[highgearracing]

Here are some pics of the 5th Element installed on our new team bikes.

They should be available aftermarket real soon...

JF
www.highgearracing.com
:angryfire

 

[highgearracing]

nm

 

[DEMON]

interesting , how does it ride compared to the stock rhoc shox???

the new giant design seems to be big interest to the shock companies , avalanche , romic have already got shock for upgrading , and if these 5th elements works like they say this will be alot of options for this new design , now if only you could order it from your dealer or the factory with the shock of your choice.

 

[highgearracing]

I think Giant has made their mark by making value packed performance bikes.

However, just because their into value doesn't mean that they won't buck up when customers demand it. Let's just say that I think you see might this shock on other Giant bikes in 2003, or maybe some prototypes in '02...

I think that aftermarket options are always a good thing. It gives riders the opportunity to pick the parts that will fit their budget, and maybe enhance your ride.

I know that the 5th Element shock is going to make a HUGE difference on the Giant DH compared to the stock shock, and some other aftermarket options. '

I think a lot of people will agree real soon.

Look for tuning and set-up tips coming soon on www.highgearracing.com

JF:angryfire

 

[KonaDude]

Originally posted by highgearracing
I think Giant has made their mark by making value packed performance bikes.

However, just because their into value doesn't mean that they won't buck up when customers demand it. Let's just say that I think you see might this shock on other Giant bikes in 2003, or maybe some prototypes in '02...

I think that aftermarket options are always a good thing. It gives riders the opportunity to pick the parts that will fit their budget, and maybe enhance your ride.

I know that the 5th Element shock is going to make a HUGE difference on the Giant DH compared to the stock shock, and some other aftermarket options. '

I think a lot of people will agree real soon.

Look for tuning and set-up tips coming soon on www.highgearracing.com

JF:angryfire

Have you ridden the 5th Element yet? If yes, how about a review? If no, how can you say these things?

 

[highgearracing]

Well,

We've done a parking lot A/B hotswap and have already determined that the 5th allows the Giant to pedal better than the RS. We won't release a full review until we race on it, which will be during the second and third week of April.

I think this qualifies as enough testing to support the claim we've made.

Frucci
www.highgearracing.com

 

[T. EAKIN]

Very nice improvement. I will be interested to hear what the durability of the fifth element is. Keep us posted.

 

[highgearracing]

Sorry - I hope you didn't think I was po'ed or something. I'm just used to people bashing everything but Avalanche and Santa Cruz Bullits on mtbr, and probably developed a hostile post style in retaliation to anybody that questions me!

Sorry for the off the cuff comments.

As for the seeing red - I just like that little fire breathing guy! Its not meant in anger, but in evil! HAHAHA.

Do I know you by the way? I saw in a post that you said you hadn't talked to me since you mozed to California? What's that all about?

John Frucci
www.highgearracing.com:angryfire

 

[highgearracing]

Its all clear now. As for the other company, things were ok - but it was just that things were breaking all the time. It was a good opportunity at the time, and I appreciate the support I received.

Things are a little different now since I started my own little business venture and we're hosting events, and such.

You should check the site and let me know what you think. I'd appreciate your feedback! This year we're hosting the NORBA Michigan State Championships for the second year in a row, co-hosting a clinic with Shaums, and sponsoring a team of National XC and DH riders...

Later,
JF
www.highgearracing.com

 

[KonaDude]

I gotcha.

I wasn't sure. Personally, I like to see a product get ridden for a long time before it's considered so highly, although optimism is allowed too.

No harm meant here.

 

[sod8]

Originally posted by Nobody
Of course, with the life-span of a Pro Deluxe being about 4 hrs, you don't need to ride the bike for long before you can say it's working better with the Progressive....

Hey, I think mine lasted for at least a good 10-12 hours of riding

 

[sod8]

Originally posted by Nobody
I've got to average that with Freaks, being abour 2 minutes before it puked it's guts out on his carpet....

It's not like Turner and Bradbury are drinking buddies of mine (wink) but I'd slap the two of them around for a good five minutes for letting both of their 'brain-trusts' go to H3LL in a handcart the way they did...

