I got the opportunity to demo the Dt Swiss SSD Carbon shock on my Mojo on my local trails thanks to Hans at Ibis. It is very nice for the Mojo, better in most ways in my opinion than the RP23 or DHX-Air.
First of all it looks great! And it is light, about 0.40 lb. with it’s gimbaled mounting hardware. Compare to the RP23 at about .65 lb. and DHX-A at 1.15 lb. with rigid mounting hardware).
The gimbaled shock mounting is very nice. I think it will help reduce bushing wear. I checked the rear end wheel sideways flex and there was no increase that was noticeable, still low in flex and no hint of sloppy linkage feel in my year and a half well ridden Mojo.
After tweaking with the air pressure I set sag about 25%. It took about 150 psi to get this sag (I couldn’t read the borrowed gauge without my glasses), less than the RP23 which I needed 170 psi as I remember. So I must have a larger air volume. And it rode more a little more linear, like it had more air volume.
And I counted the rebound clicks, 28, and set it about 12 clicks out from firm stop.
I tried the lockout on the street a few times approaching the trail head, and locked out my fork too. Both ends pumped themselves up to top out. The shock had a funny bouncy feeling on smooth pavement while pedaling at first but seemed to firm up with nearly no bounce after a short time. Locked out it was firmer than my medium 2-bar equivalent RP23 was with max propedal on.
Climbing up the trail was very smooth, smoother than the RP23 and didn't wallow as much as the DHX. And it felt lively, unlike the dead feeling from too much compression damping as the RP23 or the DHX with lots of propedal.
Wallow was very minimal over bumps whether climbing or on flats. I think the DT may have some very mild compression damping, but no platform dead feel at all, which is very nice on the Mojo.
The DT bobbed a little when standing and pedaling, less bob than the DHX with minimized propedal optimized for smoothness, and about the same as the RP23 with propedal open.
After some climbing and traversing more level trail I let a little air out to try nearly about 28% sag, more like what I normally use. The compression wasn't noticeably smoother with deeper sag, but the geometry of my bike felt more relaxed and familiar handling.
The trail was flatter and faster with some gradual and steep downs and few steep ups, with a good rock garden section for a quarter mile or so. I didn't notice any more wallow with the deeper sag.
The DT shock's rebound is sensitive to quarter turn (half click) adjustment near the middle of range.
I rode it a second day on the same familiar trail. I tried a click firmer rebound than what I ended up the day before, but it just felt too firm. So I kept softening the rebound until it felt like it would wallow noticeably, then firmed it up 1 click. It was softer a few clicks than yesterday, now 15 clicks out and had better bump compliance without bad wallow.
The DT is able to use near full travel easier than the RP23, nearly an inch deeper usable suspension travel than the RP23 ever did for me indicated by the o-ring on the shock. When seated or standing landing jumps and compressing through g-outs feels more plush than the RP23.
Standing downhill when the shock is unweighted it wasn't so impressively better than the RP23 really about the same, a bit dicey and chattery when at speed in downhill rock garden sections. The DHX is a little smoother in the same situation.
The dicey feel downhill may only be an issue for heavier riders using higher air spring pressures. I suspect the negative spring elastomer is a little bit too soft to fully cushion the rebound for the air pressure I need for my 200+ ride weight. I’m sure riders under 180 will have a soft top out feel. DT recommends that the negative spring elastomer be replaced once a year (they harden up). Perhaps there are different elastomers available form DT to fine tune for heavier riders.
In conclusion, overall I think the DT rides much better, it's smoother, livelier, and more plush, than the Fox RP23 in nearly all situations. And the DT has a little less wallow than the smoothest adjustment of the DHX-Air. But the Fox air shocks, especially the DHX-A, are a bit smoother downhill over rock gardens when standing due to a little better top out smoothness (more average, lighter in weight riders than me, using less air pressure probably won't notice this top out feel difference).
Compared to a stock RP23 I much prefer the DT performance. The DHX-Air might be able to be tuned to be very close in damping performance, but the DHX is much more complex to tune and heavier. The advantage the RP23 has is that it can be sent out to be custom tuned for the rider and Mojo by PUSH Industries for about $200 over the cost of the shock to perform even better than the DT, except in weight and looks.
