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Rear Air Shocks - ???

mandown

Poopdeck Repost
Jun 1, 2004
20,126
7,674
Transylvania 90210
i've been considering an air shock for my UFO ST. i don't know many people running air in the back, and i had a few questions:

i'm not aware of many options out there other than Marz and Fox. is there anyone else out there makeing a DH air shock?

i've not heard much noise about the Fox DHX Air getting "stuck down" lately. is this a still a problem with the product?

i've heard the Roco Air shocks have had issues holding pressure (i have a bud with one and he is having some troubles). is this common (or is my bud just a hack :busted:)?
 

Ithnu

Monkey
Jul 16, 2007
961
0
Denver
I weigh 215 lbs and on my trail bike I have the pressure really high in my DHX air, I wouldn't trust it for freeride.
 

Sir_Crackien

Turbo Monkey
Feb 7, 2004
2,051
0
alex. va. usa.
i'm really interested in the roco air WC rear shock.

in the past i have had really good luck with air shocks and i weight 260. the best ones have been rockshox ones (i only had to run 165 psi on a bike with a 3.1:1 leverage ratio) and i have found the fox ones to need way too much pressure. at the same time though this was on a short travel fr bike and xc/trail bikes. i have also ridden manitou air shocks as well with good luck but they were not as smooth as the RS one
 

Kanye West

220# bag of hacktastic
Aug 31, 2006
3,740
470
Air forks, yes. Air shocks, no.

Compare them - an air shock is supporting 3 times the load usually (if not more since your weight is over the back most of the time) and uses 1/10th the volume or so to keep it sprung. That's a HELL of a lot more pressure on a unit that isn't sealed any better than an air fork cartridge, in the ballpark of 30 more times. At that point you start running into serious overheating issues. I run air forks on both my bikes and wouldn't let an air shock near either one.
 

joelsman

Turbo Monkey
Feb 1, 2002
1,369
0
B'ham
manitou also has an air shock.

I have a dhx air on my bottle rockett, it works fine, I would not use one for dh but for fr I think it is ok, just make sure you have a lower leverage frame if you are heavy. the more you have to pedal up hill the better air shocks are.

oh yea, I weigh 180 and use 190ish psi, I had this shock on a dirtbag(3:1) and had to use about 240psi.

keeping the air chamber lubed will prevent the shock from sticking down.
 

JDA

Chimp
Feb 6, 2008
60
0
Sydney, Australia
I've been using a 2008 DHX Air in my Glory for about 3 months now, its been working flawlessly. Next weekend I'm taking the bike for some chair lifted alpine riding on Australia's longest DH track, this will be the real test but I'm quietly confident in this shock being able to handle the long runs.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
DHX air has the lack of mid stroke compression problem.
Rocco has it's own issues
Manitou Evolver seems the best idea.

Or you can mod a dhx air.
 

Rick205

Monkey
Jun 20, 2006
200
0
As norbar said, the dhx air lacks mid-stroke compression somewhat.

I run one on my lapierre, and it rode awfully for a while due to air in the oil - i re-bled the shock and its beginning to suprise me now.

Big Thanks to UDI too btw for helping me out with bleeding the shock and tuning advice :clapping:

I run some 10wt oil in the main air chamber now to help ramp-up and this works well, i may re-bleed with a higher viscosity oil too soon and see what effect that has - this should all help the shock to 'stand up' a little more.

It works for me anyway now, at 160lbs im not that heavy though and i do bottom it out frequently - my local tracks are techy and not that fast so at the moment im a happy dhx air user.

Rick
 

CBJ

year old fart
Mar 19, 2002
12,861
4,157
Copenhagen, Denmark
I think its UDI that has tons of information about the DHX Air and how it has been very successful for him. If I didn't already have a DHX with a ti spring I would love to give the DHX Air a try.
 

Rick205

Monkey
Jun 20, 2006
200
0
The help was much appreciated UDI - saved me the £100 stendec / tf bill.

You cover most points in that thread, including the leverage ratio one, mine is highish at 3:1 so not ideal, but at my weight on techy tracks its performing well.

- I think if your a big chap on a high leverage bike it may be worth leaving alone (200+ on a SC V10 springs to mind) but for us smaller guys who dont batter stuff the DHX air can work out - i still think if i start racing bigger tracks i may get a coil though to take the hard high speed compressions, ill definatly keep the air for my local riding though.

Rick
 

mandown

Poopdeck Repost
Jun 1, 2004
20,126
7,674
Transylvania 90210
I've been using a 2008 DHX Air in my Glory for about 3 months now, its been working flawlessly. Next weekend I'm taking the bike for some chair lifted alpine riding on Australia's longest DH track, this will be the real test but I'm quietly confident in this shock being able to handle the long runs.
i'd love to hear the results your trip. post up when you get back.

also, anyone have more comments on the manitou offering? i forgot about the evolver.
 

DBR X6 RIDER

Turbo Monkey
Hell, I'm running a Float RP23 on my Mission and it has handled virtually everything I've thrown at it aside from large rock gardens.

Granted it will be on Sport courses, but I have faith enough to race with it. Makes me wonder what a DHX air would do.

Oh, yeah, I weigh a whopping 145lbs...150 w/ gear on.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
As norbar said, the dhx air lacks mid-stroke compression somewhat.

I run one on my lapierre, and it rode awfully for a while due to air in the oil - i re-bled the shock and its beginning to suprise me now.

Big Thanks to UDI too btw for helping me out with bleeding the shock and tuning advice :clapping:

I run some 10wt oil in the main air chamber now to help ramp-up and this works well, i may re-bleed with a higher viscosity oil too soon and see what effect that has - this should all help the shock to 'stand up' a little more.

It works for me anyway now, at 160lbs im not that heavy though and i do bottom it out frequently - my local tracks are techy and not that fast so at the moment im a happy dhx air user.

Rick

Rick your Lapierre shock also had air in the oil? Same here. Was better when you just rebleed it? I'm thinking about the AVA upgrade.
 

dmilkman589

Chimp
Mar 5, 2008
62
0
ny
i hear from people at races that they overheat the shocks and then the seals blow. not a good idea. but as long as you have something to replace it with if it were to blow,go for it. it would be nice and plush.
 

Hougham

Monkey
Mar 28, 2007
375
3
Have a look at the X-fusion shocks as well. There a competitive price and feel really nice. I have tried a few different ones now and have settled for the 02RC with DC2 sleeve. Its not as hard core as the H3s but it light and does everything I want for the most part. Though I am in the UK so none of the runs are that long. Will see how it holds out on the Megaavalanche.