Drop by sometime with a cup of cappucino and I'll regale you with 'Tales From the Darkside' some time...

(*'way out here in Goleta and all...*)

Ahhh, forgot about Freak's. That does bring the average way down. Goleta is pretty far away when you don't have a car .

 

[DEMON]

i guess it will only be a matter of time before someone comes out with a floating disc set-up for the giant and it will be the best off the shelf dhbike for the masses , lots of shock upgrades , etc. this will be a design i will be keeping a watchfull eye on for next season.

 

[sod8]

Originally posted by DEMON
i guess it will only be a matter of time before someone comes out with a floating disc set-up for the giant and it will be the best off the shelf dhbike for the masses , lots of shock upgrades , etc. this will be a design i will be keeping a watchfull eye on for next season.

It seems as if they already have:
http://www.ridemonkey.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13876

 

[highgearracing]

For what it's worth.

The story with the development and release of the Giant DH Bikes is a tale high adventure...actually,

The original concepts and prototypes were 150mm thru axle rear ends, with a floating disc brake. During the intial rounds of development, I guess that the floating brake didn't really do that much for the bike - so it was cut. The 150mm axle enabled the use of the floating disc, so with the disc gone - the axle could be brought down to 135mm.

If you look at the rear end, its asymetrical - the stays are pushed out further on the drive side. So this causes the rear wheel to be offset by 22mm - creating an "almost" dishless rear wheel on a 135mm hub.

Myself, I would love to try a floating set up, to see what it would actually do. But for some reason, I think Giant decided to leave it on the drawing board...

JF

NOBODY: you can hit me with an email at information@highgearracing.com - that's probably the best way to get me.

 

[James]

Originally posted by highgearracing
Here are some pics of the 5th Element installed on our new team bikes.

They should be available aftermarket real soon...

JF
www.highgearracing.com
:angryfire

Wow, looks like a million bucks!
Just like the US Team is running, eh? Dustin Adams (new team pro DHer) loved his on his first run on the bike this past Saturday.
I see you went for the Ti springs, eh?
Will I be seeing you out at any of the West Coast races? I think that you and I should sit down for a beer or two, don't you think?
You should x-post this in the DH forum, too.
Hope to hear from you soon.

James

 

[James]

Originally posted by sod8

Ahhh, forgot about Freak's. That does bring the average way down. Goleta is pretty far away when you don't have a car .

But hey, don't forget, I've been on the same rear shock since late September, or so, and it's not even a production shock. My stock shock is still kicking around about 3 months later, so that should help the curve somewhat too.
I can always hope for better next year, right?

J@G

 

[ChrisKring]

Originally posted by James@Giant

Wow, looks like a million bucks!
Just like the US Team is running, eh? Dustin Adams (new team pro DHer) loved his on his first run on the bike this past Saturday.
I see you went for the Ti springs, eh?
Will I be seeing you out at any of the West Coast races? I think that you and I should sit down for a beer or two, don't you think?
You should x-post this in the DH forum, too.
Hope to hear from you soon.

James

James

I will be at Big Bear with my High Gear Racing prepared Progressive Fifth Element equiped Giant DH Comp. (do I sound like a NASCAR Race or what?)

I will be around begining 6am Saturday morning and staying through Monday. That date changed has killed my plans of being there all week. Let's hook up at some point. Name the place. I'll PM you my cell #.

Gerald had 2 more fifth elements built at the same time as our shocks were built. I am not sure where they went, but if you call them ASAP, you might be able to ride one too.

Seriously, I never realized how much my Boxxer bobed until my parking lot test ride with the Progressive. I didn't feel the rear end bobing at all. This was with 4" of sag in the back (I needed more air in the shock to get the sag set right. I snaped the chain before I could put more air in. Since the top tube didn't feel so good, I decided to call it for that test session) I'll post more feedback after next Sunday's test session.

Chris
High Gear Racing

 

[highgearracing]

Howdy,

Yeah we ended up getting everything worked out, and the shocks are really sweet.

