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The Vital MTB Crew
Trying to keep it under $700 if possible. Vorsprung makes cool stuff but I'm not sure I could feel comfortable spending that much on a shock haha.
My next shock will be a Bomber CR with the full fluid focus DIY kit. Seems the best bang for buck ($150 for used bomber, $50 rebuild kit and fluid, $200 FF kit).
Never heard of fluid focus. Gonna research that.
Been really happy with vivid air and coil on a few bikes now. Great for the price but only minor complaint is that the hsc can feel a bit harsh at times compared to an ohlins. Just sent the vivid air in for service and got the WPS podium kit installed - excited to try it out when I have the chance. I think rockshox hit the sweet spot with the adjusters on the vivid, each click is meaningful for me and I find I can dial it in on a variety of terrain relatively easily.
Anecdote for sure, but I find the ohlins coil rides well past its recommended service interval before I notice any lack of performance. Their code bank is nice as well as it's a cheaper tunning option than something like WPS - but ofcourse the up front price is quite a bit more.
My two cents. Tuning trumps all other factors, if it's an off the shelf shock, it may or may not work for you.
-Vivid air has been disappointing on every bike I've tried one on.
-Vivid coil, pretty decent.
-Fox x2 24+, okay, but definitely more seal drag than the old ones that blew up regularly.
-Fox dhx2 coil, mediocre at best.
-Ohlins ttx2 coil, excellent.
-Ohlins air, nope.
-Ext coils, excellent.
-Ext air, excellent.
-Dvo jade or topaz, mediocre.
-Push 11-6, excellent, not quite as good as the ext.
-Bomber cr avalanche parts and tune, excellent.
Vivid coil is the best bang for the buck, if the off the shelf tune is close to what you need.
For "box stock" the current Fox DHX (with the updated base valve) is a solid pick and not very expensive.
For something custom tuned, a Bomber CR or Fox DHX is a great base to start from.
For the ultimate "buy once and use it on every bike you will own for the next 5+ years", the Vorsprung Telum cannot be beat. It is heads above everything else out there in terms of features and tunability.
I have not had good luck with the Transition OE tune for the Float X. Transition likes to spec a two stage compression stack with a very large crossover gap for this shock. Maybe it works great in the PNW loam, but in the chunky wide open stuff it tends to feel clunky.
BTW, nice feed pic @sspomer 😉
I have FF pistons and tunes from suspension werx in my fox stuff and I find the fast fenix to be a better shock.
What Fluid Focus did to my X2 was mind blowing so I imagine their Bomber CR kit is really good, second best piece of suspension I’ve tried behind the Telum.
Worst being the Vivid coil lmao
My suggestion after mucking around with my own setup is ride the current one for a little while at least, then when you can articulate what exactly you need on the new one but the current one cannot handle, or you're chasing a certain feel that would be better served by one of the more boutique suspension makers - that would point you in the right upgrade direction. You may want HBO/better damping/calmer feel/more adjustment range/etc. If you can't find anything wrong with your current shock when riding...then you don't need to upgrade. Obviously this doesn't apply if you have money burning a hole in your pocket and just want something new to play with, which is also a very valid reason! Just be honest to yourself.
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