Suspension help
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cannondale27
- Posts: 0
- Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:41 pm
QUOTE
Originally posted by Derno24
Who would you guys say makes the best shocks? Feel free to answer here. Axis, Elka, etc......
Just want to hear some answers before I make another post about the shocks.
Who would you guys say makes the best shocks? Feel free to answer here. Axis, Elka, etc......
Just want to hear some answers before I make another post about the shocks.
First I am not a shock expert by any stretch. However, I would say based on customer service and reputation I would have to say TCS from a recreational riders perspective because customer service is KING. and :deal:
Just my opinion.
mike
I was pretty in love with my Elkas, they are top of the line shocks no doubt. But after I bought my Cannondale, I didnt give Ohlins enough credit. I really think I like the Ohlins better than the Elkas. They seem to be slightly more forgiving in the middle of the travel than the Elkas. But I'm sure the Elkas could be tuned to do the same. I've rode on some Custom Axis and wasnt impressed at all, the bike was a long travel job and the rebound was way to fast for me. The Axis seemed to find every bottom of every hole and made the quad twicthy. The other thing I dont like about the Axis is they dont seem to think rebound is needed, and I'm a pretty big believer in adjusting rebound to track conditions. The shocks I would love to try is the Fox Evols, they must be doing something right, Natalie is winning with them.
You may comment now Derno.
You may comment now Derno.
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cannondale27
- Posts: 0
- Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:41 pm
It would depend on what type of riding you are doing and whether ZPS is important or not.The best quality shock in my opinion is Custom Axis with Ohlins right there also.Niether of those are true ZPS and Custom Axis is a hard core shock which you usually will sacrifice some nice ride for the Big Stuff ability.For ZPS MX PEP is my favorite but I admit quality is not as good as alot of others.(seem to breakdown fast)If small bump,cost and delivery are a concern TCS,Elka with TCS being prefered ove Elka.
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MX Quad Dad
- Posts: 0
- Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:41 pm
QUOTE
Originally posted by Derno24
Who would you guys say makes the best shocks? Feel free to answer here. Axis, Elka, etc......
Just want to hear some answers before I make another post about the shocks.
Who would you guys say makes the best shocks? Feel free to answer here. Axis, Elka, etc......
Just want to hear some answers before I make another post about the shocks.
I would say it is more important to know, Who sets up shock Best. and WHo helps the customer the most.
I had great dealings with WORKS and what was even more important to me they helped me tune the shocks. My Moto would probubly have Works shocks on it now if my son would have kept racing. Lets face it, Just like trying to help Kara diagnose what the problem is with her shocks over the net. it's just as hard trying to get your shocks dialed in over the phone. Plus turnaround time and shipping cost during a race season is also important. When I called Works I was always able to get back to the same salesperson. He always listen to what I had to say and helped me dial in the shocks to my son riding style (Ohlins actualy told me "make him change his riding style to work with the shocks)
Aside from a $400 investment for a regulator for the nitrogen it is very easy to work on the shocks. But you need someone who will sell you the parts and at least try to help you get the right parts.
One other thing I found out, after going to several shock shops tring to get my shocks charged, I found most places used a cheaper (oxegen) regulator, which can only get you to maybe 115psi.
I think a hydrolic repair shop will charge the shocks if you bring in the adapter and tell the how high to charge them
Am I the only one who looked at the pic of her cornering and thought she would be better not to ride till she gets those shocks set up right?
Before I get into this too much I want to state that I am NOT a suspension pro, and just another rider who due to a need to get a superior ride from my overly expensive suspension has spent countless hours making various adjustments, and dialing in his suspension. It truely is an art, and your time invested will pay off in in knowledge and an improved ride, but you have to be willing to put in the time, and since my posts have been known to get a little long, guess you could start here LOL.
Suspension is a really tricky thing and can seriously drive you crazy just dialing in the final adjustments alone, and for a rider without any real experience to try and completely set them up when there sprung and valved right is a lot of work, but when there not right from the get go its pretty much impossible.
Derno can vouch for the amount of time I have put into my suspension (hey long time no hear bud) and I am sure he caught me more than once making adjustments trail side, but as much as I was wanting to improve the ride quality my elka's were no where near that far off as what were talking about here.
I wont go starting nothing with Jeffy since I think we were gettin along pretty well last few times we talked etc, but a whole lot of the conversions I have seen (not just his either) on various shocks just are not 100% right, and even some of the reworks for different riders or machines have produced unwanted results. Just looking at this set up is telling me something is very, very wrong.
To stick with the set up in question here for a little lets look at what we know from rider input and the pics presented.
First we know that the spring length or resistance (lb rating) is wrong since the machine rides so high, and seems to have very little sag (at first look I questioned if the shock length is correct) plus the rider is complaining about a harsh ride and feedback etc.
