joseph-crabtree profile

I've got a 18' Smuggler that is "overshocked",swapped the Fox 210x50 with a CCDBiL Coil 210x55 to get another 12mm of travel.Kind of a Mini-Sentinel with the fork bumped to 150.With the stock setup I was beating myself up, like Dave said "absolutely worked".Now the bike feels awesome and I don't think it feels "dead" at all.

I think a 50mm stroke coil shock would run out of travel before the spring rate can rise enough to prevent bottom outs without over-springing.I did install a big/soft bottom out bumper but it wasn't needed.

I've used both the regular and plus versions on a 2.6 w 35i rim and would say the plus is too big for your needs.I find the 'Pro" version fills out a 2.6 with plenty of support.

Unfortunately,the actual seat tube angle is slacker than the numbers tell and if you run your post higher than the spot they measured their "effective" angle at it will be under more load.

Grabbing the rear end and tugging it back and forth isn't going give a real world idea of how the bike rides and a little bit of rear end flex can really help keep a bike from being knock around.

BTW the Aggressor only comes in a DC and I think it is a bit too terrain specific to spec IMHO.Works great in the summer hardpack around here but the DHRII seems a no brainer.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I talked with the guys at Maxxis and it looks like they are going to release a 29x2.6 Ikon in the next few weeks along with a 29x2.6 DHF/DHR2.

I've got a Bike yoke DeHy cable kit one one bike and the new 1x remote on another,The cable is better than the plunger remote but the smooth and east action of the 1x gets my vote.A bleed twice a year is a small trade off.

I've switched the remote on the DeHy kit to a Wolftooth trying to get a smoother stroke but no luck so went with a slick cable and housing and it still feels rougher than the Reverb 1x setup.

Around $90 USD for ether cable kit or $100 for the Reverb 1x kit.The choice is yours.

I got it at a aircraft supply some time ago.It doesn't have a gauge spec on the roll but would guess about 20-22 gauge.The label says Ormiston  monel seizing wire London ,England.

I've been using LizardSkin North Shore slip ons (great name huh) with monel wire.A bit hard to find but has better elasticity (break resistance)  than stainless so it will twist tighter.The grooves in the grips make it easy to hide the twist too.

I just put a set of the Ergon GE1's on and I do like the shape but not as cushy as the NS.

I saw a group of kids on the trail yesterday,all on nice bikes (it is summertime in Santa Cruz) and everyone of them had bars so wide they were practically stuck in one position,unable to move around at all.I think the "wider"is better" trend is inhibiting a lot of smaller people from riding as well as they could. 

Coming from an XC background most of my bikes are 700-720 and even my AM bike has 740's.Being 5'8" it works for me and I can see a big guy with 800's but most would benefit taking a look at what is practical not fashionable.

The LR on my bike is progressive to linear in the last 10mm of travel and adding an offset bushing pushed the travel up 3mm by eliminating that last bit of linearity and gaining a bit more progression to the beginning of the stroke so it can effect the sag to a degree.