Joined
·
113 Posts
DHX 5.0. As noted with the other thread, has fit issues on the Medium & SM 5er. Thankfully before riding the bike (medium), my discernment kicked in and thought it would be a good idea to see how close that resi came to the downtube under full compression.
Popped the spring off, mounted the shock and pressed the saddle. Dammit. Not only did the schrader valve hit, the blue bottom out adjuster hit as well removing all the paint it came in contact with. Had I ridden the bike before checking clearance issues, 2 nice dings would have occurred indeed.
Coming from a custom P/P and non P/P Vanilla RC, I was determined to make this work. I refused to ride an old school tech shock like the RC when I had the latest and greatest in hand. I took the DHX off, popped the spring off, then popped off the blue adjuster, turn in the bottom out valve in a tad and then compressed the seat again to see check the clearance. Just a tap this time under 70% compression of the bumper. One more turn, and then check again, 2mm gap under full compression. Set the air volume to 130psi and off I rode.
At 155-160lbs with a 450lb spring & 1/3 sag.
Amazing ride. Where's the wallow? The pro-pedal adj knob gives a real wide range of threshold adj. The rear just sticks to the ground that no RC could manage. The only complaint I have is the skinny rebound adj knob. Where as the old RC's was thick in width and gave an audible click when adj it on the trails, the DHX's is thin and doesn't give as noticable a click.
This shock flows some oil--at speed. Slow rock crawling is a given, but downhill/high speed impacts are absorbed without harshness-the best of both worlds. Where as the old RC had a hard time flowing oil on fast big impacts, the DHX with a much larger internal shaft has no problem flowing oil at speed.
It's kind of a bummer that I can't leave the blue adj knob on. However, I got the bottom out set to exactly where I want it, so there's no need for me to fiddle with it. I have no problem obtaining full travel and no issues with contact of the downtube. -Perfect.
RP3. More like I P Freely. Why not R2 or C-3PO?
Anyways, having ridden countless amounts of air shocks, and coils, this one holds it's own. Supposedly the RP3 has the same air volume as a Float AVA with the sleeve in its linearest setting. Hmmm doesn't feel as linear on the first driveway test. This thing is also wicked light.
Time for a ride. I set the psi to around 140. Sag set at 1/3 and off I went. Where's the wallow? My 04 AVA P/P had a slight amount, but was also not nearly as efficient as the RP3 in using wheel travel. Like the DHX vs. the RC, the DHX (if the bottom out adj & psi are set correctly), for me at least allows only as much travel as needed on hits. Where as the RC would go under full compression for a mild hit-resulting in undesired geometry change and more energy wasted, the DHX keeps the bike more level, more stable, and much less energy used from myself from leg power & body transitioning for overcoming the RC's flaws.)
The RP3 distinguishes itself in much the same way vs. the AVA P/P. ( My AVA non P/P wouldn't have even made it out of the parking lot in comparison.) G-outs, berms, are much more controlled. I'm having to relearn how to ride slow crawling rock boulders & gardens. because of the lack of wallow.
Definitely a worthy upgrade.
Here are some crappy pix.
-Paul J
Popped the spring off, mounted the shock and pressed the saddle. Dammit. Not only did the schrader valve hit, the blue bottom out adjuster hit as well removing all the paint it came in contact with. Had I ridden the bike before checking clearance issues, 2 nice dings would have occurred indeed.
Coming from a custom P/P and non P/P Vanilla RC, I was determined to make this work. I refused to ride an old school tech shock like the RC when I had the latest and greatest in hand. I took the DHX off, popped the spring off, then popped off the blue adjuster, turn in the bottom out valve in a tad and then compressed the seat again to see check the clearance. Just a tap this time under 70% compression of the bumper. One more turn, and then check again, 2mm gap under full compression. Set the air volume to 130psi and off I rode.
At 155-160lbs with a 450lb spring & 1/3 sag.
Amazing ride. Where's the wallow? The pro-pedal adj knob gives a real wide range of threshold adj. The rear just sticks to the ground that no RC could manage. The only complaint I have is the skinny rebound adj knob. Where as the old RC's was thick in width and gave an audible click when adj it on the trails, the DHX's is thin and doesn't give as noticable a click.
This shock flows some oil--at speed. Slow rock crawling is a given, but downhill/high speed impacts are absorbed without harshness-the best of both worlds. Where as the old RC had a hard time flowing oil on fast big impacts, the DHX with a much larger internal shaft has no problem flowing oil at speed.
It's kind of a bummer that I can't leave the blue adj knob on. However, I got the bottom out set to exactly where I want it, so there's no need for me to fiddle with it. I have no problem obtaining full travel and no issues with contact of the downtube. -Perfect.
RP3. More like I P Freely. Why not R2 or C-3PO?
Anyways, having ridden countless amounts of air shocks, and coils, this one holds it's own. Supposedly the RP3 has the same air volume as a Float AVA with the sleeve in its linearest setting. Hmmm doesn't feel as linear on the first driveway test. This thing is also wicked light.
Time for a ride. I set the psi to around 140. Sag set at 1/3 and off I went. Where's the wallow? My 04 AVA P/P had a slight amount, but was also not nearly as efficient as the RP3 in using wheel travel. Like the DHX vs. the RC, the DHX (if the bottom out adj & psi are set correctly), for me at least allows only as much travel as needed on hits. Where as the RC would go under full compression for a mild hit-resulting in undesired geometry change and more energy wasted, the DHX keeps the bike more level, more stable, and much less energy used from myself from leg power & body transitioning for overcoming the RC's flaws.)
The RP3 distinguishes itself in much the same way vs. the AVA P/P. ( My AVA non P/P wouldn't have even made it out of the parking lot in comparison.) G-outs, berms, are much more controlled. I'm having to relearn how to ride slow crawling rock boulders & gardens. because of the lack of wallow.
Definitely a worthy upgrade.
Here are some crappy pix.
-Paul J
...
