I have this Enduro and always wondered how it would feel with a bigger shock on. The original Specialized AFR shock was/is great. I didn't put on the Roco Air because I was unhappy with the AFR shock, but I guess it was rather more of a curious thing in me that wanted to try.
So I picked up a 2009 Roco Air on Ebay. The hardest part of installing this shock is to get the reducers to mount the shock on! I got a friend of mine to fabricate the reducers for me, but you could go to many bike shop and asked to order the reducers for you from Marzocchi.
So what are my impression?
First off, the Roco is massive and weighs a lot more then AFR. The Roco weighs a tad over 500g compared to 300g of the AFR! Some may think a 200g difference is a massive amount on a bike that weighs 27.7 lbs, but once you get going, you won't notice the weigh difference (read below). I held the two shocks in my hands side by side and it was immediately evident that the Roco was design for big boys who likes to hit big things! Now I'm only 130 lbs naked, and I'll doubt I'll ever fully utilitze this Roco,.. and lol I don't have the skills to take the Roco to anywhere near its limits.
The Roco Air has a bigger shaft than the stock AFR. Roco has a 32 mm shaft; AFR has 28 mm shaft. So compared to the AFR, the Roco looks massive on the Enduro! The Roco shaft barely fits between the mounting brackets, and in fact, the shaft even hit the mounting brackets and chipped off some paint (but that's it, the brackets are not deform in any way). I think the aluminum version of the Enduro actually has a wider bracket width than the S-Works carbon Enduro, so the Roco might fit on the aluminum Enduro even better!
The Roco overall does have a more linear feeling, and easier to tune to rider's weight. With the AFR, I had to get the PSI just right, or else it's either too stiff or too soft. Setting sag on the Roco is much quicker and easier. With the AFR, I sometimes have to reach for the shock pump a few tries to set the correct sag.
On the climb:
I don't notice much difference in terms of traction on a typical dirt pack trail. Climbing over rocks 1 ft - 2 ft in diameter, the Roco tracks better because it has a more progressive linear compliance (feels more like a coil). The AFR has a harder initial movement, that is, the first 1/4 of the travel of the AFR feels harder, so because of this, sometimes I break traction with AFR. But overall, the two shocks give the same efficiency on the climb. I can't really say I favor one over another here.
On the down:
now this is where the Roco shine! The Roco feels like a coil! The Enduro tracts so much better, and it eats up baby heads like nothing. It gives the Enduro a more plush and progressive (coil-like) feeling even though the overall travel is the same (6 in travel). I would say with the exception of the hardcore downhiller boys accustomed to riding downhhill rigs, most people would not be able to tell if the Roco Air is air or coil Goes to show just how good this Roco Air feels on this bike. One of my friends who rides an Ibis Mojo, and he's a very good rider (above average rider), and when he jumped on my bike, he was all smiling and saying "oh yeah I can see myself going down faster on this!". Coming from a person riding an Ibis Mojo, that says a lot. He also love the E150 forks too (which I had it rebuilt by Specialized, and yes, it feels better than when the shock was released in 2007. I give Specialized major props for rebuilding all E150 forks to the latest specs!).
Another major difference between the AFR and Roco is that the Roco doesn't have a lockout like the AFR. Personally I rather prefer this way! I never use lockout on the AFR because locking it out puts the shock near its bottom, lowering the clearance of bike, which means more bashing on rocks (not good!). And personally, I have never liked locking out the AFR shock because the rear tire actually loses grips more easily since there is no suspension movement now. The Roco does have what's called a "climb" position, and in this position, the shock is very stiff but does move a little bit (ie, it's not completely lock out) and personally this little bit of movement gives better overall traction when climbing over rocks.
What about jumps? Sorry folks, my skills don't allow me to do this stuff, and to be honest my time has kinda passed for doing this sort of activity! lol so I can't comments here.
