Rear Shock Shootout

Currently building up a raaw jibb v1 (160f/135r 185x55 shock) and want some opinions about which shock to go with. Currently has a bomber cr that needs a spring swap but eyeing up other options, ohlins options seem well reviewed for coil/air? Want to hear what shocks you guys have good experiences with on trail/all mountain bikes. Also thinking about sending it in to avalanche/others to tune it, anybody have experience with tuned suspension? Trying to keep it <$500


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I put a RS Super Deluxe Ultimate on my 2021 Stumpy (not Evo) and I've been pretty happy with it. I've had various iterations of this shock and have always thought it was pretty easy to set up and get it feeling good.

Fox also has a pretty cool factory upgrade/tuning program too, you could email the service center to see what tuning or upgrade options they offer for your shock. I had them upgrade my 38 to the newest Grip X2 damper during my last service for $200 (50% off).

I've had an Avalanche fork and shock in the past and honestly think they are overrated. Craig, the guy who runs it, can be a pain to deal with and the tuning didn't blow me away. If you want to drop money on something that will blow you away, I love my EXT Storia.

I currently own Ohlins TTX 2 air, and a new Eleven Six coil. The Ohlins is/was a GREAT shock and I'd imagine would shine on a Jibb frame. When I was shopping for a coil I was looking for an Ohlins TTX2 coil, based on my impressions of the air, but lucked out on the heavily discounted PUSH demo shock.

V1 jibb isn't all that progressive (~16%). Personally, I'd much rather have an air shock on that frame. And probably a trail oriented one, rather than a large can dh kinda thing. I liked the dpx2 more than the float x, and you can probably find a used one for cheap.

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FOX Float X Live Valve NEO! oh you want to keep it under $500, never mind.

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Originally Posted by toast2266

V1 jibb isn't all that progressive (~16%). Personally, I'd much rather have an air shock on that frame. And probably a trail oriented one, rather than a large can dh kinda thing. I liked the dpx2 more than the float x, and you can probably find a used one for cheap.

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Thread drift, and not tryna be a dick Toast, I know I have a habit…;)…but there’s more to it than progressivity right? If you can check out the link, Jibb V1 has an average leverage ratio of 2.45.

http://www.avalanchedownhillracing.c...022%20Jibb.htm

That link is an awesome resource. I’ll post up another one here shortly. Fun nerd out shit..
My coiled SB160 has similar leverage and progreasion, and it’s awesome for me in Pemby at 210 lbs, on a 550 spring, which for me is about 75 lbs below avg. Reasonably sprite on the up, and a nice supportive linear progression through the whole travel. Fuckin rad for Pemby.

I agree though, I’d lean air over coil with that much rear travel personally. You could easily run a coil though if you wanted to try it OP.

Report back. Jibb looks sick!


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https://linkagedesign.blogspot.com/s...label/Yeti?m=1

This one’s even better. Spent many a night waiting on my ankle, nerding out on this. Great resource to figure out what bike you want based on curves.

And I change my answer, coil could be sick on a Jibb, just depends what you wanna do with it;)


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Everyone's got their preferences. Plenty of people running coils on starlings, and those things are mildly regressive. Those people also bottom out their bike if they sit down too hard.

Personally, I don't like a coil on any bike that's under ~21-22% progressive. Ideally more. Otherwise I'm either bottoming out too easily or running a stiff spring with too little sag.

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Fair play. As a large human, it’s not as simple as looking at one number in the equation for me. It’s like reach..Imagine you’re average weight (not a bad thing), and aren’t near the limits of tunes on the regular, so haven’t run into an issue.
All good. More just wanted to share my experience with the Collective.
If nothing else, you got me out for a quick pedal. Cheers!!

Agree with Toast. In terms of which air shock, the vivid ultimate. My 2024 float X2 is fine but the frequent servicing is a drag.

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Originally Posted by frorider

Agree with Toast. In terms of which air shock, the vivid ultimate. My 2024 float X2 is fine but the frequent servicing is a drag.

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Another ignorant Yank who is too proud to learn, haha. You’re right, progression is all that matters, carry on..
We really need a new board, so y’all can stay here and talk about emojis and circle jerk based on post clout, while the rest of us get back to stoke and sharing relevant info. And y’all wonder why TGR is dying. Haha.


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Originally Posted by Sylvan

Another ignorant Yank who is too proud to learn, haha. You’re right, progression is all that matters, carry on..

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The shape of the curve matters, but the raaw doesn't have a weird shaped curve (which is a good thing).

Average leverage ratio doesn't really matter. It'll dictate your spring rate / air pressure and tune, but it doesn't really make any difference as to the suitability of coil vs air.

This all just comes down to air ramping up at the end of it's stroke, and coil not ramping up because coils are inherently linear. If the suspension ramps up enough from the linkage design, then coil works great. If the linkage doesn't ramp up that much, then you either need an air shock or you have to do a bunch of tuning on the coil shock to create a ramp up with the damping circuits, otherwise you'll have issues with bottoming out. In my experience, trying to tune a coil for a linear frame doesn't work that great, and you're better off just going with an air shock. Especially on a shorter travel frame like the jibb.

