ELKA on a DHR ?
- Thread starter saruti
- Start date
Get the Elka, you won't be disappointed! I have one on my trek and it was better than the fox that came on it. Elka tunes each shock towards the leverage ratios of most frames.
Elka also saves all your tuning settings in a database don't they so if you don't like it you can send it back and change it and dial it in to the perfect setup
I would just run the RC4, I'm pretty sure DW tested several shocks and the fox worked out the best, he designed the frame and that specific shock to work together.
I actually helped do a little testing to get a solid tune dialed in for the dhr...I'm SUPER impressed with this shock. Not sure where you plan to buy it, but as mentioned above they store tunes in a database, so you should be all set, but if you're unsure I would get ahold of Erik at the US Elka service center....great guy working out of so cal, and he's the one who cracked this tune for me so he should have the best idea as to
what you'll need...
Erik@elkaservicecenter.com
what you'll need...
Erik@elkaservicecenter.com
DW has said himself that on his own bike he runs a CCDB and he likes that best.
Ian_Collins on this forum runs an Elka on his DHR. I'm sure he'll chime in when he sees this.
Then I stand corrected!
I tested the ELKA on my sunday for long time this year
it is really amazing
but the sunday is bottoming too much with it, so now I run the RC4 on my sunday
last weekend I took my friends new DHR for some runs (withe the stock RC4)
the bike feels really a lot like my sunday (HA and all)
but the rear end just feel more relaxed (I cant describe it ...)
the sunday rear end feels like it tracks the ground, but feels more bouncy
the DHR just feel less bumpy ...
I really want to check this bike with the ELKA. as I know the ELKA will make it even better...
IAN.
can you share you experience with the DHR & ELKA?
thanks
it is really amazing
but the sunday is bottoming too much with it, so now I run the RC4 on my sunday
last weekend I took my friends new DHR for some runs (withe the stock RC4)
the bike feels really a lot like my sunday (HA and all)
but the rear end just feel more relaxed (I cant describe it ...)
the sunday rear end feels like it tracks the ground, but feels more bouncy
the DHR just feel less bumpy ...
I really want to check this bike with the ELKA. as I know the ELKA will make it even better...
IAN.
can you share you experience with the DHR & ELKA?
thanks
i think some of what you're feeling is just the nature of those frames and how they contrast one another...
you're feeling the elka bottom on the sunday because the bike is linear(i believe) towards the end of the stroke...it was designed around a position sensitive damper(5th element) back in the day....the DHX can be set up by the end user with very low air volume and very high air pressure in the chamber to help combat bottoming....a different tune on the elka can help combat this is well....
with regards to the elka on the DHR, i love it....it took a couple of rounds of tuning, but erik is a bit of a wizard and he got a perfect tune dialed in for me...
it feels lively, yet stable and grounded, it doesn't buck or anything...pedals and brakes very neutrally, yet eats up everything in it's path....great combination....get ahold of erik and get set up with one, you won't be disappointed
i would take the rc4 off for sure...rode 3 weeks with a friend on a brand new one in morzine and he certainly wasnt impressed, his theory was the shaft was too big whic caused it to heat up very quickly which led to the shock's rebound becoming significantly quicker....this was experienced around 2 mins into a 5 min run which wasnt ideal..quiete a change from his old dhr...said it let the bike down
id go with the elka or the vivid which was in agreement with my firend...
id go with the elka or the vivid which was in agreement with my firend...
well, in terms of fading, it could also be due to the fact that the reservoir uses air, where both the Elka and Vivid run on nitrogen, it can be a slight hassle to recharge here and there but it helps performance so it's worth it.
does the nitrogen make thaaat much difference? I run my RC4 with really slow rebound because I know that by the time Im on my second run it'll be heated up and run slightly faster.
Nitrogen pressure is far more consistent for several reasons:
It maintains more consistent pressure because pure nitrogen is far less sensitive to temperature changes.
It doesn't have the water vapor content of air, and the presence of water makes the air even more sensitive to changes in temp.
Nitrogen does not leak out of the system as easily so your pressure holds far longer than an air system that needs to be checked frequently.
What he said
I already knew those things... let me refrase, does it FEEL that more different? I remember when I had my avy charged with Nitrogen and then rode it with air, couldnt feel the difference. Does it really feel that much different? I get it for other industries (moto, car, etc)
I've run the same shock back-to-back with nitrogen and air and felt no difference. If a shock feels better or different then I'd say a far larger percentage is down to the performance of the shock itself and its tuning/setup in relation to the frame and rider - than the difference between pure nitrogen and air (78.1% nitrogen).
i weight about 180 +-5 lbs depending on if i'm drinking beer or actually hitting the gym....
i run a 350lb spring, and i run a fair bit of LSC compared to most riders....
LSC- 17/32 clicks
R- 9 from closed
can't remember HSC...i'll check it tonight
realistically you probably won't feel a difference unless you're on a 8+ minute run and your shock heats up and fades...that has happened with me before on a shock that ran on air, and has never happened with shocks that ran on nitrogen
All of the above is technically correct (except the leakage part, diffusion through metal and thick rubber o-rings is next to nothing!) but the actual difference is negligible.
Damping fade has to do with oil viscosity changing with temperature. Using nitrogen instead of air will not change that.
but if the shock as a whole was cooler wouldn't it be less susceptible oil heating up and fading as well?
The thermal mass of air/nitrogen is miniscule (like in the vicinity of one thousandth) of the oil, as is its conductivity, and the differences between nitrogen and air are next to nothing. The difference that makes to the temperature is sweet FA.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but he also preferred an Avalanche on the Sunday.