I'm looking to replace my leaky 5th Element rear shock for a while until I can do a shim conversion on it.
In the mean time, I want to get a replacement rear shock so I can ride my big bike. I know that SC had their shocks specially valved for the Free (what I'm on again), just like IH did for Sundays, 7Points, and others. I'm curious whether or not the OEM custom valving really makes that big of a difference in terms of performance.
I've replaced a rear shock on a previous Free I owned with a regular-old aftermarket Roco. I had shuttle access to everything I rode at that time, so I was mostly just concerned with the small-bump/big-hit settings (which was awesome with the Roco), and I didn't care about pedaling. There was noticeably more bob when I swapped out for the Roco from a 5th, presumably because of the platform and the custom valving. I broke my hand soon after that, and have done mostly trail riding for the last couple years. Since I have a Free again, but really don't have the luxury of shuttling everything anymore, pedaling (and pedaling efficiency) has now become something that I think about.
Any input? Will hunting for a specially-valved OEM for the Free DHX/DHXa (or even another 5th) help out that much with the pedaling? Or can I just adjust the replacement shock to suit the characteristics of the leverage ratio and the VPP?
Better yet, any chance anyone has an extra VP-Free shock lying around they want to sell? :biggrin:
In the mean time, I want to get a replacement rear shock so I can ride my big bike. I know that SC had their shocks specially valved for the Free (what I'm on again), just like IH did for Sundays, 7Points, and others. I'm curious whether or not the OEM custom valving really makes that big of a difference in terms of performance.
I've replaced a rear shock on a previous Free I owned with a regular-old aftermarket Roco. I had shuttle access to everything I rode at that time, so I was mostly just concerned with the small-bump/big-hit settings (which was awesome with the Roco), and I didn't care about pedaling. There was noticeably more bob when I swapped out for the Roco from a 5th, presumably because of the platform and the custom valving. I broke my hand soon after that, and have done mostly trail riding for the last couple years. Since I have a Free again, but really don't have the luxury of shuttling everything anymore, pedaling (and pedaling efficiency) has now become something that I think about.
Any input? Will hunting for a specially-valved OEM for the Free DHX/DHXa (or even another 5th) help out that much with the pedaling? Or can I just adjust the replacement shock to suit the characteristics of the leverage ratio and the VPP?
Better yet, any chance anyone has an extra VP-Free shock lying around they want to sell? :biggrin: