[Jou]

I'm going to be buying a 2001 big hit comp form a guy on this board and i'm starting to research my rear linkage and shock.

Linkages:

Specialized 8"

http://www.specialized.com/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=5065&JServSessionIdroot=pk3podkldz.j27007
comes w/Fox Vanilla RC
$ 400

Dan Stapleton 9"

http://avalanchedownhillracing.com/stapleton.html
uses 3.0 x 9.0
$ ???

Beaudry/Southbridge 9"

http://avalanchedownhillracing.com/beaudry.html
uses 3.0 x 9.0
$ 270

Any experince/prefrence/opinion/information on any of these?

Shocks:

I'm looking for any opinion on what shock to go with and how much $

Thanks

 

[bighitfsr]

Here's what I like about it:

- 1 peice construction: excessively strong, adds a noticable ammount of stiffness to the rear end. None of the other links are 1-pc.

- Loads of travel: over 9 inches. With an Avalanche shock you barely feel small to medium hits thru the rear end. Going from 6.3" fox travel to 9+ avy travel is a massive difference before the upgrade I was struggling to keep my feet on the pedals after the upgrade I can barely feel fist sized rocks thru the rear end of the bike.

- Seems to be well designed as chain growth is still very minimal.
With the spring off the shock the derailer barely moves when you cycle the suspension. This indicates that the active properties of the FSR suspension design havent been compromised significantly by the aftermarket mod. Brake jack and pedaling feedback are not noticable either.

- good geometry: With my setup (7 inch xvert carbon) the head angle is slightly steeper than my housemates super8+dorado and karpeil disco+boxxer and slightly slacker than a turner with a dorado (so average to slightly steep for a DH bike). The BB is low, slightly lower than an 04 turner (and the BH has more travel). I've never tried it but I feel the bike would work well with an 8 inch fork (my next upgrade).

- low leverage ratio: almost 3:1 overall very low for a 9 inch travel bike.
After almost 2 years use every weekend + holidays me and my housemate (super8) sent in our Avalanches for a service. His shock came back and he noticed a huge improvement (meaning performance had degraded between rebuilds on his high leverage ratio super8). Due to the low leverage ratio and the crazy overbuilt linkage (protecting the shock from side loads) I noticed almost no difference after rebuilding my Avalanche (ie 2 years use with almost zero performance loss).

Complaints:

- uses a non standard sized shock: I think only Avalanche makes a 9 X 3 shock. Everyone else makes 2.75 X 3 or 3 X 9.5. If the linkage were designed around a 9.5 X 3 shock you'd get more shock options and if you wanted to re-purpose the shock on another frame you could do so without modification as 9.5 X 3 is a very common size.

- lacks geometery adjustment.
It could have a BB height/HA adjust like the "big link" from specialized.

- excessive weight: The link its self must weigh about a 1lb. I think with aftermarket linkages its a good Idea to make them beefier than usual but this is just excessive and heavy. The added stiffness of the shock link probably means another part of the frame is more likely to fail (shock mount or other linkage members perhaps).

 

[Jou]

Which one are you talking about?

 

[Langer]

I was at my LBS today and their Specialized rep was there. We asked about shock options on their 8 inch link. He said there is none because they dont have any and his laptop showed nothing coming in then next month or two. He also said bighit production is about done for good and not to wait for there link, because from the looks of it, they wont be producing this either.

Is there any other options other than what has been posted? I heard BETD produced a link, but their website showed enduro parts only. I have a big hit comp with 6 inch travel and I want more. 9 inches of travel would be okay, but I prefer some type of SPV (push, pro pedal, romic) and those posted links need an odd length shock that only avy produces. Good cush shock, but no stable platform pedal.

Someone has to have some knowledgable advice on this subject and there are lives depending on it! Please help!

 

[VooDoo]

I'd get the last one (with an avy)
I was going to get one before i sold my bighit.
It has the same geometry as the regular biglink but is 1 piece machined (instead of cast) and is designed to fit the larget of shocks (romic, avy).

 

[Langer]

I'd get the last one (with an avy)
I was going to get one before i sold my bighit.
It has the same geometry as the regular biglink but is 1 piece machined (instead of cast) and is designed to fit the larget of shocks (romic, avy).

Will it take a 9.5 x 3.0 shock? The site says 9.0 x 3.0 and romic and others don't produce that size. They do produce a 9.0 x 2.75, but is that a good idea?

 

[vitox]

Will it take a 9.5 x 3.0 shock? The site says 9.0 x 3.0 and romic and others don't produce that size. They do produce a 9.0 x 2.75, but is that a good idea?

that only means that you will have sub 10% less travel, that means going from 9+" to 8,5ish.

 

[Jou]

so 270 for the linkage and the avy 9x3 is about 550 i believe, guess i'll start saving up.

 

[Langer]

I saved these pix off of MTBR.com along time ago and just came across it today. The link in this pic looks like a Stapleton, but that shock is a swinger spv.

Hope this works!