Chris and I are trying to develop an external fill line, to adjust/fill air pressure remotely, because of clearance issues with the linkage.

We're hunting up the pnuematic fittings currently. Its a slick concept that would actually translate to any 5th equipped bike, thats fitted pretty snuggly.

I'm not going to be at Big Bear (Chris will be), or Sea Otter (our XC rider Robbie Stone will), but I will be at Durango and the other NCS events. I'm also thinking about doing the Downieville Race, this year for the hell of it.

Anyway, drop me a line sometime at information@highgearracing.com

Later,
JF

 

[mtbiac]

anyone know if the 5th element would fit on a 01 AC frame?

 

[highgearracing]

It won''t fit. Eye to Eye is too long, as well as stroke. Maybe you'll see one sometime in the near future.
JF
www.highgearracing.com

 

[James]

Originally posted by highgearracing
It won''t fit. Eye to Eye is too long, as well as stroke. Maybe you'll see one sometime in the near future.
JF
www.highgearracing.com

Actually, if you look at the US Team bikes, I think you'll see a famialr rear shock on the AC bikes they're using for slalom...


J@G

 

[highgearracing]

I may have mis-interpretted the question. The DH shock won't fit the AC - an AC specific Progressive (ala James' reference) with the 7" eye to eye/2" stroke would...better James?
Frucci

 

[James]

Originally posted by highgearracing
I may have mis-interpretted the question. The DH shock won't fit the AC - an AC specific Progressive (ala James' reference) with the 7" eye to eye/2" stroke would...better James?
Frucci

Much, thank you

James

 

[highgearracing]

We'll, we've had a couple weeks on the bikes now, and can make some determinations about the 5th Element available for the new Giant DH's. Some of you at Sea Otter may have checked out Myles' new rig which uses a custom rear end with a 9.5" x 3" 5th Element. The shocks we're using are a custom mod 9" x 2.75" stroke, so there's no change in geometry or travel. The frame gets 8.5 in the rear.
I weigh in at 220, and our other 2 riders come in at 190 and 195. All of our shocks are set up with 400lb Ti Springs. These shocks are .6 pounds lighter than the stock RS also.

Settings: We've been experimenting with different psi's and have gone anywhere from 95-150psi; currently, none of us are using any spring pre-load. I'm currently riding the shock with 130 psi. This provides a better range of adjustment on the damping circuits and also gets the sag to about 36%, or 1" on the shaft for my weight.

Performance: The bikes seem to be chewing up everything. The pedalling performance definitely blows away the stock shock, and sprinting the bike is not a problem. At 150psi, we were running wide open on everything and the bike felt super. When I dropped the pressure on mine, it allowed me to dial in the compression settings to fine tune everything, and also sped up the rebound - giving me more range of adjustability there as well.

Maintenance: Well, its no secret that the shock is tucked away snuggly in the bowels of the frame, but that doesn't mean checking the air pressure is difficult or time consuming. Removing the shock only involves flipping the bike over, removing the shock mount bolts, and pulling the shock out from the bottom - 1 minute job at the most.

I removed the shock when checking the preload on the spring and adjusting air pressure, and measuring sag (using the bottom out bumper as a guide of shaft travel). Installation is just as quick.

However, it is possible to adjust air pressure in the shock by only removing the bottom shock bolt. This allows the suspension to rotate up and totally exposes the Shrader valve for easy filling and pre ride pressure checks.

We are currently developing an external filling line that can be used on all 5th equipped frames that have difficulty threading on a shock pump, with the shock mounted. Its a very slick system that's very inconspicuous. We'll have more info soon...

Anyway, I'm pretty psyched about the shock and the bike, and how they compliment each other. First race is coming up in 2 weeks and we'll see how things fare...

Later,
JF
www.highgearracing.com

 

[Knobularlife]

It sounds like the 5thE is a really sweet setup.
What is your opinion of the stock RS for a rider
weighing in at 220-230 with a MRP 600 spring.
Im just getting into racing and have nothing to
compare it too.Im concerned with the reliabilty
of the seals? Id really like some info from you!