The bouncing complaints could be attributed to this also, and even though this can be a result of rebound settings (both internal and external) good luck getting any acceptable results until the spring issues are corrected. I say that because basically you cant get the rebound dialed in until the springs are right.
Then we have to consider that since the springs are not right for this set up that the valving isnt either. Now we have a complicated problem because you just cant make one aspect of the shock work right when the others are so far off.
No matter if its anyones fault or a combination of various things that got you to this point where your not happy with the performance your getting you absolutely have to deal with the problem at hand (there set up wrong for you) and be sure to get them right before even bothering to put in any more time and money into these.
Far as I can see that leaves you with only a few options. Send them back to where the work was done, and hope that with some good explaining of your problem they can get them right this time, send them out to someone who specializes in this shock and has proven results (and even a guarantee to get them right) and find the cash to do it, or sell the **** things on ebay and start over.
I didnt specifially say buy some new high dollar elka's, axis or pep since I see $$$ is a real issue, and that isnt a logical answer for you, but after seeing the results you have gotten from the conversion I would really encourage you to consider finding a way to fund them, and also getting them from someone local who would be able to help you set them up.
There are two other suggestions I would have for you, and one is to contact someone who is knowledgable on suspension in your area (I know TX is big, but maybe Dee from the assoc down there is close to you www.stqra.com )who could help you without incurring any cost etc.
The other and this is for anyone looking to get more info and learn or even offer what they can about suspension is to dig up one of the old threads I had started on this a year or two ago. I know there is a seriously long one on another site, but I think there may be one here too. Was something like "everything you ever wanted to know about suspension" and I know the really long one was on atvconn
Anyhow hope that helps and also that you get it figured out soon because its not any fun getting beat up by the shocks you just spent a good amount of $$$ on.
Before I get into this too much I want to state that I am NOT a suspension pro, and just another rider who due to a need to get a superior ride from my overly expensive suspension has spent countless hours making various adjustments, and dialing in his suspension. It truely is an art, and your time invested will pay off in in knowledge and an improved ride, but you have to be willing to put in the time, and since my posts have been known to get a little long, guess you could start here LOL.
Suspension is a really tricky thing and can seriously drive you crazy just dialing in the final adjustments alone, and for a rider without any real experience to try and completely set them up when there sprung and valved right is a lot of work, but when there not right from the get go its pretty much impossible.
Derno can vouch for the amount of time I have put into my suspension (hey long time no hear bud) and I am sure he caught me more than once making adjustments trail side, but as much as I was wanting to improve the ride quality my elka's were no where near that far off as what were talking about here.
I wont go starting nothing with Jeffy since I think we were gettin along pretty well last few times we talked etc, but a whole lot of the conversions I have seen (not just his either) on various shocks just are not 100% right, and even some of the reworks for different riders or machines have produced unwanted results. Just looking at this set up is telling me something is very, very wrong.
To stick with the set up in question here for a little lets look at what we know from rider input and the pics presented.
First we know that the spring length or resistance (lb rating) is wrong since the machine rides so high, and seems to have very little sag (at first look I questioned if the shock length is correct) plus the rider is complaining about a harsh ride and feedback etc.
The bouncing complaints could be attributed to this also, and even though this can be a result of rebound settings (both internal and external) good luck getting any acceptable results until the spring issues are corrected. I say that because basically you cant get the rebound dialed in until the springs are right.
Then we have to consider that since the springs are not right for this set up that the valving isnt either. Now we have a complicated problem because you just cant make one aspect of the shock work right when the others are so far off.
No matter if its anyones fault or a combination of various things that got you to this point where your not happy with the performance your getting you absolutely have to deal with the problem at hand (there set up wrong for you) and be sure to get them right before even bothering to put in any more time and money into these.
Far as I can see that leaves you with only a few options. Send them back to where the work was done, and hope that with some good explaining of your problem they can get them right this time, send them out to someone who specializes in this shock and has proven results (and even a guarantee to get them right) and find the cash to do it, or sell the **** things on ebay and start over.
I didnt specifially say buy some new high dollar elka's, axis or pep since I see $$$ is a real issue, and that isnt a logical answer for you, but after seeing the results you have gotten from the conversion I would really encourage you to consider finding a way to fund them, and also getting them from someone local who would be able to help you set them up.
There are two other suggestions I would have for you, and one is to contact someone who is knowledgable on suspension in your area (I know TX is big, but maybe Dee from the assoc down there is close to you www.stqra.com )who could help you without incurring any cost etc.
The other and this is for anyone looking to get more info and learn or even offer what they can about suspension is to dig up one of the old threads I had started on this a year or two ago. I know there is a seriously long one on another site, but I think there may be one here too. Was something like "everything you ever wanted to know about suspension" and I know the really long one was on atvconn
Anyhow hope that helps and also that you get it figured out soon because its not any fun getting beat up by the shocks you just spent a good amount of $$$ on.