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Thoughts on DHX Air 5-0

konarider98

Chimp
Mar 14, 2005
36
0
Newburyport Ma.
I am going to get a dhx air 5.0 for my 2002 balfa BB7 over the winter. i was just wondering what any body thinks of this shock( any people try one?) i ride lift access mountians all summer almost every and all weekends and i am hopeing to get to do lots of racing this uppcoming season. i am only 130 pounds give or take. i am loving the weight but wil it hold out?
 

SXtrailrider

Turbo Monkey
Aug 27, 2005
1,189
0
yes you due loose weight but if your not hucking off 15+ things on a downhill race then you should be fine
 

zmtber

Turbo Monkey
Aug 13, 2005
2,435
0
yes these shoxs are sick, i have been riding one from the start of summer and i promise you that if you are dh racing or trail riding this shock will feel better and perform better then any coil shock. As a plus you get a lot of tunability such as bottom out
 

gemini2k

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2005
3,526
117
San Francisco
super reliable, takes the hits, really plush, just doesn't ramp up at all, very linear. I bottomed it out wayyyy more than any shock should, and i'm pretty smooth and i wasn't hitting big stuff. Yes i had the volume adjust all the way in, i'm not that stupid.
________
T engine
 
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Benton

Monkey
Aug 8, 2003
118
0
SLC
I've only ridden 1 FS bike, and the DHX air was the second shock I've put on it. Given that caveat it blows me away. Straight out of the box it feels much more responsive, linear, and smooth than my Vanilla RC. The propedal can be made really un-noticeable which is nice. The shock feels plush all the time. But, I've only taken it on 4 rides with small 3-4' drops, so I can't really speak to the reliability of it.
 

SinatorJ

Monkey
Jul 9, 2002
582
51
AZ
...Not really intendeed for DH Racing. All the pro's sponsored by Fox that tried were not using them for the most part this season. They were heating up too much and you know what happens to air when it heats up too much, it expands. Riders were losing travel.
 

punkassean

Turbo Monkey
Feb 3, 2002
4,561
0
SC, CA
It responds to big hits well if you have it set up that way. You need to run 200psi in the boost valve and have the bottom out all the way in if that's what you're looking to do.
 

ChrisRobin

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2002
3,346
190
Vancouver
You're going to lose some travel running a DHX Air on a 02 BB7. That frame is supposed to run a 8.75x2.75 shock to get 9" of travel. I think the DHX Air only comes in 8.75x2.5....about 8.1" of travel.
 

julian_dh

Monkey
Jan 10, 2005
813
0
yea i find it has really good damping and is sweet for big hits, but as said above its unreliable for dh racing i find it heats up a fair bit but i didnt find it got hot to the point where i was loosing travel or it was messing with my rebound and such
 

konarider98

Chimp
Mar 14, 2005
36
0
Newburyport Ma.
ChrisRobin said:
You're going to lose some travel running a DHX Air on a 02 BB7. That frame is supposed to run a 8.75x2.75 shock to get 9" of travel. I think the DHX Air only comes in 8.75x2.5....about 8.1" of travel.
Wrong, The BB7's had the full 9" in late 03 and up mine has the old 7.6 inches from a 7.875 x 2.35 not a 8.75x2.75. now i am planing to get a 8.5x2.5 to boost my travel but first i will be smart to thughrly test the shock fit and cycle it throughm the travel( this is with a same size shock of a bike we have in stock at my shop)


And thanks for all your input now im going to make the rite chocie on my new shock. i also find it a little hard to belive it heating up enough to make it loose travel, if it comes to it ill put a Heatsink on it:D
 

joelsman

Turbo Monkey
Feb 1, 2002
1,369
0
B'ham
long down hill runs will heat up the air, air gets warmer as it gets compressed, when air heats up it expands, increasing the pressure in the shock, there by increasing the spring rate. long rough dh runs will heat up a shock but smoother trails will not be a problem.
 

BMXman

I wish I was Canadian
Sep 8, 2001
13,827
0
Victoria, BC
zmtber said:
this shock will feel better and perform better then any coil shock.
hmm I think that's stretching it quite a bit....they feel pretty good but you can still tell you're riding an air shock...D
 

Thrillkil

Monkey
May 25, 2005
595
0
Isla Vista, CA
I bounced around on one, and it really felt better than I expected. It's really close to feeling as good as the coilover version, plus the loss in weight is helpful. The thermal expansion seems like it could be a dealbreaker for DH racing, though.
 

ChrisRobin

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2002
3,346
190
Vancouver
konarider98 said:
Wrong, The BB7's had the full 9" in late 03 and up mine has the old 7.6 inches from a 7.875 x 2.35 not a 8.75x2.75. now i am planing to get a 8.5x2.5 to boost my travel but first i will be smart to thughrly test the shock fit and cycle it throughm the travel( this is with a same size shock of a bike we have in stock at my shop)
Nope, I'm right.

a) The 02's had the downtube extending from the headtube to the bottombracket (9" travel BB7). The pre-02 had the downtube only halfway...that was the 7" travel BB7.

b) I had the 03. The difference between the two was the 03 had the 3 mounting holes for the floating brake assembly on the seat tube and a mounting hole near the non-drive dropout.... the 02 did not have this.

c) And some additional confirmation:
http://www.avalanchedownhillracing.com/application.html
Check the BB7...02-03: 8.75x2.75...which means 9" travel.

Sorry to burst your bubble but you must have an 01 or something. BTW, your idea of fitting a shock that much longer probably won't work.