 

[Cave Dweller]

BigHitFSR was refering to the Beaudry/Southbridge 9".

I am the guy with the super 8 mentioned (i have a turner DHR now :heart: ).

Ok, i don't think the one from specilzed will fit your bike, i think they moved the pivot at some point between 02 and 03. The stapleton one looks nice but the Southbridge one is going to be stiffer as it is a one piece design. It is way over built, infact for the price you pay for it they could have spent a bit of time engineering it and taking out some of the excess material.

BigHitFSR's bike felt heaps better when he put it on, although putting an avy on the standard linkage would have improved it as well.

I personally think the BB is too low (combination of 9inch of travel and 24inch rear wheel on a bike not designed for it), If you bottom the bike the cranks come very close to the ground, even when the pedals are level. A mate of ours hit a drop and we filmed it and you can see the heel of his foot hitting the ground.

My unbiased 2 cents. My biased 2 cents would be to buy a Turner

 

[RaID]

Ok, i don't think the one from specilzed will fit your bike, i think they moved the pivot at some point between 02 and 03. The stapleton one looks nice but the Southbridge one is going to be stiffer as it is a one piece design. It is way over built, infact for the price you pay for it they could have spent a bit of time engineering it and taking out some of the excess material.

hes getting a 2001 Big Hit
which all of those links will fit his bike

01, 02 frames are the same
the pivot location changed on the 03 frame

 

[bighitfsr]

"that only means that you will have sub 10% less travel, that means going from 9+" to 8,5ish"

Not exactly.
By running a shorter stroke shock of the same length you will loose not only the last bit of travel but the most progressive part of the travel.
That last 1/2 inch of travel is where the suspension really ramps up.
An SPV shock is much more progressive than an avalanche so that should make up for this to some extent.

"Ok, i don't think the one from specilzed will fit your bike"

Yes it will. That linkage is what came stock on the 2002 DH model bighit which has exactly he same frame and linkage (bar the shock link) as the 2001, 2002 and 2003 BH comp. After 2002 all the DH model bighits got a new main frame with a wider linkage that will fit almost any shock.
That speciazed big link kit with the fox shock will actually fit a 5th.
Their is a pic at Tim Flooks website of that link with a 5th fitted.
Progressives site says it doesnt fit (they are wrong).

"Which one are you talking about?"

Mine is the "Beaudry" link the bottom pic in your 1st post.
Its by far the best one as its the only 1-pc design and it will let you run any shock (although its been designed specifically for the Avy).

"I personally think the BB is too low (combination of 9inch of travel and 24inch rear wheel on a bike not designed for it)"

Fair enough. Personally I like the low BB. I think the low BB works well as a 9 inch travel bike thats both very progressive and active needs to hold momentum thru corners to make up for the fact that its not going to pedal as well as a lighter bike with less semi active suspension (eg. super8 and turner). A low BB lets you hold more speed thru corners (or loose less momentum). I also tend to spin a lower gear than Cave dweller so it suites my riding style (spinning faster reduces the chances of a seveere pedal clip IMO). I clip my pedals a lot less than CD and he's on a turner with less travel and a higher BB (he's killed 2 sets of pedals in the last few months, my pedals are of lesser quality and are going strong after over a year of use). You should spin at 80-100rpm at race pace (IMO CD spins way slower than that).

I would never trade my Avy for a 5th, romic, swinger.
For me the trade off in suspension quality and durability is not worth it.
CD is getting an Avy for his turner which came stock with a romic thats how much better they are.
CD wouldnt do that if he thought it would make him slower, hes a racer.
You should put up a 2nd post about shocks. I think you'll find that most people would pick the Avy on a 4 bar linkage bike. The Avy has low speed compression adjustment which helps filter out pedal bob FYI (not as much as curnutt valve shocks though).

 

[edrock]

sorry to bump this very outdated thread..

first a small intro.. my name is Ed, I bought a 01 Specialized Big Hit Comp 2 years ago. I want to upgrade the shock/linkage. I found this post through google a year ago, and bookmarked it, knowing I would be back eventually.

The time to go bigger is now.....

Unfortunately, (Dan)Stapleton, Eric Beaudry, and Jason Langlois are unable to be found. I tried emailing them all, and calling.. nothing!

I would really to get a Beaudry/Southbridge linkage, if they are no longer available then I would be fine getting a Stapleton. The only other option I can find that is out there is a Risse Racing 8" linkage:

http://www.risseracing.com/product_frames.shtml#bighit

which might be my only option.

Does anyone here know where I might be able to find a 9" Linkage for my frame? or Does anyone know how I can get a hold of Dan, Eric, or Jason.

Sorry to bring this thread back up from so many years ago. Thank you for any help you can provide, and thank you for all that you have so far!
-Ed

 

[konastab01]

I lost contact with Dan,dont know where he is now.

 

[YukonCornelius34]

Can anyone help me on where or why you'd want the linkage in one position over the other?

 

[bullcrew]

Shit this thread is as old as I've been on RM