Quantcast

wat shock could i get for a Yakuza Aniki?

Kntr

Turbo Monkey
Jan 25, 2003
7,526
21
Montana
Avalanche DHS with ti spring for $799 plus shipping or an Avalanche Monte with ti spring for $599 plus shipping.
 
Sep 10, 2001
834
1
Haven't ridden one yet, but the guys who I have talked to who have have been really stoked on them so far... I can't wait for mine to get in to start my next project bike... With all the R&D time that has been going into this, I don't see this being an "average" shock...

Brian
 
Sep 10, 2001
834
1
Well, if all shocks had an "average" feel, why would we have more than one choice out there?

The ROCO is going to be the shock for a growing number of people out there who the same plushness they get from our forks on the rear of the bike. Suspension designs have improved a lot over the past couple of years and are becoming less reliant on platform systems.

Brian
 
Jun 16, 2004
34
0
Vancouver BC
I just spent the weekend riding with a Roco shock - we received two samples on Friday and the first thing I did was bolt on onto the back end of my V-tach frame!

This is NOT an average shock. I expected it to be like an overbuilt Fox Vanilla RC, but this is definitely not the case. The Roco is pretty much like an 888 for the rear end of your bike. I think someone at Marzocchi mentioned that and it is indeed the case.

The shock is very active - it did take me few minutes to get used to it after riding Platform shocks for the past couple of years. And being active, it's going to bob somewhat as well. I think the suitability of the shock to any particular frame will depend upon the frame design and what kind of riding the owner is doing. I was riding technical North Shore, so nothing super high speed, but lots of low to mid speed tight, technical riding. Unfortunately Whistler is now closed, so I'll have to hunt out some local DH - ish trails and put my moderate DH skills to the test with the Roco :)

Anyway, the shock is active, but extremely well controlled. It doesn't wallow in it's travel like some of the older non-platform shocks did. Thinking back about the rides this past weekend, it is what I would call exceptionally smooth.

The Progressive 5th Elements that we use on the V-tach are tuned with pretty minimal compression damping, since the frame is quite neutral to pedalling. So, the 5ths are very supple on the V-tach. It is a very different feel compared to some of the falling rate single pivot applications which over emphasis the compression damping to make those bikes pedalable.

The Roco is even more active. It has a great feel and range of motion throughout it's stroke. I've never ridden an Avalanche shock, but I'm guessing from what people say, that the Roco is something along the same lines.

Bottom out resistance feels really good. I haven't had the chance to really hammer on this apart from a few quick sections of ledgey, baby head creek beds, but so far, it's very plush and hasn't even felt like it's close to reaching the end of it's travel.

In terms of rideability, well, I would almost say that it puts the "fun" back into big bikes. You can boost off of stuff with ease, but still be assured that the back end is going to stick when you land. Your suspension will move a bit while riding skinnies and other low speed technical terrain (the frame's going to wind up a bit - this amount will vary with frame design) but I got used to that pretty quickly again.

So, for riders who mainly shuttle and have access to lift serviced riding, this is going to be a very, very cool shock. If, however, you're one that likes to pedal your big bike up to your trails, you may be better served by a platform damped shock (especially if you can't get full seat extension on your frame or don't pedal particularly round :) That being said, it doesn't pedal that badly at all, especially if you're somewhat smooth. It's a much better pedalling shock than something like the Vanilla RC was.

I would certainly not call this an "average" shock. It is a DH / FR shock and as such is geared to that kind of riding.

I'll post more once I've spent considerably more time on the product.

Noel Buckley

Brian Peterson said:
Well, if all shocks had an "average" feel, why would we have more than one choice out there?

The ROCO is going to be the shock for a growing number of people out there who the same plushness they get from our forks on the rear of the bike. Suspension designs have improved a lot over the past couple of years and are becoming less reliant on platform systems.

Brian
 

Grizzle

Monkey
Sep 7, 2005
216
0
La Crescenta, CA
A DHX would be a nice choice, i work with afaceinthecrowd and we are probably gonna put one on his bike instead of the cheese coil it has on the back stock. DHX5's are sweet, i havent ridden the roco.