An update: during our trip, my daughter rode the KHS with the DNM and its stock spring. She’s about 135lbs, and a novice rider. We rode at Copper Harbor, MI, Jackson Hole (a bit of lift served riding) and Phil’s World in CO. Our riding ranged from gravel, to XC blue trails (Trust Loop in Phil’s), to blue flow trails at Jackson Hole. She felt confident and comfortable on the KHS, and was more aggressive than she’s been comfortable being in the past. She noted that the shock felt “smooth” and that she had more traction than she was used to from her hard tail (same tires on both - Nevegals). Hard to say what the shock contributed to her experience, but clearly it didn’t detract.
When we got back, I fitted a Fox 800lb spring to the DNM. This seems to be about right for my tonnage, based on my eyeballing of the approximate sag. I bumped up the compression damping, and slowed the rebound some, until it felt responsive but not bouncy. I get a tiny bit of pedal pogo, but very, very minor. I took the bike up to the Saxon Hill trails in Essex, VT, and rode some intermediate flow trails. I chose the slightly more technical (still blue) climbs, to see how it did with rocks and roots. The trails were a mix of sand, dirt, wet rock and damp roots.
First - the climb. I won’t mince words here : the bike climbed way better than it had with the Monarch shock at 275psi. WAY better. Traction was much improved, pedaling was more efficient and the front wheel was more controlled. With the Monarch, my assessment of the bike’s climbing prowess was roughly “it kinda sucks”. Now, it’s totally fine. Not enough worse than my hard tail to even really mention. Wow. It’s not a climbing machine (at 35lbs+ and circa 2008 AM geometry, that’s no surprise), but it really doesn’t suck at all. I’ll be totally fine with using this all mountain and down-ier XC. I’ve gone ahead and put my commuter street wheels on the hard tail for the fall, as I don’t see when I won’t be just fine grabbing the KHS for any trail duty. And I’m a lazy climber, so that should say something.
As for the down: yeah, same story. WAY better. More stable, more controlled over chunder, smooooooooothness for days, and great grip. Never felt close to bottoming out. I can’t wait to get this thing on some gravity runs that let me push my (pretty limited) skills. I have no idea if this shock will hold up, but for this high-tonnage intermediate Clyde, it’s a clear win so far. Oh, and total cost was under $150 with the 800lb spring sourced direct from Fox. I can’t find a used shock for that. For now, I’m quite happy.
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When we got back, I fitted a Fox 800lb spring to the DNM. This seems to be about right for my tonnage, based on my eyeballing of the approximate sag. I bumped up the compression damping, and slowed the rebound some, until it felt responsive but not bouncy. I get a tiny bit of pedal pogo, but very, very minor. I took the bike up to the Saxon Hill trails in Essex, VT, and rode some intermediate flow trails. I chose the slightly more technical (still blue) climbs, to see how it did with rocks and roots. The trails were a mix of sand, dirt, wet rock and damp roots.
First - the climb. I won’t mince words here : the bike climbed way better than it had with the Monarch shock at 275psi. WAY better. Traction was much improved, pedaling was more efficient and the front wheel was more controlled. With the Monarch, my assessment of the bike’s climbing prowess was roughly “it kinda sucks”. Now, it’s totally fine. Not enough worse than my hard tail to even really mention. Wow. It’s not a climbing machine (at 35lbs+ and circa 2008 AM geometry, that’s no surprise), but it really doesn’t suck at all. I’ll be totally fine with using this all mountain and down-ier XC. I’ve gone ahead and put my commuter street wheels on the hard tail for the fall, as I don’t see when I won’t be just fine grabbing the KHS for any trail duty. And I’m a lazy climber, so that should say something.
As for the down: yeah, same story. WAY better. More stable, more controlled over chunder, smooooooooothness for days, and great grip. Never felt close to bottoming out. I can’t wait to get this thing on some gravity runs that let me push my (pretty limited) skills. I have no idea if this shock will hold up, but for this high-tonnage intermediate Clyde, it’s a clear win so far. Oh, and total cost was under $150 with the 800lb spring sourced direct from Fox. I can’t find a used shock for that. For now, I’m quite happy.
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