[RiDurbin]

I am currently riding a Foes DHS Mono. Both my sons are on DHR's. One is a 2002 the other is a 2003. I am considering getting a 03 DHR for myself.

I know they had trouble with the swing link on the 03's, but that is easily fixable by upgrading to to the 04 swinglink if it hasn't been done already.

They area I am most worried about the main swing arm pivot. The 03 use double bolts that slip thru "ears" in the swingarm. The 02 swingarms are solid at this point and much beefier. I looked at the 04's and although they don't look as beefy as the 02's they do seem to have a full length pivot and the swingarm is full width at this point.

My concern is whether anyone has had trouble with the swingarm breaking at this point since there does not appear to be a whole lot of material at what is a very high stress area. It makes me more concerned seeing they changed the design for 04, causing me to wonder if they had trouble.

My son hasn't had any trouble with his, but he is only 115lbs in full gear. I on the other hand am around 200lbs in full gear. I'm also wondering if the 03 has more lateral flex then other years if any of you have ridden both and can compare. Remember, I am coming off a Foes DHS which is one of the most laterally stiff DH bikes ever built.

I have ridden my sons 02 and really like it, but I prefer the slacker head angle of the 03. I know I can buy an 04 and not have to worry about it, but I have a 03 line up that I can buy now for a good price.

Any input you guys can provide is much appreciated.

 

[Slacker]

Turner has two upgrades available. One is the beefier swing-link, and a one bolt/spacer conversion for the main pivot.

All you have to do is give Turner a call on Tuesday, and I'm sure they'd be more than happy to hook you up, just like they did with me. Turner has excellent customer service!

Just out of curiosity, why do you want to dump the Mono?

 

[RiDurbin]

Slacker, thanks for the info. The piece you describe is kinda what I had in mind as a possible fix.

My Foes is actually an 03 Tube DHS one of the few out there that has a Avalanche instead of the Curnutt. I am really struggling over whether or not I am willing to part with it. It took me a while to get used to it cause of the short top tube (crashed 3 times on my first run). However once I got used to it, I now love it and only like to ride smaller frames. I'm most comfortable on the medium Turner even though I'm 6'3. The dimensions are almost identical to the Large Foes.

In regards to why I am selling the Foes. I have ridden my son's 02 Turner a few times now. He is out for most the season with a broken arm. So since I always wanted to try one, I re-tuned the suspension to my weight and have been switching back and forth between bikes. The Foes is an awesome race bike, It stays glued to the ground amazingly, even more so with the Curnutt. Which is great for winning races but kind of takes some of the fun out of the ride. The Avalanche also keeps the Foes glued to the ground but gives a little more pop off jumps.

The Turner I have more trouble defining why I like the ride, other then, I just like the way it feels. I was comfortable the first time I got on it. Seems to have a much lighter, more nimble feel (yeah, I know the 02's had I steeper head angle, but its more then that). And I definately like the progressive nature of the suspension. By comparison my Foes spends a lot of its time real deep in its travel , which I'm sure is what keeps it so glued to the ground. But gives it a kinda "I can plow over anything, rocks, boulders, small children, Volkswagons" kind of ride. At the same time it corners awesome. But I seem to like the way the Turner corners, even more.

In the end though it just comes down to, I like to try something differant every now and then. Keeps life interesting. I been on the Foes a year and a half now and I'm itch'n for some new blood (sorry, bad analogy for what is basically a blood sport). Think, I may hold on to the Foes for a little while though, just as a hedge in case the Turner doesn't work out.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[Slacker]

Although the Turner is the only DH rig I've been on, I think I know exactly what you're taking about. It's that lively bounce that I love too. It's kinda weird because I can make it stick to the ground when I want to, but at the same time, I can get her catching air over little fist sized rocks too.

It's hard for me to describe, but I know one thing... I'll never sell my 03 DHR... ever!
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