NSMB 2023 Full-Suspension Thread

Posted by: Endur-Bro

Posted by: mrkdwrds

I stumbled across Straitline's closeout direct-mount stems on their website yesterday and bought a 28 mm version in bronze to match the EXT shock finish "just in case"...probably a terrible financial decision! I secretly hope that EXT comes out with an inverted dual-crown fork soon that isn't an E-bike monstrosity, but if not I may try to look for a used Boxxer to play around with this season.

Damn.  Its's the Bronze finish that matches the EXT? I got the Ti-Grey stem last year to pair with my DH38 180mm on my G16

Not sure whether the match will actually be anywhere close, but the pics make it look pretty similar to the EXT color!

Posted by: Kenny

Posted by: olaa

Very nice set-up!

I think you got a good point about the leverage curve. I ended up tuning the shock by feel in the end, with about the same result as you.

165 cranks is the way to go!

I just switched to a 170 air spring in my fork, to raise the bb a little and slacken the head angle mainly. A small change, but probably how i should have set up the bike from the start. Still feels balanced but a bit more adapted to rough trails.

Another cool thing you can look forward to about the bike is how solid it is, after 1,5 years with a lot of riding it still has a new bike feeling to it. Enough that friends who have tried it commented on it.

Thanks! Yeah the standout feature is how quiet and solid feeling it is for sure.

I did add some rubber to the upper chain stay/seat stay above the stock chain stay protection as my chain was flapping up and hitting there. I've never heard anyone else report this so might be my derailleur is wearing out or chain is slightly long. The rubber fixed it, anyways. I will add the "VHS Tape" chainstay protection is a great quality product.

I may try a 170 fork or maybe a 10mm long lower headset cup with the 160mm fork- with the low BB and steep seat tube I bet one could even go up to 180mm and still have reasonable geo, but since I sized up, I think the 65 degree head angle is helping keep the overall bike length and handling feeling semi manageable for me. :)

I ended up using a bit of 3M rubber around the chainstays / seatstays. The chain hit in the bend close to the chainring on occasion, but a bit of rubber solved that. 

Since i have the old hard plastic chainstay protection, i might have to invest in the VHS Tape as well! 

Will be interesting to see how your build evolves over time. I might have to post mine again, with the various small changes that have been done.

I don't have any photos but years ago neither my Darkside or my Wideangle came with chainstay protection, so I bought some 3mm thick heat mold-able Kydex and molded it to the stays and held it on with 3m double sided tape, worked amazing, highly recommended.

I have a couple spare pieces that would most likely fit a chainstay if you're in the Vancouver / Coquitlam area I'd be happy to pass some of it off to someone else who is going to use it :) They've been in my closet for like 5+ years...

So I just received my CC DB Inline Coil IL with the biggest spring that they have (650lb) and it's far too much sag for my little Prime and my fat ass....anyone know of a good spring that will fit (57mm/2.25) in the 700lb range? Was looking at Springdex but they are pretty expensive....any other ideas?

Got myself a new Stumpjumper Evo with the new Zeb. Anyone have any experience on the 2023 rockshox stuff? Feels terribly harsh to the point of where I can barely hang on going down the trail. Running 20% sag too. Have read reports of people having the same problem and opening it up and finding basically no oil in it. Might have to do a quick lowers service I think.

Posted by: dknapton

Have read reports of people having the same problem and opening it up and finding basically no oil in it. Might have to do a quick lowers service I think.

Every major suspension brand seems to suffer from this, at various points throughout the years. Bushing fit is also on that list. Good news is you can check for both issues when you drop the lowers.

Posted by: mammal

Posted by: dknapton

Have read reports of people having the same problem and opening it up and finding basically no oil in it. Might have to do a quick lowers service I think.

Every major suspension brand seems to suffer from this, at various points throughout the years. Bushing fit is also on that list. Good news is you can check for both issues when you drop the lowers.

How does one go about checking the bushing fit? Is that where you let all the air out and see how smoothly the lowers slide?

Posted by: tashi

What is a good thickness to use for this?  

My Wildcat could really use a better solution than the self sealing plumbers tape thing I have going on. Doesn’t last against my heel rub.

I went and checked, looks like I was mistaken in my post. I had ordered 1.5mm thick for my chainstay and I forgot that I had ordered the 3mm thick for a down tube protector. I don't have enough of the 1.5 to do anything useful with but I have a roughly 8 x 11 piece of the 3mm that you're welcome to if you like.

Posted by: dknapton

Posted by: mammal

Posted by: dknapton

Have read reports of people having the same problem and opening it up and finding basically no oil in it. Might have to do a quick lowers service I think.

Every major suspension brand seems to suffer from this, at various points throughout the years. Bushing fit is also on that list. Good news is you can check for both issues when you drop the lowers.

How does one go about checking the bushing fit? Is that where you let all the air out and see how smoothly the lowers slide?

Yep, but air isn't involved. With the foot nuts and shafts disconnected from both sides of the lowers, some lube/oil between the stanchions and bushings, and with the fork upside down, the lowers should sink under their own weight (perfect), or with VERY little pressure pushing downward. If they're sticky, the bushings could use some work, and this is usually a warranty job if it's a new fork. Loose bushings are usually noticeable when the fork's together and installed on the bike (kinda feels like a loose headset when you're on the front brake).

I found the 3mm too stiff to wrap around the chain stay, it was quite stiff even while warm. That flat side sections were fine but the corners and top had a lot of excess space since I couldn't seem to secure it tight enough to the stay to conform snugly as shown in my very professional illustration below. Maybe I just couldn't hold it snug enough while it was cooling off but I had a lot of trouble with the 3mm on the tight bends. Depends on the shape of your stay though since this was on my Darkside and those stays were rectangular. A round / oval stay might have better luck with the 3mm, or it could have just been user error on my part but the 1.5 was perfect for me for the stay. The big flattish down tube was fine with the 3mm. The most common use for Kydex seems to be gun and knife holsters and google tells me they commonly use 0.08 inches or ~2mm for that however they will often use a vacuum tank to get a super good fit, just food for thought.

For chain stay protection, I just use Mastic Tape. Good damping properties, ticks and molds to everything, stack it on top of itself for more thickness, and build little "raviolis" to make a pattern like VHS tape has. Very versatile stuff, I also use it more and more for non-bike applications these days.

Trail sign lean with mountain backdrop. Nice summery evening ride, awesome trail conditions in Cumberland, some corners already starting to get a bit dry & loose.

Posted by: [email protected]

Trail sign lean with mountain backdrop. Nice summery evening ride, awesome trail conditions in Cumberland, some corners already starting to get a bit dry & loose.

Yeah, I hit up Off Broadway before the rains set in over the weekend and was surprised at how loose it was in some sections...gunna be a dry summer I think.

I'm a FS noob with a question.  What brands are known for high quality pivots in that they last longer, require less service/replacement and work well for their lifetime.  I know Knolly scores high for this kind of thing.  Who else?  Any brands with great geo and components but their frames eat bearings?