The pic? where ya at? Thx, BO

 

[highgearracing]

You might have to put some pre-load on the spring to get the right sag for your weight, but other than that you'll be ok.

Don't get me wrong the 5th is great, but its going to be pricey for the beginner DH'er (around $700 retail with the Ti spring). It will make a helluva difference in the ride of the bike though if you can swing it.

The pictures were taken at our little test area in southwestern Michigan. Not lots of vert, but good flow and well thought out trail building. The course runs anywahere from 1 to 2 minutes depending on the riders ability, and fitness.

We hosted the Michigan State Championships there last year, and are holding 2 events there this year. The Dual Course is really sweet...maybe I'll take some shots of it...

The place is kind of like the Michigan Playground, but like 1/3 scale!

Frucci - more pictures are on:
www.highgearracing.com

 

[Knobularlife]

Originally posted by highgearracing
You might have to put some pre-load on the spring to get the right sag for your weight, but other than that you'll be ok.

Don't get me wrong the 5th is great, but its going to be pricey for the beginner DH'er (around $700 retail with the Ti spring). It will make a helluva difference in the ride of the bike though if you can swing it.

The pictures were taken at our little test area in southwestern Michigan. Not lots of vert, but good flow and well thought out trail building. The course runs anywahere from 1 to 2 minutes depending on the riders ability, and fitness.

We hosted the Michigan State Championships there last year, and are holding 2 events there this year. The Dual Course is really sweet...maybe I'll take some shots of it...

The place is kind of like the Michigan Playground, but like 1/3 scale!
?

Frucci - more pictures are on:
www.highgearracing.com

 

[Knobularlife]

I like 1/3 scale,too bad its not closer to me!
Tell me...Is this the work of you or others?Thx

 

[muddyfox]

For anyone who's intersted I just rode my team dh with an Avalanche for the first time today (after riding the RS since the end of November with no problems) and holy crap what a difference this shock makes, it's a whole new bike! It actually pedals better and and it is now soooooo plush, but ramps up for the big hits (one 7/8 to a pretty flat landing on the tail x 3 runs and it felt like nothing!), I have only ridden the 5th on a VPP so I can't compare but I'd have to say the Avalanche is worth every penny!

 

[highgearracing]

Yeah, we actually built everything on the course. Some other local riders helped out too. Its turning out to be a really cool collaborative relationship with a local county park committee and our group.

The parks commission has noticed increased traffic to the park, with a majority of riders travelling from as far as 2 hours away to come ride at it. They are really happy with the following that the short courses are getting.

We're pretty happy with how its developed, plus it gives a cool place to ride thats close to home.

We built that ladder thing in a hour too - and its totally adjustable and portable...

Later,
JF
www.highgearracing.com

 

[Knobularlife]

That port.... jump,do you take it down and bring home or just move it to a different spot from time to time making the course a little diff?

Some of my buddies have been working on a srtip of new single track making it flow like a salom course...Really fun and good to help with speed work!also a preety good work out...Cuz were always pushing the bikes back to the top for more runs.

Any people opposed to your efforts on building?
Ive heard that some are mad at our work and are planing to maybe see if they can put a stop to our fun.:angry:

 

[LoboDelFuego]

Why don't any bikes have manitou or marzocchi rear shocks? i've heard that they're good, and the frame builders probably already have a contract with one of those companies for their forks.

 

[Ian F]

Originally posted by LoboDelFuego
Why don't any bikes have manitou or marzocchi rear shocks? i've heard that they're good, and the frame builders probably already have a contract with one of those companies for their forks.

Manitou made shocks for the Tomac bikes from '99 to last year (I believe they run Fox now) and were optional for Intenses - a buddy has one for his Uzzi SL. They had reliability issues... Maybe with the liscencing of the 5th Element technology, they will start again.

Marzocchi dabbled in shocks a few years ago, but seemed to determine it wasn't worth the costs involved in making so many different types of shocks and having to deal with warranties and such. I doubt Rock Shox would argue this decision now... I asked Brain P about this a few months ago and he pretty much said they are concentrating on forks for now...