[davey]

just out of curiosity, does anyone know if anyone manufactures them and if so, would it be a good idea to use them?

 

[tscheezy]

I have never heard of any such thing, and if such a critter exists, there is only one set and someone made them in their garage.

Buy a 5-Spot if you want a bump in travel. It is a shockingly nice bike, and I dare say an upgrade overall over the XCE (I have both).

 

[Roy]

just out of curiosity, does anyone know if anyone manufactures them and if so, would it be a good idea to use them?

If you get the Paul Rockers that give 4" on the Burner, and use it with original 1.75" stroke shock, you will get 4.65" on the XCE. The problem is bigger tires can hit the pivot; plus no increase in BB height for the additional sag.

There's an old thread discussing this:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=17010&highlight=paul+rockers+xce

 

[XCE-zer]

Hi kids. I'm super excited because of the latest modification done to my XCE, I'll hopefully have pictures soon.
I bought a Stratos Helix Expert shock off ebay for about 120$
The eye to eye was 1/4" longer than my romic. The shock stroke went from 1.5" to 1.75" yet the shock still has the same fully compressed i2i as the romic. So there is no worries about the tire hitting the seat tube. The stratos company is great because of all the crazy sizes they carry. So the extra 1/4 inch in stroke equalled aprox. .675" of extra travel (My friend ploted this on his CAD program). Not only that but the feel of the shock is so much more progressive than the Romic. The weight of the shock is on ounce more than my romic with the Titanium spring from RCS (450# made for a 5 spot). So now i almost have a 5 spot with a lighter frame. Total travel is 4.675" Soooo sweet. I love the feel. I felt the romic's travel was too linear and after sending it to Romic 3 times for several problems I thought "good riddens" . I am planning to sell the RCS Ti spring on ebay soon, the thing costed me 200 ouch*

 

[Backmarker]

Hi kids. I'm super excited because of the latest modification done to my XCE, I'll hopefully have pictures soon.
I bought a Stratos Helix Expert shock off ebay for about 120$
The eye to eye was 1/4" longer than my romic. The shock stroke went from 1.5" to 1.75" yet the shock still has the same fully compressed i2i as the romic. So there is no worries about the tire hitting the seat tube. The stratos company is great because of all the crazy sizes they carry. So the extra 1/4 inch in stroke equalled aprox. .675" of extra travel (My friend ploted this on his CAD program). Not only that but the feel of the shock is so much more progressive than the Romic. The weight of the shock is on ounce more than my romic with the Titanium spring from RCS (450# made for a 5 spot). So now i almost have a 5 spot with a lighter frame. Total travel is 4.675" Soooo sweet. I love the feel. I felt the romic's travel was too linear and after sending it to Romic 3 times for several problems I thought "good riddens" . I am planning to sell the RCS Ti spring on ebay soon, the thing costed me 200 ouch*

The Helix Expert looks like an interesting shock. It also has an air chamber so you can control the progressiveness of the spring rate right? I've considered getting one for my XCE, but I've been wondering how much it would raise the bottom bracket and how much it would steepen the head angle. What fork are you using with it? How much did it raise the bottom bracket?

 

[XCE-zer]

Exactly. The Helix has the air chamber for progressivity and bottom out resistance. I'm running my XCE (2002) with a Marzocchi Z1 Fr w/ Qr20 which raked out my front end to 68 deg. Now with the Helix it increased the head angle to 69 deg. I like it better. I can still bomb rocky decents and my climbing has improved because the front end dosen't wonder as much ( although,I do use the ETA on super steep stuff). I haven't measured the BB height yet. I will tonight and post it.
In my opinion the XCE was made for a 5" travel fork. I previously had a Marzocchi Atom race 100 which I could never use full travel. The Z1's Axle to crown height was a full 2" taller than the 4" Atom Race 100.
My XCE does everything better with the Z1. Keep in mind I've built it up waaay strong with FR rims/hubs and I ride super steep techy things ing Laguna Beach CA. Even built strong the bike is 32lbs. (it used to be 34 * ouch) I don't think I'll put the Romic back on unless the Helix breaks.

 

[tscheezy]

XCE-zer, that sounds like exactly the ticket. My only reservation is Stratos's reputation (not that good, but are we comparing to Romic?). It is an inexpensive experiment though, and you may make out like a bandit in the end. Keep us up on developments.

 

[XCE-zer]

Thanks brother, I will share some photos soon. I'm a damn bastard because I'm heading to Bootleg Canyon this weekend with the boys. Time to put my Big Hit to its 2nd torture test out there. ( the big hit is pretty new but 2nd time out there) Trails are punishing but we ask for MORE!!!!! Mooooo hoooo haaaa haa ha