There's a reason why bikes that are designed to work with a coil (i.e. big enduro bike and dh bikes) are almost universally very progressive linkage designs.






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Really love my Vivid Air w/ 1 token on the big bike (24% progression, 150mm travel) and the CC Kitsuma Air w/ no tokens on my trail bike (30% progression, 130mm travel). The kitsuma definately has a damper ride feel than the Vivid Air, which is why I like it on the little bike.

IMO both are lightyears better than the Float X2s (durability issues mainly) and Float Xs (lack of adjustment) of recent years.

Love coil on the longer travel bikes (ie 160-165mm) Ive had recently, but dont love them on shorter travel bikes, as the harder your ride a little bike, the more you are threading the needle with suspension setup/comprimise and having the ability to adjust air in 1psi (~0.5%) increments is really nice IMO vs larger 25-50# (aka 5-10%) increments.

Lastly, avy-tuned marzocchi coils are probably the best riding coil shocks on the market IMO if you are honest about your tuning needs... if you already have one, worth strongly considering

X2 on the Ohlins TTX2. I've run it on my Evil Offering and my new Pivot Switchblade. Very happy with the results.

Toast,

This isn’t politics in the lounge at the old folks home, it’s science. Take a basic physics course, you’ll learn a lot.


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Originally Posted by Roxtar

X2 on the Ohlins TTX2. I've run it on my Evil Offering and my new Pivot Switchblade. Very happy with the results.

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Nice. Just bought a madonna with a ttx. I've ridden them a bit in the past, but psyched to really dial one in.

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Originally Posted by Sylvan

Toast,

This isn’t politics in the lounge at the old folks home, it’s science. Take a basic physics course, you’ll learn a lot.


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Lol. Not taking that bait.



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As someone who took a lot of physics courses and then had a career in motorsports designing and tuning vehicle suspension, I am with Toast here.

Was not great at biology, so not sure what species of bug crawled up Sylvans ass.

Hahaha, love it. Nice one J.
Average leverage does matter though, in conjunction with progressivity. If it didn’t, why would avalanche list ‘lower leverage bikes for heavier riders’ under its own pull down? Leverage has a direct affect on how much spring has to be run. Why wouldn’t companies just pick any average leverage they wanted? Why did Commencal significantly decrease the average leverage on their V5 Supreme after all their athletes (and me), were running like 10% sag with 650-700 pound springs, in order to not bottom the V4? Sure, progressivity plays a role too, I don’t disagree, but it’s not the only show in town.
Take a minute, learn something, y’all aren’t dead yet..and apologies to all the good Yanks in these threads. Some of my closest humans are American citizens, and I enjoyed the shit out of serving alongside them. I just don’t have time for people who care more about being correct, than what is correct.. That was fuckin philosophical. Carry on.

OP, Get a cheap Bomber, and an X or X2, try em, and sell the one you like less. Only way to know is to try.

http://www.avalanchedownhillracing.c...e%20Curves.htm

I actually have a Jibb v1, but only ridden it with the X2 it came with. Could probably have gotten the the dpx2 or whatever the trailshock was, but the x2s played nicely.

The bike however, as you probably already know, prefers higher speeds, longer turn, smoother trails and getting of the brakes. It makes its relative lack of rear travel noticable - especially in combo with a very capable front.

If you tend to ride chunkier, rootier, techier trails, a coil could be a cool experiment. But you might be fighting against its nature.

If you plan to ride machine made trails, jump lines etc; go air and enjoy

thanks for all the replies. regarding air vs coil, i would probably shop around for an air shock but i got a good deal on the frame for fork/frame/shock so wanted to try the cr if i could just get a new spring for cheap. building it
up as a ride whatever the hell and cheaply, will keep my eye out for some deals on pb for shocks. will also check out the links in the early replies later, thanks


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also any opinions on 150/160mm forks for a future swap? lot of discussions about 38mm comparisons but wondering about 34-36mm ones, eyeing up a mezzer pro since i've seen several sub $350 on pb, rxf 36 sounds nice but quite $$


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How big/tall/heavy are you? IMO as a big fella (6 2 225lbs) 150mm forks are great w/ a 35-36mm stanchion diameter, but at 160mm the extra length and leverage is noticeably improved w/ a 38mm fork. Id imagine <180lb folks might be far less sensititve to this however. Just food for thought.

Low leverage bikes for heavier riders is because high leverage bikes require more spring and that heavy spring overwhelms the damping capabilities.

Commencal likely reduced the leverage ratio to get more sensitivity from the damper. Lower leverage ratio means more damper movement for a given wheel displacement, allowing for greater damping control.

Also, I am in my mid forties.

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Originally Posted by Marshal Olson

How big/tall/heavy are you? IMO as a big fella (6 2 225lbs) 150mm forks are great w/ a 35-36mm stanchion diameter, but at 160mm the extra length and leverage is noticeably improved w/ a 38mm fork. Id imagine <180lb folks might be far less sensititve to this however. Just food for thought.

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about 155lbs 5'9" so quite a ways off you

Yeah man, 35/36 would be great at 150/160 on that bike for you IMO... and probably better for you than a short 38mm stanction fork unless you are shredding hard park laps on it or something similarly abusive