So I drank the koolaid… After a bit of rough ride (which was probably my fault and not my gear), I bought the new ElevenSix. But I think I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm running a 650B Santa Cruz Nomad with a 180 mm Fox 36 up front and the original rear shock was the RockShox Monarch Plus. When I first bought the bike, I was sure that I would be replacing the rear shock right away. I haven't had the best experiences with RockShox products in the past, so I was prepared to bite the bullet and spend the extra cash to get the Nomad feeling great. But it turned out that RockShox had really done their homework and the Monarch Plus is a great shock. I rode it for almost a year (with maintenance) with no issues. I liked the way it was easy to set up, had a great progressive feeling, and had pretty reasonable sensitivity for an air shock. What I think it lacked a little was a bit more mid-stroke support and the ability to tinker with the settings. Great shock, but…
The mistress is never happy with just great, right? So I picked up a fresh, shiny ElevenSix. After I wrapped my brain around how much it would cost, the rest just fell into place. Ordering the shock was pretty easy (via SuspensionWerx in North Vancouver), but the customer experience with ordering the shock was the thing that really blew me away. The guy building my shock actually spent time to call me and double check my riding style, riding area, weight, use of a backpack, etc, etc. Good feelings all around. The shock showed up about a week later, and 5 minutes after that it was bolted to the bike.
Most of my rides start with a pedal and I was blown away with how well the shock pedaled in the 'trail' mode. As the shock is fully customized to you, I chose a DH mode and a trail mode to begin with. On the way down is where this thing really comes alive. Most small bumps on the trail were all but erased and the big stuff was handled perfectly (although on par with the Monarch). But the thing I was really pleased with was the mid-stroke support; something that I was looking for when I bought the shock. Pedaling downhill is where I felt the Monarch wallow a bit and the ElevenSix took care of all of that.
There's one other thing that I really noticed; cornering. I guess I should have expected it, but it kind of caught me by surprise. There's a couple of corners on one of my favourite trail that the rear wheel always gets a little loose. But every ride with the ElevenSix, the rear wheel stays planted to the ground, allowing me to lean forward and weight the front wheel more and go faster. And like Seb Kemp's dad would probably say, faster is always faster, right?
Overall, I've been really happy with the shock and it really brings out the mini-DH bike in the Nomad.
Any questions? Ask away…
Mike
p.s. After a few rides, I tweaked the 'trail' setting to be more like a 'climb' setting. Now there is less shock movement than any of the lockout/climb settings on any of the rear shocks I've ever used. Good stuff!! Pics up soon…