[Jeremy R]

Mmmn, I often wonder why it is that I seem to prefer what is deemed a linear shock on a linear frame.
I have a Yeti 303rdh which is supposed to be as linear as it gets, and I have two shocks for it. A CCDB and an RC4 that came on it. IMO, both of these shocks work well on the frame with the CCDB being more compliant off the top of the travel. I have been running the CCDB this year, and even with this shock I prefer the shock "opened" up quite a bit. In general, I run all of my adjustments in the 1/4 range from full open. I don't have issues with bottoming harshly and I am also running the correct spring for my weight. Even when I ran the RC4, I ran it opened up with minimum pressure, 2 clicks of low speed and no high speed.

 

[Sandwich]

Do you tend to flow through or bounce over rock gardens? I could see a linear rate curve being better for just smooshing rock gardens, and a progressive rate being better for "bouncing" off things as the shock should provide some positive feedback when you throttle it. The linear curve would tend to move through travel a little more freely, which is a good thing if the rider is more stiff through rock gardens. As far as not bottoming out, maybe you just have skill and know how to land drops and such. BMX background?

 

[Jeremy R]

Do you tend to flow through or bounce over rock gardens? I could see a linear rate curve being better for just smooshing rock gardens, and a progressive rate being better for "bouncing" off things as the shock should provide some positive feedback when you throttle it. The linear curve would tend to move through travel a little more freely, which is a good thing if the rider is more stiff through rock gardens. As far as not bottoming out, maybe you just have skill and know how to land drops and such. BMX background?

If I am riding well, then I guess I flow and maybe I do ride a little light on the bike in general, but just like everybody else, I goon out and do stupid stuff from time to time with some hard hits. I normally use all my travel hitting hard g-outs or doing something like trying to gap over something and landing my back wheel hard on a rock. But I hardly ever bottom out from drops and jumps. I like it fairly linear because my back wheel gets the hell out of the way when I hit stuff and keeps me going forward. But what I am really saying is that I do not feel like I am giving up anything for it to ride that way. I could tune the CCDB and the RC4 to soak up the big hits without having to make sacrifices anywhere else.

 

[jnooth]

^^ I agree. I have been on demos for years and i have tried many rear shocks. I think the bike comes to true form with a linear shock. I thought the bike lacked something with the RC4 on it. I dont like the feeling of my bike ramping up after 6 inches of travel because when I am smashing through the rough stuff it just gets bounced around. I have always felt that i want all my travel to be usable. It seems like people are afraid to bottom out. maybe its my riding style (bmx background, smoother riding style) but i never really hit bottom hard but I use ALL of my travel. I currently have a vivid air on the bike and I think that is a great fit for the frame. Although it is an air shock it is very linear.

 

[atrokz]

Since I posted this I fell from the sky and broke two ribs and a clavical. Not fun.

So, I put this on hold till I am on my way to recovery. At that point I'll consider my options.

Still, Wilson looks great.

Gents, anyone have the leverage charts for the Status? If it's slightly more progressive, maybe that with offset shock hardware might make a neat lightweight race bike for around here.

 

[Mo(n)arch]

I fell from the sky and broke two ribs and a clavical.

Dude, healing vibes from me. Sounds like a nasty slam. What happened?

 

[bullcrew]

Dude, healing vibes from me. Sounds like a nasty slam. What happened?

Gravity held him while the ground came up and body punched him!

 

[Tetreault]

Wilson > Glory > Aurum > Demo

but hey that's just from my riding experience with each brand and their respective platforms, I have never been a fan of the feel of FSR, the bobby up and down pedaling characteristics that they claim is needed to achieve more "grip", just feels like crap to me, i much prefer the neutral pedaling characteristics of dual link designs like maestro, dw, Ks, or vpp also the high pivot and axle path of the wilson make it pretty much a default standout from my point of view

 

[Steve M]

Mmmn, I often wonder why it is that I seem to prefer what is deemed a linear shock on a linear frame.
I have a Yeti 303rdh which is supposed to be as linear as it gets, and I have two shocks for it. A CCDB and an RC4 that came on it. IMO, both of these shocks work well on the frame with the CCDB being more compliant off the top of the travel. I have been running the CCDB this year, and even with this shock I prefer the shock "opened" up quite a bit. In general, I run all of my adjustments in the 1/4 range from full open. I don't have issues with bottoming harshly and I am also running the correct spring for my weight. Even when I ran the RC4, I ran it opened up with minimum pressure, 2 clicks of low speed and no high speed.

As I alluded to previously, how progressive your bike needs to be is dependent on terrain as well as level of aggression, in combination with how firm you like to run it. The biggest compromise that is made with bikes that aren't significantly progressive enough for your riding, is that you lose the ability to control bottom out on slower hits (strong g-outs, big lips, heavy landings) where the damping really isn't able to do all that much, resulting in needing a firmer spring to control the travel. If your spring is firm enough to cover that, on whatever bike you're on, without having a negative effect on other ride characteristics (pitching/kicking, small bump absorption and stability in the rough are the most common ones), then your frame is sufficiently progressive for your needs. As I said before, Whistler is full of this sort of stuff, and even for less aggressive riders, demands a lot of bottom out control either from the frame, the shock or a combination of the two, and not every locale or rider requires this. If you tend to run firmer springs, and/or ride in places that don't frequently pitch you almost weightless to the bottom of a harsh G-out, a fairly linear frame/shock work fine. There is not necessarily any gain in bump absorption with a linear bike though, progressive frames (provided the progression is reasonably well tuned) have indisputably superior potential for bump absorption with lower harshness and quite often use MORE travel for a given bump than a linear bike. If the progression is taken too far, then you end up with something that blows through the midstroke then hits a wall (951s are notorious for this), so as usual, there is no "ideal" amount of progression in general, only optimised amounts for individual riders, that end up forming a usable range of progression levels, when the entire spectrum of riders is considered. Some people just need more than others.

Out of curiosity, how much sag do you get (standing, light weight on hands, no brakes), what do you weigh and what spring do you run?

Since I posted this I fell from the sky and broke two ribs and a clavical. Not fun.

So, I put this on hold till I am on my way to recovery. At that point I'll consider my options.

Still, Wilson looks great.

Gents, anyone have the leverage charts for the Status? If it's slightly more progressive, maybe that with offset shock hardware might make a neat lightweight race bike for around here.

Funnily enough, the leverage rate on the Status is actually more progressive than the Demo; if we were to put a number to it, the Demo's progression is about 14% and the Status is in the vicinity of 29%. Personally, I feel the Status' leverage rate delivers a nicer feel than the Demo.

 

[atrokz]

Funnily enough, the leverage rate on the Status is actually more progressive than the Demo; if we were to put a number to it, the Demo's progression is about 14% and the Status is in the vicinity of 29%. Personally, I feel the Status' leverage rate delivers a nicer feel than the Demo.

Interesting indeed. I could machine up a offset bushing to play with the head angle. Maybe drop it back to 64. I think this has potential of being a lighter steed than the alu demo as well.

Only concern I have is the 135mm rear end. I'm a larger guy (read, muscular), raced at ex level, and I do tend to destroy rear wheels and hubs (to date I haven't owned a hub I haven't broken in a year), so that's the one point that concerns me and is kinda offseting. Really wish they at least went 12mm thru axle.