[JTN]

Been looking at pictures of the '10 demo 8 frame, and as far as I can tell, they have simply eliminated the bracket on the shockmount and mounted the shock 1 cm further back, directly to the frame, resulting in a slacker, lower bike.

Now to my question..
On the '09 demo, is the part i have highlighted a structural part of the frame, or "just" the shock mount? In other words; Will the frame break if I trim it a bit to make the shock fit directly to it?

 

[lovebunny]

why would you do that? that would void your lifetime warranty.

 

[JTN]

Just want a slacker HA.. didn't know Specialized had a lifetime warranty?

 

[DirtyMike]

http://cdn.specialized.com/OA_MEDIA/pdf/manuals/OM0232_Warranty_r1.pdf

 

[crohnsy]

Do what all the cool kids are doing and sell it for a 2010...

 

[4130biker]

If you really want to slacken/lower it and not kill your frame and warranty, try an 8.5x2.5 shock.. If you install this shock (or hack your '09 frame), you could end up with around a 63 deg HA, and the '10 still has a 64..
I'm personally not into the whole "ultra slack" thing, but I'm sure someone here has already tried this and could chime in.
The other thing is, if you read up on it, Specialized had to re-work a bunch of forgings on the frame to change the bb height and keep the HA at 64. I'm tempted to get a 2010, they seem nice, but knowing specialized, I would guess that the '10 demo is more of an interum bike, with something really bad ass in the works.

 

[kidwoo]

You REALLY want a frame that much slacker than the already slack as hell low setting on a demo 8?

Are you talking about taking the shuttle thing out all together and just mounting the shock on the front triangle? That's a big distance.

 

[JTN]

You REALLY want a frame that much slacker than the already slack as hell low setting on a demo 8?

Are you talking about taking the shuttle thing out all together and just mounting the shock on the front triangle? That's a big distance.

I just did a small test, mounting the shock in the top hole for the bracket, and it lowered the BB height by about 1/2", and probably made the HA 63,5.

I'm going to put it together properly later, and see what it feels like

 

[davep]

Be a little careful with what you are doing. If the new mount is higher (further from the main pivot techinally) than the swingarm mount at FULL bottom-out..you could have some serious issues!

 

[istratetm]

first of all the tubing of the 2010 are reworked. everything is made so that it is lower. they reworked the leverage ratio so that the bike is more progressive and stays higher in the travel.
i did lower and slakened my 09 Demo by making new shuttles. shorter ones it was around 345 mm BB height.
it is serious work and a lot of measuring.
as Davep said if you are not careful there is serious contact at bottom out. i did made a travel reducer chip(4mm) and the travel was reduced to 200mm.
so the most simple thing to do is to install a 8.5X2.5 shock. i

 

[buckoW]

It might make the suspension regressive. Has anyone tried a 3" stroke shock without the shuttle?

 

[istratetm]

so to make it clear:
even if you move the shock a mere 5 mm further, the swing arm hits the main frame(front triangle) big time.
i did it all, tried it all. i started in 2008 with makin' shuttles for a demo 7(i installed a 2.75 stroke shock on it) and then the demo 8.
if i find some pics i'll post them

 

[JTN]

so to make it clear:
even if you move the shock a mere 5 mm further, the swing arm hits the main frame(front triangle) big time.
i did it all, tried it all. i started in 2008 with makin' shuttles for a demo 7(i installed a 2.75 stroke shock on it) and then the demo 8.
if i find some pics i'll post them

I'd love to see those pics if you have them!

 

[Udi]

why would you do that? that would void your lifetime warranty.

That doesn't actually apply in a lot of countries other than the US. It's just 1 year here on the parts that actually break (rearend, chainstays, links, etc).

 

[johnnypop]

so to make it clear:
even if you move the shock a mere 5 mm further, the swing arm hits the main frame(front triangle) big time.
i did it all, tried it all. i started in 2008 with makin' shuttles for a demo 7(i installed a 2.75 stroke shock on it) and then the demo 8.
if i find some pics i'll post them

What he said... It'll hit the frame bigtime. You'd have to do some careful planning and sizing to not have bottom-out issues.

 

[kidwoo]

It's much more than 5mm from that shuttle hole to one of the mount holes.

 

[Dox]

I did the same thing on my bike (norco A-line) and it was great. But When you lower your bike like this and your frame pivots are not at the same place as the 2010, your suspension is going to ride further in the wheelpath so you are going to loose a bit of square hit absorbtion as it will start almost directly frontward when sagged but with the 2010 you will have a bit of backwardl travel in sag to get better suspension.

Even with this compromise i kept my custom shuttle all summer and would not return to the old one.
Just my 0.02$

 

[JTN]

I've decided to leave it as it is, it's just not worth it.
But I want to experiment with spring rates instead; I currently have a 500 spring, but want to try a 450 or even a 400... But the spring sais 2.80, not 2.75.. And I can't find an aftermarket spring like that... will a 2.75 spring fit?

 

[kidwoo]

It's a 2.75 stroke shock.


So yes


Anything 2.75 or longer will work, provided you can get it on the shock.

 

[4130biker]

Good to know about the contact issues... I would say just ride the thing, and wait for the '11 or '12 Specialized when it comes out..

 

[istratetm]

yep! i think the 2011 will be a different machine