sight shock upgrade options

Delazy

Got a new bike!
What's the silver ring around your dropper?
just a collar...feel more comfortable being able to feel the saddle between my legs and not completely dropped...guess its just from riding a 29er hardtail up til buying this bike
 

Nautonier

Eats Squid
Be very interested to hear the ride report, especially how it climbs. Obviously it will perform well on the descents, but I'm interested in how much this new tech really does lock out the shock so you can pedal back up the hill. I've never really understood why climb mode on shocks designed to slay descents has any movement at all - wouldn't being fully rigid be the most efficient way back up the hill? If I could swap my 170/165mm trail bike for a 29er hardtail for the climbs I would gladly do so...
 
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Zaf

Guest
Be very interested to hear the ride report, especially how it climbs. Obviously it will perform well on the descents, but I'm interested in how much this new tech really does lock out the shock so you can pedal back up the hill. I've never really understood why climb mode on shocks designed to slay descents has any movement at all - wouldn't being fully rigid be the most efficient way back up the hill? If I could swap my 170/165mm trail bike for a 29er hardtail for the climbs I would gladly do so...
Fully locked is only efficient on flat surfaces. You need that compliance for traction and maintaining momentum.
 

Nautonier

Eats Squid
For me it's all about sag. A bike with a ~65 degree head angle is going to climb like crap with 25 - 30% sag in climb mode as this will slacken the HA out to about 63 - 64. I want a bike that has 33% sag on the descents and 0% sag on the climbs. I don't care about traction/compliance, I just want it to sit up higher to keep the HA at a manageable level.
 
Z

Zaf

Guest
For me it's all about sag. A bike with a ~65 degree head angle is going to climb like crap with 25 - 30% sag in climb mode as this will slacken the HA out to about 63 - 64. I want a bike that has 33% sag on the descents and 0% sag on the climbs. I don't care about traction/compliance, I just want it to sit up higher to keep the HA at a manageable level.
Really depends on the bike and the rider. I've totally bought into the Chris Porter side of the spectrum, and that head angle doesn't affect climbing as much as seat tube does. Mind you, seat tube and sag aren't exactly unrelated, but for me it's just about locking the core, finding a good centre and keeping pedal power down.
 
Really depends on the bike and the rider. I've totally bought into the Chris Porter side of the spectrum, and that head angle doesn't affect climbing as much as seat tube does. Mind you, seat tube and sag aren't exactly unrelated, but for me it's just about locking the core, finding a good centre and keeping pedal power down.
I never lock the shock out on climbs, and I even drop the seat when it's very steep. I can even pedal with the seat dropped due to the oval, cainring fitted. One of few the benifits of fitting a oval crainring that is not advertised. I do have a endro collar fitted to the seatpost however that only allows it to drop 70mm.
 
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dunndog

Eats Squid
For me it's all about sag. A bike with a ~65 degree head angle is going to climb like crap with 25 - 30% sag in climb mode as this will slacken the HA out to about 63 - 64. I want a bike that has 33% sag on the descents and 0% sag on the climbs. I don't care about traction/compliance, I just want it to sit up higher to keep the HA at a manageable level.
I've just gone from a carbon sight to a carbon patrol. The head angle on the patrol is 2 degrees slacker than the sight, there's 20mm more travel and the recommended sag on the patrol is 35%. It also has a lyrik up front, obviously heavier than the sights' pike. There is absolutely no discernible difference between the two climbing that I have yet noticed, which blows me away as I rate the sight extremely highly. Sure it's no xc race bike, but it also performs way better than I thought it would or the numbers might suggest. A rigid rear end would create too many traction losses and therefore create work unless you're just rolling up a road..
Purely guessing here, but is it also a consideration regarding sag that the steeper your climb gets, the more forward you put your weight therefore reducing your sag somewhat?
 
Z

Zaf

Guest
I think we need to collectively drop this whole thing with about how 160mm bikes climb. It's becoming a bit like "29ers are sluggish handlers", and what might have been a teething issue of the category is largely a thing of the past. Even the reviewers make every one of these bikes sound exactly the same with the cliche'd "slays downhills but climbs like an XC bike", rather than explaining the character of the climb.

For me, the only advantage a Cross Country bike has over my longer travel rigs when it comes to climbing is lower weight. With new geometry giving those same centered seating positions from steeper seat tubes, the longer wheelbases, better traction from an active suspension platform these #enduro rigs are a god damned joy to climb!! I don't even think XC rigs deserve the praise they get about their climbing, because the only thing they'll outclimb on is a flat surface...in which case who the hell cares?!

Anyway, rant over. People prioritise things differently and you gotta go with what works for you...XC is fucking weird though.
 

herbman

Likes Dirt
Really depends on the bike and the rider. I've totally bought into the Chris Porter side of the spectrum, and that head angle doesn't affect climbing as much as seat tube does. Mind you, seat tube and sag aren't exactly unrelated, but for me it's just about locking the core, finding a good centre and keeping pedal power down.
I'm with you. It's all about how far you ass is over the back axle.

The steeper seat angles on these new long travel bikes, make them a lot nicer to climb on. And I can clear climbs on my reign that I never can on my hardtail which has a slacker seat angle.
The steeper seat angle keeps you centred on the bike and as you have your weight is more in the middle this keeps the front wheel down. With weight on the front wheel then it becomes more about keeping the cranks turning.

And in the last few weeks I have also gone from a air rear shock on the reign to a coil DHX rc4.
It's a bit heavier but the performance of the DHX is far superior to the air shock it replaced, even going up hills.
Plus it's nice to have some control over the damping settings again. Rather than the one rate fits all that seems to be common now.
 

Delazy

Got a new bike!
14469512_10155236352278222_2388993937243600970_n.jpg

loves it!

the coil has totally transformed the bike and also my confidence on the quicker rutted out descending stuff...

not a single regret after todays ride...looking forward to derby in 4 weeks time :D
 

JTmofo

XC Enthusiast
Aaaaaaaaaaand I changed my mind and order the DBCoil IL. I'll ride the shit out of it this weekend and let y'all know what she's like.
Rode report?

What does a Cane Creek Coil IL retail for? Much weight difference between it and a DB coil?
 

Delazy

Got a new bike!
Rode report?

What does a Cane Creek Coil IL retail for? Much weight difference between it and a DB coil?
shock only - $699
steel spring/hardware - $775
valt spring/hardware - $849

cant help with the weight comparison...despite the weight being more than the rs monarch it replaced...i certainly couldnt tell :)
 
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