[bumee]

Hi!

I´m looking for a new rig for racing downhill this season. My previous bike was a iron horse sunday for last 2 seasons

I have a chance to get two frames as same price.
intense m6 with CCDB(Ti spring)
intense 951 with FoxRC4(Steel spring)

What is your choice?

And I am about 5´9"(176cm).
Are M frames good for me?

thanks!

 

[epic]

Are they both new?

 

[time-bomb]

These are two very different bikes. Maybe Stickman can jump in on this but factors like where you ride and your riding style will play a better role in determining the right bike for you than getting epinions from busters like me.

I can tell you what I would choose and why, but that won't help you. Give us more info about yourself and if you can sift through all the sarcasm and jokes in here, every now and then you get a quality nugget of info.

 

[RMboy]

These are two very different bikes. Maybe Stickman can jump in on this but factors like where you ride and your riding style will play a better role in determining the right bike for you than getting epinions from busters like me.

I can tell you what I would choose and why, but that won't help you. Give us more info about yourself and if you can sift through all the sarcasm and jokes in here, every now and then you get a quality nugget of info.

This man is right.

All i can say is the M6 is a great bike. i have one and i love it. Was skeptical at first but now i do enjoy it

Its low, fast and jumps well. It is a bit of a plough bike yes, but i like that style of point and shoot.

Only prob is, parts are stupidly expensive.

 

[Ithnu]

Having only rode an M6 and not a 951 I'm going to recommend you buy a completely different bike that happens to be the one I own...

 

[al-irl]

not that i've ridden either, but the few people i know who got 951s after owning m6s seem to be regretting there descision.

 

[norbar]

not that i've ridden either, but the few people i know who got 951s after owning m6s seem to be regretting there descision.

Seems like a trend with most people who went that way. I'd defo go with the m6 even though I think intense makes overpriced overhyped bikes. Especialy with better shock.

 

[Ithnu]

For some real input... the 2 different M6s I rode I really liked. Very confident at high speed, pedaled pretty well. I thought they jumped ok, not as good as a single pivot and about the same as a demo 8; but better than a DW, 303, Giant Faith I've also rode. Basically I felt the M6 jumped better than other VPP, floating rear end type bikes.

Yes I've rode them all on real DH runs, poor me with so many options And I don't own any of the ones I listed, I have a Commencal Supreme DH.

 

[al-irl]

Seems like a trend with most people who went that way. I'd defo go with the m6 even though I think intense makes overpriced overhyped bikes. Especialy with better shock.

One of the guys i know with one said he was running nearly 50% sag and not getting all the travell out of the shock.

 

[bdamschen]

One of the guys i know with one said he was running nearly 50% sag and not getting all the travell out of the shock.

I run maybe about 30% sag (probably slightly less) and I'm definitely getting full travel out of my RC4.

Sounds like he's doing it wrong somehow...

 

[BmxConvert]

I would suggest searching the 951 on this forum. I'm quite positive that there were many of the guys saying that they would get mid way through the travel and then feel like they hit a brick wall in the suspension travel.

Just something that you may want to search out and or keep in mind.

 

[EM-EFER]

I would suggest searching the 951 on this forum. I'm quite positive that there were many of the guys saying that they would get mid way through the travel and then feel like they hit a brick wall in the suspension travel.

Just something that you may want to search out and or keep in mind.

A 951 with a properly tuned CCDB will not blow through all the travel. This website has 30% accurate information and the rest is crap. I don't feel this "BRICK WALL" ever so these guys probably have no clue how to tune a shock.

 

[Slater]

A 951 with a properly tuned CCDB will not blow through all the travel. This website has 30% accurate information and the rest is crap. I don't feel this "BRICK WALL" ever so these guys probably have no clue how to tune a shock.

I've tuned a double barrel for one, and still felt the "brick wall". I drew it up in Linkage and sure enough, it ramps over 90% throughout travel in the 8" position. This is compounded by how soft they are at beginning travel, which results in relatively high springrates to hit a decent sag number. As a result, the force required to bottom out a 951 is virtually double that of most other downhill frames on the market today.

 

[Kntr]

I run a softer spring with a few clicks of compression and I do not feel the brick wall. I run about 35% sag. It takes a little tuning. I love my 951.