First of all it looks great! And it is light, about 0.40 lb. with it’s gimbaled mounting hardware. Compare to the RP23 at about .65 lb. and DHX-A at 1.15 lb. with rigid mounting hardware).
The gimbaled shock mounting is very nice. I think it will help reduce bushing wear. I checked the rear end wheel sideways flex and there was no increase that was noticeable, still low in flex and no hint of sloppy linkage feel in my year and a half well ridden Mojo.
After tweaking with the air pressure I set sag about 25%. It took about 150 psi to get this sag (I couldn’t read the borrowed gauge without my glasses), less than the RP23 which I needed 170 psi as I remember. So I must have a larger air volume. And it rode more a little more linear, like it had more air volume.
And I counted the rebound clicks, 28, and set it about 12 clicks out from firm stop.
I tried the lockout on the street a few times approaching the trail head, and locked out my fork too. Both ends pumped themselves up to top out. The shock had a funny bouncy feeling on smooth pavement while pedaling at first but seemed to firm up with nearly no bounce after a short time. Locked out it was firmer than my medium 2-bar equivalent RP23 was with max propedal on.
Climbing up the trail was very smooth, smoother than the RP23 and didn't wallow as much as the DHX. And it felt lively, unlike the dead feeling from too much compression damping as the RP23 or the DHX with lots of propedal.
Wallow was very minimal over bumps whether climbing or on flats. I think the DT may have some very mild compression damping, but no platform dead feel at all, which is very nice on the Mojo.
The DT bobbed a little when standing and pedaling, less bob than the DHX with minimized propedal optimized for smoothness, and about the same as the RP23 with propedal open.
After some climbing and traversing more level trail I let a little air out to try nearly about 28% sag, more like what I normally use. The compression wasn't noticeably smoother with deeper sag, but the geometry of my bike felt more relaxed and familiar handling.
The trail was flatter and faster with some gradual and steep downs and few steep ups, with a good rock garden section for a quarter mile or so. I didn't notice any more wallow with the deeper sag.
The DT shock's rebound is sensitive to quarter turn (half click) adjustment near the middle of range.
I rode it a second day on the same familiar trail. I tried a click firmer rebound than what I ended up the day before, but it just felt too firm. So I kept softening the rebound until it felt like it would wallow noticeably, then firmed it up 1 click. It was softer a few clicks than yesterday, now 15 clicks out and had better bump compliance without bad wallow.
The DT is able to use near full travel easier than the RP23, nearly an inch deeper usable suspension travel than the RP23 ever did for me indicated by the o-ring on the shock. When seated or standing landing jumps and compressing through g-outs feels more plush than the RP23.
Standing downhill when the shock is unweighted it wasn't so impressively better than the RP23 really about the same, a bit dicey and chattery when at speed in downhill rock garden sections. The DHX is a little smoother in the same situation.
The dicey feel downhill may only be an issue for heavier riders using higher air spring pressures. I suspect the negative spring elastomer is a little bit too soft to fully cushion the rebound for the air pressure I need for my 200+ ride weight. I’m sure riders under 180 will have a soft top out feel. DT recommends that the negative spring elastomer be replaced once a year (they harden up). Perhaps there are different elastomers available form DT to fine tune for heavier riders.
In conclusion, overall I think the DT rides much better, it's smoother, livelier, and more plush, than the Fox RP23 in nearly all situations. And the DT has a little less wallow than the smoothest adjustment of the DHX-Air. But the Fox air shocks, especially the DHX-A, are a bit smoother downhill over rock gardens when standing due to a little better top out smoothness (more average, lighter in weight riders than me, using less air pressure probably won't notice this top out feel difference).
Compared to a stock RP23 I much prefer the DT performance. The DHX-Air might be able to be tuned to be very close in damping performance, but the DHX is much more complex to tune and heavier. The advantage the RP23 has is that it can be sent out to be custom tuned for the rider and Mojo by PUSH Industries for about $200 over the cost of the shock to perform even better than the DT, except in weight and looks.
:Thumbs Up:
