If the CCDB wasn't an option, what is renowned as the next choice down for a rear coil shock?

My riding is predominantly freeriding/northshore/big drops.

(With a week at Welsh trail centres thrown in once a year)

Thanks in advance.

TomO

well if you're riding is 'freeriding/northshore/big drops' then I'm surprised you dont already know the answer to your question. Most of the people I ride with use the Various Fox coils. The Fox tends to be an advantage over the ever so plush Marz offering because it offers excellent platform damping. That and the fact that every Rocco I've seen ridden at Herts has exploded at some point.

Get a Fox Vanilla R and get it PUSHed by TF Tuned to suit you, your bike and your riding. It'll be great and still relatively cheap

Air shocks work pretty well too.

Nols – Well i'm sorry that I have caused you to be 'surprised'… heaven forbid the new track I have started riding at is freeride orientated and so my current all mountain knowledge is not as useful. But thank you for your non tongue in cheek response after that comment. It's much appreciated.

Is there a preferable Fox Coil that most or your riding partners use? Upon searching there seems to be a 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 etc, are these labelled due to the year of release? like the 3.0 being 2007, 4.0 being 2008 etc etc

Matthew – Unfortunately the vain side of me makes me want to have a more current model (I know…)

Thanks

Why? All you get with the posher models is loads of adjustment that once tuned you don't need. If you really must then go for a DHX 3 or 4 as they look like 5s but are cheaper and once tuned will be just the same

I work in an industry myself, and with each year a new model is released, and although on the outside may look extremely similar, I understand how much work and tiny adjustments go on that most will overlook.

Generally speaking the newer models, despite appearing the same, should have minor changes inside etc that all add up to a better performance.

…in theory 🙂

Hi what bike is it going on? You may want to consider one of my Diverse Duellers that I can tune for your weight and come with a Ti spring as standard.

I ride an Alpine 160. You have me intrigued 🙂

Just did a quick search and the Pinkbike crowd seem to be quite fond of them.

Do you have more details with prices etc? EMail is in profile if eneded 🙂

Thanks

Having gone through this myself, although without any pretensions of 'having to have latest', I got a Van R PUSHd from new from Mojo. The new Van RC would be nicer still, and with the PUSH tune removes the need for Propedal gubbins. Loads of guys race DH on them.

Made the 'orrible DHX 5 Air it replaced very redundant, very quickly.

The DHX RC4 is very nice too, and very adjustable externally.

Have a 2011 van rc on my five and rate it very highly. It's only replaced an rp23 but tracks much better and copes with the big stuff without issue.

BOS Stoy. Possibly RockShox vivid with ti spring. But for the price of these, just get a CCDB

I have a Fox DHX 5.0 / 200 x 2.25 with a couple of spring currently languishing in the shed. Bought it in 2006 as an upgrade on my Heckler of the same year. Decided it was overkill for my middle aged riding style so swapped it out. I has never been serviced but worked well when I took it out late last year. Send me an email if it will suit the frame you have and you want to try it.

Hi Jeff

Just browsing at the moment, and unfortunately yours isnt the right length for my Alpine.

Thanks for all the opinions so far

TomO

What size shock do you need? I may have a CCDB for sale…..

Coils rear shocks are awesome.

Mine is a Fox DHX5 coil (pushed)

I wouldn't go back to air either in shocks or forks.

Just thinking about this for a moment and given what you're likely to be using it for, you really don't need the same type of performance that someone racing down hill needs. If you're doing big drops and hucks, especially where you're flat landing then what you need is:

a) a very strong bike
b) a bike with a particularly profressive suspension design (e.g. the Intense Slopestyle, Specialized SX etc)
c) Lots and lots and lots of high speed compression damping
d) Lots and lots of high speed rebound damping (to stop the thing pinging back at you faster than pogo stick)
e) Very large balls and finally
f) No dependents and a boss who doesn't mind you turning up in plaster on a frequent basis.

In many ways an air can is a good choice beause air springs are inherently progressive in their sprint rate. Plus you're not doing repeated big hits so heat is not an issue, but of course, blowing the seals from here to kingdom come is.

On that basis, a Fox Van R with a custom tune really is the best bet, or perhaps an older/second hand DHX5 so that you can significantly increase the bottom out adjust, which you're going to need in your line of work.

Yes the Vivid is supposed to be very good and the BOS is a work of art also. The RC4 is very expensive and the Elka's are not readily available. But really, it's up to you; if you want something cool on a budget then custom tuned would be the way to go.

Well geetee1972 you seem to be a guy in the know 🙂

Do you have any opinions on the Diverse Dueler?

So in regards to what you recommend, for instance a 2008/9 Fox DHX but with a custom tune?

How will this be for riding up? This will only be actually done on rare occasions, as where I ride now it's purely pushing to the top 🙂

The DHX 5.0 coil has an air can as well as a spring so you can pump up the bottom out resist and make it more progressive separately to the coil spring preload. They also have pro pedal for the ride back up.

loco, any news on a 200 eye to eye 58mm for my bottle rocket?

Big drops you say? an Avy is what you want!

http://www.avalanchedownhillracing.com/

(no point having something as Hi/Lo comp/reb adjustable as a stoy/DB)

gsuperstar, where do you ride shore etc?

Jedi – I have a friend who has a home built track, owns a lot of land and has an obscene amount of money and just loves building. Full on northshore and everything but for my mates sake I dont wish to say where it is.

Thanks for the responses, the DHX 5.0 seems to get a really good response. Although the Diverse still intrigues me.

no worries at all

I use CCDB on everything now and you can get them for reasonable costs, even in the UK. But if you are keeping costs down a then Fox Shock are good. Check out Tf tuned http://www.tftunedshox.com/Catalogue/Shop-Fox/Fox/Forks-and-Rear-Shocks and use the Spring Calculator.

