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New Whip? New toys for the dependable steed?

two-one

two-one

Monkey
Dec 15, 2013
180
166
Eindhoven, the Netherlands
After 8 years on my loyal Reign, it is time to get one of those big front wheels.
IMG_20240702_164714-01.jpeg

Details matter


Secondhand bike with original tires and drivetrain for around €2500. Can't have seen more than 10 days of riding. Front brake pads were still 80%, rear 50%.

Normally i would choose to ride SRAM and Rockshox, but you cannot be open minded without trying something different every now and then, so I'm now running some Fox VVC suspension and XT drivetrain.

I can already tell that the headset is going to become a headache. Its full IS52, but without the internal cables. It just feels plasticky. The fork wil probably need some burnishing too. It feels smooth when loaded in the direction of the headangle, but sticky every other way. Maybe fox just forgot the lube.
 
FlipSide

FlipSide

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2001
1,405
854
FlipSide said:
I now have a couple of rides done on the Optic and it plain rips. I love that bike!

It is exactly what I wanted from it. It offers much more room for error than my hardtail and is a super capable bike despite the short travel. It also climbs super well and there is no need for a lockout on the shock. I am also very happy I went for a 150mm fork on it. I know some people on YouTube reported 150mm was too much for the Optic. :lol: No way! 150mm feels perfect for me.

I only have one complaint: There are only 2 chainguide tabs, meaning I can fit a top guide (which I did), but no bashguard. That sucks.

Also, I suspect there is something very wrong with the Norco Ride Aligned setup guidelines. The suggested pressure for the shock is 214psi, which is severely undersprung for my weight (like close to 40% SAG). I went to 245psi on the last ride, which was good, but I will try 250psi on the next.

I will keep on riding it like that for a while, then will put on the Cascade link. It will be interesting to feel the differences. We'll see how it goes, but I can't stop thinking about trying a coil shock on it. Maybe next year...
Click to expand...
I tried the Cascade link for the first time yesterday. I'd say it is quite a worthy upgrade, despite having been ass-raped by the DHL custom brokerage fees upon reception. (Seriously, the price Cascade sells these things is already expensive enough, the least they could do for their customer is to use USPS for international orders and remove the shady custom brokerage overcharge that filthy crooks like DHL/UPS/etc. are adding to the bill.)

Back to the Cascade link: I was expecting a more subtle difference in performance, but I have been blown away. The increased progression is extremely noticeable and it completely changes the feel of the bike, for the better. The bike feels plusher and remains way more composed when it gets rough. In particular, I had a quite a messy landing off a respectable size drop (especially for a short-travel trailbike). I was expecting to get completely out-of-shape and possibly crash on landing, but the bike took it surprisingly well and just kept on going like nothing happened. I guess that's what is meant by "bottomless feeling"...? Maybe the climbing performances suffer a tiny bit, but that's quite an acceptable compromise considering how much it improved the bike overall. It turned a great and capable trailbike into an even better one. :)
 
A

Andeh

Customer Title
Mar 3, 2020
1,096
1,055
I'm curious to see what you think of the 3.1. I had the shop order one of those upgrade kits to try myself, but wasn't planning on changing the shim stack since I'm near the middle in 3.
 
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