - and based his coil weight spec on the information I provided him. I paid via paypal on Monday and received the coil kit by Friday.
[b]Initial Impressions[/b]
The kit is well made, the coil itself is beautifully made - with a rather Renthal like finish. The other components of the kit were simply functional. Total weight of the kit was close to 270g - factoring in the weight of the air spring, the total weight increase of the fork was around 200g.
[b]Installation[/b]
Richard provides a photo based PDF file to guide you through the installation, the installation itself is quite straight forward - requiring a little bit of common sense - the hardest part is getting in the replacement for the internal circlip found in the solo air assembly - it requires a technique that is a bit like seating a tyre.
[b]Initial Riding Impressions[/b]
Straight off the bat the fork feels considerably more sensitive than a standard Pike, as sensitive as a Marz 55 Ti - you can compress the bike with your index fingers alone. Because of this, the fork sags a little under the weight of the bike. The spring assembly doesn't bind up under lateral/torsional loading like the solo air spring does either - so it will be more sensitive when flexing under impact loads. The sag that I experienced was the exact sag number that I asked for (21 percent, I would have been happy with between 20 to 22.5).
Out on the trail, I quickly found that I could run 5 more clicks of low speed compression and two more clicks of high speed compression without losing any grip or incurring harsh feedback, given more testing time I could probably run even more compression damping. Grip is considerably improved over wet roots and there is more feeling in terms of the level of grip you have - consequently I've been hitting some nasty poorly built berms much faster than I normally would. The fork also feels more playful, giving a ride feel that lends itself well to jumping off trail features.
[b]Conclusion[/b]
In combination with the FAST Damper, the fork now feels like a BOS Deville - except better - it's much more sensitive, blows off really nicely on high speed hits, yet feels just as - if not more supportive. I really like the fact that it has increased the useful compression setting range of the fork, before grip and ride quality are affected.