 

[norbar]

I don't want to be a smartass here but the ratios should differ for different travel settings as I recal the 951 has 2. Probably it is there only in 1 of them

 

[EM-EFER]

I've tuned a double barrel for one, and still felt the "brick wall". I drew it up in Linkage and sure enough, it ramps over 90% throughout travel in the 8" position. This is compounded by how soft they are at beginning travel, which results in relatively high springrates to hit a decent sag number. As a result, the force required to bottom out a 951 is virtually double that of most other downhill frames on the market today.

Since you tuned the double barrel, your an expert. I recommend you call Cane Creek to help with your shock. It's just interesting that the people who have been riding the 951 that I know, don't feel this BRICK WALL.

What's your springrate and how much do you weigh?

 

[BmxConvert]

A 951 with a properly tuned CCDB will not blow through all the travel. This website has 30% accurate information and the rest is crap. I don't feel this "BRICK WALL" ever so these guys probably have no clue how to tune a shock.

This is why I brought it up. The OP is clearly looking for advice and some people have found troubles with the leverage curve/shock tuning/whatever you chalk it up to be while some have not.

I do not own, nor have I ridden a 951. I just wanted to ensure that if there happened to be a problem then the OP could research it himself and find out whether or not the 951 or the M6 truely are good options.

 

[EM-EFER]

This is why I brought it up. The OP is clearly looking for advice and some people have found troubles with the leverage curve/shock tuning/whatever you chalk it up to be while some have not.

I do not own, nor have I ridden a 951. I just wanted to ensure that if there happened to be a problem then the OP could research it himself and find out whether or not the 951 or the M6 truely are good options.

Not a problem.

I just want to give my experience. I don't hit this mysterious brick wall. There are 2-3 people that hit this brick wall that are self certified experts in shock tuning.

I know the leverage curve is steep then falls 3/4 way through the travel but, with a properly tuned shock you will not feel this.

 

[Slater]

with a properly tuned shock you will not feel this.

You can't be serious. If you cannot feel any difference in any shock rate, why do companies bother to sink significant amounts of time and money into a specific leverage curve? Are you're saying there is no difference between a frame that necessitates 5000N force to bottom it out as opposed to one that takes 2500N? There is no shock that can cover that up. The bottomout issues with 951's are well documented, and not limited to just a couple people who don't know how to turn a knob.

 

[EM-EFER]

You can't be serious. If you cannot feel any difference in any shock rate, why do companies bother to sink significant amounts of time and money into a specific leverage curve? Are you're saying there is no difference between a frame that necessitates 5000N force to bottom it out as opposed to one that takes 2500N? There is no shock that can cover that up. The bottomout issues with 951's are well documented, and not limited to just a couple people who don't know how to turn a knob.

I have only felt the shock bottom once, off a 10ft to almost flat transfer. I turned 1/4 more HS+ and it never happened again.

I must not be fast enough to bottom it out all the time.

Where is it well documented besides on the forums with 4 of the same people?

 

[WBC]

I've been on a 951 with a DHX RC4 since September, riding through most of the winter on steep, rough trails and 20 days riding in NZed. Great bike - poppy, fast, confident at speed. Great geo. It jumps better than anything I've ridden and was money riding all the super high speed, blown out ex-race tracks that NZ has to offer.

I'm 250lbs on a 450/500lbs (change it out depending on where I'm riding) spring. I run lots of LSC to keep it from being wallowy, run the bottom out all the way open, very little HSC, etc....I've bottomed it maybe twice? If even?

The bike does not bottom out. That is good and bad. On the good side, it's more confidence inspiring. On the bad side, I'm actually riding a 7.5" bike - but then again Nico rode a 6" bike, so maybe that's ok.

You're not going wrong buying a 951, but if you're goal is to punish World Cup tracks, you'd probably be better off buying something more linear like the M6. The M6 is built specifically for Calves Kovarik to demolish World Cup tracks with HUUUGE whips into rock gardens....and you know Calves is way too sick to even think about bringing those bad boys back straight.

 

[Kntr]

I run a Roco WC with a 425 Obtainium ti-spring with bearing collars. Im 185-190 with gear. I use 3-4 turns of compression on the shock and I also run it in the 8" setting in the middle G3 dropout. I havent hit any big drops with the bike, but I do not feel the brick wall when I ride. I plan on hitting up the FR trails here in the next week. Il see how it does on dops and jumps. All I can say is the bike is crazy fast. It loves to corner and it stays glued to the ground. You can still pop it off the rocks and roots when you want to though. My Roco is PUSHED and it feels amazing. My Socom was fun, but this bike is just crazy fast.