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Swinger 6 way or Progressive CV/t 5

trialsmasta

Monkey
Oct 19, 2001
281
0
Austin TX
I'm thinking of buying a mountain cycle fury and debating between getting a singer 6 way or CV/t 5 for the shock. I have zero experiance with either of these shocks and any insight would be greatly appreciated.
 

Radarr

Turbo Monkey
Feb 25, 2004
1,130
9
Montana
I've got a Swinger 6-Way on my Woodbumble, and a 5th Cv/t on my VP-Free. I like them both.

If put on the block, I'd go with the Swinger just because Manitou has good customer service.
 

eknomf

Monkey
Apr 23, 2004
211
0
Nanaimo, BC
Like he said they are basically the same thing. The only difference is the 5th is made in the US while the manitou is made in taiwan... so I'd say go with the 5th Element.
 

DH SB RIDER

Monkey
Aug 31, 2005
179
0
Santa Barbara
Ya this kid at my school screwed up his manitu and he sent it in and they sent him a brand new one. Im riding a splinter mx right now with a blown out cv/t 5-demo bike cuz mines in the shop getting brakes.
 

Spunger

Git yer dumb questions here
Feb 19, 2003
2,257
0
805
I've had great experience with both companies as far as a problem being fixed or repair working being done. Both are in so cal so it's good for me :)

But I like the 5th more. Just seems to be a better built rear shock. They both though are virtually the same with similar adjustments. Frame companies always are switching around what shocks they come with, first it was 5th element, then swinger, then DHX so take your pick. All will work fine and especially with a single pivot those would be the only ones you'd want.

My votes for a 5th element!
 

trialsmasta

Monkey
Oct 19, 2001
281
0
Austin TX
Okay I just bought a 5th element on my MC Fury, and it sucks ass, compression is too stiff, rebound way to slow. They said to send it in because they think there might be a problem with it, but I rode this other guys Fury with a CVT 5 and it felt terrible too. Aaaaaargh I'm wishing I got a manitou, from talking to them on the phone there customer service is way better than Progressive
 

Zark

Hey little girl, do you want some candy?
Oct 18, 2001
6,254
7
Reno 911
Are you sure its not a tuning issue? I've found 5th's feel as good as the tune. Run minimal compression and preload, crank the progression till it doesn't bottom harshly and you are good. At least this is my experience.
 

ChrisKring

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2002
2,399
6
Grand Haven, MI
trialsmasta said:
Okay I just bought a 5th element on my MC Fury, and it sucks ass, compression is too stiff, rebound way to slow. They said to send it in because they think there might be a problem with it, but I rode this other guys Fury with a CVT 5 and it felt terrible too. Aaaaaargh I'm wishing I got a manitou, from talking to them on the phone there customer service is way better than Progressive
I'll try to help with the tune.

When you say the the compression is too stiff, do you mean the initial compression (small bumps) or final compression (big bumps)?

How far are the compression adjusters turned out?

What is the air pressure set at?

How far is the rebound turned out?

Is the shock new or used? Where did you get it? This is important since they have made a few changes to the baseline tune including making the rebound faster.

PM me if you reply and I don't answer since I'll be gone for the weeeknd riding.
 

Dirtbike

Monkey
Mar 21, 2005
593
2
eastbay
Sorry for the thread jack, but a friend of mine runs a 5th on his VPF. He weighs only 90 lbs. The compression screws are backed all the way out, bottom out backed out, min. pressure, 300 lb spring. He hardly gets any suspension out of it because the platform is so damn firm. Cant switch to a fox for sponsorship reasons. Can these things be re-valved for such a light rider?
 

ChrisKring

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2002
2,399
6
Grand Haven, MI
Dirtbike said:
Sorry for the thread jack, but a friend of mine runs a 5th on his VPF. He weighs only 90 lbs. The compression screws are backed all the way out, bottom out backed out, min. pressure, 300 lb spring. He hardly gets any suspension out of it because the platform is so damn firm. Cant switch to a fox for sponsorship reasons. Can these things be re-valved for such a light rider?
Call Progressive and explain the situation. I think they can do something but I am not sure.

I have 2 girls on my team. 0ne is 110lbs and the other is 125lbs and we can get it tuned for them. What air pressure are you running?
 

trialsmasta

Monkey
Oct 19, 2001
281
0
Austin TX
I've got everything backed all the way out. compression, rebound, preload, and I ran 50 to 130lbs, largest volume still feels like crap. I called Progressive, and asked some technical questions about what leverage ratio frames it was valved for etc. etc. and got nothing useful. I hate the fact that I spent all this money and one hour into my ride It's looking like I have to spend more cash to get somthing ridable. Oh yeah I weight 170lbs, the shock valving is jsut way off.
 

ChrisKring

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2002
2,399
6
Grand Haven, MI
trialsmasta said:
I've got everything backed all the way out. compression, rebound, preload, and I ran 50 to 130lbs, largest volume still feels like crap. I called Progressive, and asked some technical questions about what leverage ratio frames it was valved for etc. etc. and got nothing useful. I hate the fact that I spent all this money and one hour into my ride It's looking like I have to spend more cash to get somthing ridable. Oh yeah I weight 170lbs, the shock valving is jsut way off.
What is the leverage ratio of your frame? BTW: no framehas a constant leverage ratio. Do you have the curve plotted?

What size spring do you have on it?
 

ChrisKring

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2002
2,399
6
Grand Haven, MI
trialsmasta said:
Never measured it but before I bought the bike I calculated that spring rate and verified it with progressive. 350lbs is what they said
With a 2.5:1 ratio and your weight, you would only get 1.2" of sag if you had 0psi in the chamber. Since you need at least 75psi in the resivour, I would guess the sag is less than 1". The spring appears to be too stiff.