Cane Creek DBair Rear Shock (discontinued)

To me this has been the best air shock i have ridden. I have been able to ride many fox shox that were low to high end and a few rockshox as well. I am in Utah and we get to ride all sorts of terrain here from rocks, roots, hard pack, mud, snow, you name it and this will hold up to anything imo. The support in turns and the adjustments we can make to the type of riding here is spot on once you find what you like. Set up with the enduro sworks this thing had literally no bob when pedaling, great support like i said in the mid travel where some others fail and the small bump was just fine. The tool adjustment is kind of annoying but once you have it set properly you rarely would have to adjust it but if you do it might be a click or 2 type of scenario.

Have yet to contact the cc service group but from what I here it will be a great experience. I was shying away from buying this for my next build because of the rebuild process by having to send it in but I think ill cave because it well worth the ride experience.

I've been running this shock for about 2 years now and so far it has lived up to my expectations. I've run many shocks (romic, avalanche chubie, push tuned rp3's, push tuned monarchs, push tuned vanilla rc's, stock rp23, CTD, x fusion vector hlr) through the years so I'll compare it my experience. My 200 x 57 came in at 530 grams. Not heavy by coil standards but "heavy" if you're comparing it to a Fox CTD. The X-fusion HLR air I had was around 450 grams.

I'm running this on a 5.5" trail bike which is a little overkill but works great. Initially I encountered some trouble getting full travel from the shock (a common complaint) even with hitting 5-6 drops on not so great transitions. I ended up running about 38% sag which honestly felt incredible, but I ended up getting the high flow sleeve installed (for free on warranty) and now running 30% sag I have no problem getting full travel. I did feel however that the mid-stroke support diminished a little because of this. Not a big deal, but it was noticeable.

The reducers that came with the shock were surprisingly loose and I was able to push in the mounting shaft by hand. Had warrantied set delivered by Cane Creek and it had the same issues. Ended up putting fox hardware in and it solved the problem.

The tuning range on this shock is incredible.  I've been told by a suspension tuning vendor that the bike I ride fortunately falls into the tuning range that the DBair provides. Others I assume have not been so fortunate, hence some reviews of the high speed packing on fast rocky terrain. The high speed manners have been great so far, coming close to the performance of a coil Avalanche Chubie. Notice I said close :) The chubie still outperforms albeit at a higher weight penalty.

The ride on this shock is great. You can go from a super compliant, super traction ride to a firmer more poppy ride with just a few clicks. A common complaint I share with others is that I wish there were tool free adjusters. The midstroke is incredible for an air sock and doesn't wallow. The only other air shock in my experience that compares in midstroke manners is the x fusion hlr. With all the independent adjusters you can run this shock very compliant on the top stroke, with a controlled midstroke, and have a smooth compression with no harsh bottomout. With other air shocks, you usually have to compromise one end of the spectrum. Don't be scared off by tuning options. It's actually very straightforward if you follow CC tuning methodology (bracketing) found on their website.  Once set, you can forget it.

Maintenance has been surprisingly trouble free for me. I know others have not been so lucky. Seals have been holding up and holding air since day one. No air leaks so far. My only complaint is that the o-ring dries up and falls off easily even with two replacements. Would love to see anodized markings like on the monarch.

Bottom line: this is an incredible air shock. If you're not counting grams you will be stoked. However, I got it before Avalanche started tuning Fox air shocks or else I may not have even bothered. Not sure I would buy this now considering cost and weight. Where CC bests Avy in my opinion is that you can switch the stock shock onto another frame and tune it to perform great, a potentially problematic issue when Avy tunes for a specific bike and leverage.