This modification project was due to my curiosity with tinkering with stuff, but I must say results turned out great! And I just wanted to share the finding with the community (especially you Enduro owners). Well that's it for now.
So I picked up a 2009 Roco Air on Ebay. The hardest part of installing this shock is to get the reducers to mount the shock on! I got a friend of mine to fabricate the reducers for me, but you could go to many bike shop and asked to order the reducers for you from Marzocchi.
So what are my impression?
First off, the Roco is massive and weighs a lot more then AFR. The Roco weighs a tad over 500g compared to 300g of the AFR! Some may think a 200g difference is a massive amount on a bike that weighs 27.7 lbs, but once you get going, you won't notice the weigh difference (read below). I held the two shocks in my hands side by side and it was immediately evident that the Roco was design for big boys who likes to hit big things! Now I'm only 130 lbs naked, and I'll doubt I'll ever fully utilitze this Roco,.. and lol I don't have the skills to take the Roco to anywhere near its limits.
The Roco Air has a bigger shaft than the stock AFR. Roco has a 32 mm shaft; AFR has 28 mm shaft. So compared to the AFR, the Roco looks massive on the Enduro! The Roco shaft barely fits between the mounting brackets, and in fact, the shaft even hit the mounting brackets and chipped off some paint (but that's it, the brackets are not deform in any way). I think the aluminum version of the Enduro actually has a wider bracket width than the S-Works carbon Enduro, so the Roco might fit on the aluminum Enduro even better!
The Roco overall does have a more linear feeling, and easier to tune to rider's weight. With the AFR, I had to get the PSI just right, or else it's either too stiff or too soft. Setting sag on the Roco is much quicker and easier. With the AFR, I sometimes have to reach for the shock pump a few tries to set the correct sag.
On the climb:
I don't notice much difference in terms of traction on a typical dirt pack trail. Climbing over rocks 1 ft - 2 ft in diameter, the Roco tracks better because it has a more progressive linear compliance (feels more like a coil). The AFR has a harder initial movement, that is, the first 1/4 of the travel of the AFR feels harder, so because of this, sometimes I break traction with AFR. But overall, the two shocks give the same efficiency on the climb. I can't really say I favor one over another here.
On the down:
now this is where the Roco shine! The Roco feels like a coil! The Enduro tracts so much better, and it eats up baby heads like nothing. It gives the Enduro a more plush and progressive (coil-like) feeling even though the overall travel is the same (6 in travel). I would say with the exception of the hardcore downhiller boys accustomed to riding downhhill rigs, most people would not be able to tell if the Roco Air is air or coil Goes to show just how good this Roco Air feels on this bike. One of my friends who rides an Ibis Mojo, and he's a very good rider (above average rider), and when he jumped on my bike, he was all smiling and saying "oh yeah I can see myself going down faster on this!". Coming from a person riding an Ibis Mojo, that says a lot. He also love the E150 forks too (which I had it rebuilt by Specialized, and yes, it feels better than when the shock was released in 2007. I give Specialized major props for rebuilding all E150 forks to the latest specs!).
Another major difference between the AFR and Roco is that the Roco doesn't have a lockout like the AFR. Personally I rather prefer this way! I never use lockout on the AFR because locking it out puts the shock near its bottom, lowering the clearance of bike, which means more bashing on rocks (not good!). And personally, I have never liked locking out the AFR shock because the rear tire actually loses grips more easily since there is no suspension movement now. The Roco does have what's called a "climb" position, and in this position, the shock is very stiff but does move a little bit (ie, it's not completely lock out) and personally this little bit of movement gives better overall traction when climbing over rocks.
What about jumps? Sorry folks, my skills don't allow me to do this stuff, and to be honest my time has kinda passed for doing this sort of activity! lol so I can't comments here.
This modification project was due to my curiosity with tinkering with stuff, but I must say results turned out great! And I just wanted to share the finding with the community (especially you Enduro owners). Well that's it for now.
