One of the most important components of any mountain bike is suspension. With no component sponsors this season, Brian Cahal is in a unique position as a professional rider to test and evaluate critical parts he will put on his Forbidden Dreadnaught for the EWS race season. In this episode, Brian dives deep into the on-trail performance differences of FOX, RockShox, Ohlins, and EXT forks and shocks. Enjoy!
mscofield4
8/3/2022 3:09 PM
Jon_Angieri
8/3/2022 3:24 PM
mikethebike
8/3/2022 1:13 AM
Currently best independent review! Please force content like that
Thanks!
Frank191
8/2/2022 6:09 PM
mscofield4
8/2/2022 5:57 PM
b.ay
8/2/2022 4:41 AM
As always, dvo is missing. what a shame.
btw nice video
mscofield4
8/2/2022 5:57 PM
FullSend
8/1/2022 11:31 PM
luisgutrod
8/2/2022 2:20 PM
Adam943
8/4/2022 9:07 AM
Roots_rider
8/1/2022 7:14 PM
Loving my Ohlins/Ext combo on the dh bike. Run both a little more on the open side for rough, flatter trails. More highspeed for steep with big holes, and more of everything for big jump trails. Currently running C40/R20 off of Ohlins specs. There’s a C20 and C30 tune in the settings bank. For those who find the ohlins on the heavily damped side, it’s something that’s easily tuned by a capable shop.
I personally still take a rebound shim out of grip2 dampers. Like mentioned in the vid, I feel like fox and rs tend to lean towards the safer and easier to get along with tunes for average riders. Light compression, and a “safe” amount of rebound.
dirty booger
8/1/2022 3:54 PM
Too bad the new RS fork didn't make it.
It would be interesting to see how it fit in as they get much more support from the new damper compared to Charger 2.1. Going more towards the Ohlins route.
yzedf
8/1/2022 5:47 PM
Allen_Gleckner
8/2/2022 8:51 AM
bikeboardorblade
8/2/2022 9:07 AM
mscofield4
8/2/2022 5:58 PM
AndehM
8/1/2022 12:55 PM
Cross posting from YT comments:
Hi Brian, I ran into you at Northstar yesterday. I've been running EXT front & rear on my GG, and think I've noticed the same things as you with the Fox & EXT (haven't run Ohlins yet). Whenever I run the Fox setups, they feel really supple but I struggle to get enough support in the middle and end of travel. On my EXT, it's kind of the opposite: I can get gobs of support but struggle to get comfort for runs longer than a few minutes. I've had my Era v2 retuned with the light compression tune and even when running both compressions wide open at Northstar, the amount of vibrations transmitted to the bars made it difficult to hold on doing top to bottom runs, especially later in the day. I had the bushings checked for tightness and they were ok, and I make sure the seals are freshly lubed before riding. I also notice that when riding on the moderate grades where it's sort of washboarded, I see the fork flex forward/rearward rather than up/down, so I think I'm noticing the same thing as you with initiating travel. I love that support of the triple air chamber, so maybe on my next bike I'll try Ohlins.
bikeboardorblade
8/1/2022 2:03 PM
Cougar797
8/2/2022 8:33 AM
bikeboardorblade
8/2/2022 9:05 AM
kcy4130
8/2/2022 9:23 AM
TEAMROBOT
8/3/2022 12:35 AM
I don't think the shop was lying to you, but they were probably overstating the impact of Buttercups. Buttercups are designed to absorb ultra-high frequency/low force impacts that don't have sufficient force to push a traditional fork into its travel. Think about riding on gravel vs. riding through massive braking bumps- one of those scenarios is going to easily overcome the seal stiction in the air spring and damper of the fork, and the other scenario isn't. In this sense, Buttercups can help absorb some impacts that otherwise would just be transmitted to the chassis of the fork and would have to be absorbed by chassis flex, BUT they'd only be absorbing low force impacts so I don't think they'd be saving you from significant amounts of chassis flex.
On the other question, the Lyrik is just a flexy fork in a long travel 29" format. So is the 36, and probably so is the Era, too. It's just not enough fork for heavy or high-impact riders in a long travel 29" format. Buttercups don't alleviate the fact that 35mm stanchions were designed for 26" wheels and are heavily outgunned when you add an extra 2" of leverage on the end of the fork.
mixmastamikal
8/4/2022 9:35 AM
mixmastamikal
8/4/2022 9:57 AM
lawn dart
8/5/2022 9:31 AM
to @TeamRobot:
"On the other question, the Lyrik is just a flexy fork in a long travel 29" format. So is the 36, and probably so is the Era, too. It's just not enough fork for heavy or high-impact riders in a long travel 29" format. Buttercups don't alleviate the fact that 35mm stanchions were designed for 26" wheels and are heavily outgunned when you add an extra 2" of leverage on the end of the fork."
I'm 200lbs and scared to death of doing the Windrock Red Bull drop with a single crown fork. Basically, I've seen it snap-off about 200x in my mind (none of these imaginings end well). Do you think that the Fox 38 is really the only solution for the flex issue (with 29"), or do you think that the innards count too? I'm looking at buying an Ohlins 36, is why I'm asking.
Suns_PSD
8/1/2022 11:28 AM
TCurtissDh
8/1/2022 10:32 AM
dirty booger
8/1/2022 3:33 PM
No love for the green Suntour shocks.
Suntour Shock
Green Suntour Shock
mcozzy
8/1/2022 10:28 AM