2007 Chap

2007 chap with DHX Air and Rshox Totem

hmmm….. :)

http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/1040887/

Nice little bike. Would love to own one.
But why did they put the main bearing into the seat tube? Telescope seatposts suck.

greetings znarf

Because if they didn't put it through the seat tube, then the suspension and geometry wouldn't have worked the way they wanted. It's the perfect position for what they want the suspension and bike to do. To be hones, a seatpost issue like that doesn't really bother me. Plus you can cut down a regular seat tube if you wanted.

Yeah, it did come across my mind that they put it there, for strength reasons and to get the suspension to work as they wanted.

At least they do provide a telescope post. Bikes which don

Because if they didn't put it through the seat tube, then the suspension and geometry wouldn't have worked the way they wanted. It's the perfect position for what they want the suspension and bike to do. To be hones, a seatpost issue like that doesn't really bother me. Plus you can cut down a regular seat tube if you wanted.

ha, as if you ever climb anything… :P

For a all mountian design that is really shitty, Kona does't seem to have a problem getting their suspension working with a full length seatpost.

Well, I wouldn't exactly call the Chaparral an all-mountain bike. It can go just about anywhere, but it really is designed more for some serious descending. Frankly, if that is where they want to put the pivot to make the suspension perform the best, then I gladly use a 'scoper. Suspension performance is more important than having a bit more convenience. Sure, Kona's suspension "works" but you really can't compare them in my mind.

nice bike. I dont really care if it has to be teloscopic, it still beats most other bikes out there, and you really cant compare banshee and kona's suspencion

nice bike. I dont really care if it has to be teloscopic, it still beats most other bikes out there, and you really cant compare banshee and kona's suspencion

Agreed… Can't compare the two.

found the telescopic seatpost to actually work pretty good, if you take time to cut down the 2 sections to allow it to drop low enough for stuntage, and enough extension for climbing

banshee seat cluster pretty damn low, so maybe not have to run the seatpost as low as on some other bikes?

found it best to not run grease in the telescoping part, so no chance of slippage under pressure

found the Praxxis(banshee) one actually better than the Titec Knockscoper (the titec seemed to move even when tightened down full)

my titec doesnt seem to move. teh one I had on my old bike, I think it was an axiom or something cheap, it was horrible for slipping. I'd have to stop 1/2 was up a climb to rase my seat again, because it had slid so far. havent had a problem with my titec, but it does seem really tight, even when the QR is loosen off all the way

yeah my huge beef with my 06 chap is that I have to run a telescopic post.
Certain aspects of the bike are great, others seem not so great. It's a good climber and slow speed descender, but I find that at high speeds it really doeasn't feel nearly as good as my old bullit did. Kinda disapointing, Ive thought about selling the frame for that reason but I only have a few rides on it so really I should just wait and see.

I find mine to be great for everything, including pushing it at high speed, although it doesnt feel better at high speeds when I am really actively working with the bike. What rear shock are you running? Do you think it is setup well?

I find mine to be great for everything, including pushing it at high speed, although it doesnt feel better at high speeds when I am really actively working with the bike. What rear shock are you running? Do you think it is setup well?

I'm running a swinger 4-way, initially I think that I was maybe running a little too much pressure, but to be honest I havn't had a chance to ride or tinker much lately so that could be to blame. The feel came more from the feeling of being right "over" the rear wheel, kind of just felt like an awkward place to have your weight when descending, no matter how much you shift back

I rode a bullit for 4 years, and I feel my chap can definitely handle the speed better now. It's got such a stiff rear end, it's not flying around all over the place like the single pivot bullit… It tracks really nicely, and gives more confidence.

Try playing around with rear shocks. The chaparral as a very progressive suspension curve, that rises up pretty hard at the end of the stroke. This is what seperates it from a DH bike (which normally have very linear rates), plus the geometry of course. But a rising rate likes that, means you don't have to have a lot of end stroke dampening, so ease off on any bottom out or end stroke adjustment you have.

Just play around with it, you'll leanr to love it, and realize it is an awesome trail bike.