[Shanks]

Anybody running a Romic on their Giant DH? Im thinking of ordering one, but want to know if its worth switching out my tuned Pro Delux for one? I'm not a fan of the dead feel SPV shocks give the bike.

Bottom line is it worth spending my money on one?

 

[BrayDownhill]

I'm running a giant 02 comp version with a romic rear shock, i got it after my rs blew too many times.

I always like the feel of the rs compared to the giants i tried with 5ths and swingers, just dont like the idea of sacrificing small bump sensitivity at all.

anyway changing to the romic at first was a bit odd, small bump sensitivity wasnt on a par with the rs, at first that is. now though whether its that the shock has just been riden in or that i've adjusted to it i dont know but I havent ahd any complaints about this yet.

One area where I found the romic to be far superior is on high succession medium hits (think head and fist sized rock section at full speed). here I always enjoyed the way the rs worked, it worked well enough for me not to complain but when I changed to the romic I straight away noticed that the rs had been sort of spiking in the compression on some of the hits of the section.

The romic pedals extremely well compared to the rs, even with out adjusting the "compression" adjuster. I run mine with no pedal compression adjustment (as I call it!!!) and its a lot better than the rs but with it fully on its very very good (I only use this cycling to the track) but I run it off all the time as my style is a pretty non pedally one (read lazy fool!!!)


check out this thread from my website, pics of my bike with the romic on it. http://www.braydownhill.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?t=793&highlight=romic

brock

 

[SASQUATCH-J]

i have a ac2 and was considering a romic? anybody out there who has this already. im mostly into freeriding, but do Dh and XC as well, all on the same 45lb bike! sweet! anyway, anyone that has any advice let me know!
J

 

[drift1492]

I have a romic on my AC2. I'd say its 10 times better than the Rockshox that came on there. But, i have the compression turned up to tune out almost ALL of the bob because this is the only bike I have. Because of this, the small bump sensitivity is kinda bad. Overall the shock is great. I have heard of a lot of problems with leaking with the newer shocks, but mine is pretty old (still has the silver adjustment knobs) and it doesnt leak one bit. My bike is about 38 lbs. What kind of build do you have?

 

[Lexx D]

I don't know how much you can get the romic for? I'd look at avalanche if your going to upgrade. I just hear mixed things with romics lately

 

[SASQUATCH-J]

MY Giant:
I went ahead and ordered a fox rc, becuase i had been told by alot of people the fox's were more durable, but didnt pedal as well, and i go for durability every time.
MY bikes built like this
Junior T
7inch upgrade plates from sgfcomponents.com (they are sweet)
Atomlab trailpimp rear wheel, vuelta excalibur on the front, 2.7 inch tires front and rear, raceface freeride signature BB and the rest of the parts are stock (minus the fox im ordering)
i spend 2 summers building this bike! its sweet, except those damn rockshoxs are ****ty. when i still had the psylo i took off one of those decals, cut off the C in ROCK and put it over the R and made the decal say COCK SHOCK! rockshox totally blows.
anyway i havent weighed my giant, its heavier than my friends scwinn straight 8 race bike, but his mommy bought it for him, and its like full out XTR, so yeah, its pretty light.
J

 

[Shanks]

Durability is one way to look at the bike. Im looking to further improove its race preformance. Weight is an issue. Romics are dam light and I can get one at the American dealer price (plus pay duty and broker fees when it crosses the boarder).

Thanks for the imput guys.

 

[Hulkamaniac]

I just got a Romic for my '03 dh team frame and can't say enough good things about it after a few test rides on varied terrain. The big plus for me is that to adjust the shock at any given time, I no longer have to remove the shock from the bike......as I am sure you know, this is a major pain with the swinger 6 way. I was always worried about stripping the threads out on the frame and link when I had to remove the shock to add air to the swinger or fine tune the high speed/low speed compression.

I have only done a few runs on the bike thus far, but I like it. The stable platform is there, although not as much as the swinger could be tuned for (I don't mind this one bit though). The back of the bike now feels livelier to me.....it doesn't bounce or buck, just sucks things up and reacts to all type of bumps. Finally, I can just put the shock in there and forget it.......no need to add air, etc.

I'm not a great racer by any means, but I don't think this shock could do anything but help me feel more confident in my bike. The swinger was nice, but my bike just felt dead at times. I'm definitely not a hucker, but I don't think the Romic would have any troubles with that either.

I can't comment on long term durability, but I have yet to see a blown Romic in person (heard the stories on here, but haven't seen any myself). I would recommend this shock based on it's record, my initial impressions, and the awesome customer service I got from Romic..........email were answered the same day, phone calls were always returned, every person I talked with was friendly and knowledgeable as well.

 

[Shanks]

Thanks Hulkamaniac! You sold me on one!

 

[Brian HCM#1]

Damn True has been using one on his DH for a few years and seems to be happy with it. I'd say look into Avalanche though, its a better quality shock.

 

[Hulkamaniac]

I do think Avalanche is a better quality shock than anything out there as it comes from a high end mx suspension tuner/company, but it comes at a rather hefty price. I mean, if money weren't an issue for me, I more than likely would have gone with the Avalanche. Many of my riding buddies have Avalanche shocks and always talk positively about them. I went out and got a Romic because of their performance, reputation, and lower overall price. If you qualify for EP pricing, I really don't think you can beat a Romic.........plus, they were always super customer service oriented (at least in my case!). Avalanche if money is not a factor, Romic if your going for performance v/s price (my opinion only though).

 

[dfinn]

I have a romic on my '03 DH Team and I like it. Although I honestly haven't gotten to ride it much yet and this is my first DH bike so I can't compare it.

I have a couple of quick questions for you guys w/romics on giants. There are two silver adjustment knobs on mine, one at the top of the shock and one at the bottom, what exactly are these?

Also, I think I might need a stiffer spring but I would like to try adjusting it some first. I would like to try to spin the collar down on the spring to stiffen it up some, do I need to remove it from the bike to do this? What tool would be best to spin it, it doesn't look like you could get a wrench on it as it's round. I've been told I should be able to spin it down by hand w/o removing it from the bike but I am not sure if that's going to work or not.

 

[Hulkamaniac]

The two knobs are the compression and rebound adjusters. Compression is the knob on the top, rebound is the bottom. Play around with them a little and find out where you like. It's all personal preference.

The spring and collar should easily be moved by hand, although it's kind of hard to get to in the Giant frame. If you can't spin the spring and collar, then it's to tight. I've always been told not to go more than 3 turns of compression on the spring.

 

[dfinn]

I think mine is closer to 6 turns and it's definitely not turning any more by hand. Should I go directly to Romic for a stiffer spring?

 

[Hulkamaniac]

Yeah, I'd definitely go through Romic to get a stiffer spring. When you call, ask for either Jimmy or Smitty. Those are the two guys that I have always dealt with and they are super helpful and patient.