What bike are you running as I have a spare Fox RC4 9.5 x 3 with lots of spare springs if you are interested?

G superstar, knowing the 'industry' your in and also knowing that most new markers that come out are usually very minor adjustments visually and performance wise I'd be inclined to recommend the coil can rc that I have on my five. Think of it as an early ego with a bang up to date upgrade kit. Cheaper than the modern version, less flashy but actually a bit of a 'sleeper' In overall performance.

GSuperstar – well it's kind of you to say, but I don't know a tenth of what someone like Mojo, TF or Loco know, so they should be your default for advice.

I confess until this thread I'd never heard of Diverse making anything other than springs. Their units look interesting but I couldn't say any more than that.

Opt1cal – Thanks for that i'll have a look over and see what they're offering 🙂

Unfortunately your shock is too big 🙁

And I have no doubt that the CCDB is perfect, stil, just seems a large amount of money for my first coil shock.

Geetee1972 – Haha, no worries, you've still helped me 🙂

Lummox – I wasn't aware there were any other ballers' in the STW community 🙂
The only problem with your recommendation is as i've mentioned before, vanity plays a large part for me. Even in the terms of an Ego, i'm more than aware using an Ego5 these days will suffice and keep me happy, but i'd be more inclined for an upto date model. For ease of spares etc

But I completely see where you're coming from and i'll have a look on ebay to see what kind of prices these are going at 🙂

Thanks

TomO

What size shock are you after?

I'm just about to sell mine as I've just had a different frame turn up in the post. It's off a 5-Spot, 190 x 50 I bleeve…

EDIT: Sorry, meant to say it's a CCDB.

progressivebikes/crispy: I'm thinking about a new shock to replace the RP23 on my 5.5. If yours is 190×50 I may well be interested.

EDIT: cripsy! Dibs on that CCDB if GSuperstar doesn't want it 🙂

Optical – how much are you asking for the RC4?

Sam, dibs are yours if GSuperstar's out…

I have a Fox DHX 5.0 / 200 x 2.25 with a couple of spring currently languishing in the shed.

Jef Wachowchow

That DHX would suit me if its still available. Mail in profile, let me know.

Ha, my shock needed is 216 x 64 so everybody can have whatever they like I have no dibs on anything 🙂

EDIT: 215 x 64*

Jedi, I'm still working on Diverse on that one, will keep you updated on any further developments

I have ordered a CCDB for my Alpine 160 as I figure why buy something else and then wish I'd gone for the best? A Pushed Van R is around £280 from TF, I'm getting my CCDB for £480 and I see RP23's (my current shock) going for £150 – 200 on Ebay or here so actually the CCDB works out at bloody good value!

Btw, as mentioned, selling my 215 x 64 RP23 Boost Valve very shortly (have to wait 4 weeks for the CCDB to arrive), 3 months old and unmarked if anyone is interested?

a) a very strong bike
b) a bike with a particularly profressive suspension design (e.g. the Intense Slopestyle, Specialized SX etc)
c) Lots and lots and lots of high speed compression damping
d) Lots and lots of high speed rebound damping (to stop the thing pinging back at you faster than pogo stick)
e) Very large balls and finally
f) No dependents and a boss who doesn't mind you turning up in plaster on a frequent basis.

In many ways an air can is a good choice beause air springs are inherently progressive in their sprint rate. Plus you're not doing repeated big hits so heat is not an issue, but of course, blowing the seals from here to kingdom come is.

geetee1972 is bang on the money, though personally I'd add a large platform into the mix, give you more control. A Fox DHX would be my advice as you can tune them a fair bit, pump a fair bit of air into it to get a solid platform (it won't track as well, but you won't really need it to). Then drop the volume as small as possible (boost valve, for max bottom out resisitance), and then whack the high-speed to maximum. A manitou Swinger 6-way or Revox would make a cheaper alternative.

A tuned Vanilla R is another alternative, but the advantage of a DHX or Manitou is you can home service them (if you've some mechanical aptitude) and you can set them up again if you go somewhere else for a week or so, give you more flexibility. I would personally grab a DHX or a Swinger 6-way.

Hi Captain

Thanks for your response, the coil jargen is still quite confusing for me in terms of bottom out resistance and the ability to add air? I presumed in my naievity that the coils wouldn't have this available.

This is one aspect of air shocks I do like, the ability to just simply put more air in to produce a stiffer shock. So if the DHX coils have this then they become even more appealing.

So, if anybody can help in a brief way to explain the following: (based purely from TFTuned)

Fox Van RC, 2011, 215 x 64mm – £269.00

Fox Van R, 2010, 215 x 64mm – £189.00

PUSHed Fox Van R, 2010, 215 x 64mm – £248.99

If these are both bought from TFTuned, am I correct in assuming that the 'PUSHed' is what they do on the other Fox Van R shocks as standard anyway? As they say they suit them to your needs.

And finally, the RC or R, a noticeable difference? Something I should even care about?

I apologise if this will require a long winded response, I feel it will take me a couple of hourse to get upto date reading online and the STW World seems to simplify it for me usually quite quickly 😀 If i'm being a nuisance please feel free to just ignore me 🙂

Thanks

TomO

R = rebound adjust only.
RC = rebound and compression adjust.
The 2011 is supposed to be a better shock hence the difference in price.

From experience Push is a good upgrade as it allows the shock to recover from big hits better as it gives a second rebound tune or blow off, which means you can use the normal rebound for smaller hits. With only the one rebound circuit I've always struggled to get a shock that recovers well from big and little stuff. Some compression tune ability is a nice to have but not a must have. I've always found pro-pedal to be pish. Better off without as it numbs the shock, best removed.