[BikeLust]

I've got out for 3 rides now with the RP3 on my pack and thought I would give others considering the same thing some insight. First and obvious, there is a significant weight savings. I am around the 185lb mark with riding gear on, and had to boost the shock to a higher PSI than expected. I am at 220PSI at the moment, and still bottoming on aggressive XC rides. The propeldal works very well, and the rebound adjustment took a very short time to dial in. If you are looking to shed some weight and turn your pack into more of an XC trailbike, this might be a good solution.

Now for the bad. Even when running the higher PSI, (I get less than 1/2" sag) I can still bottom the shock without doing anything crazy. No real drops of any significance (less than 2 ft, and rolling them rather than dropping them) and I think it lacks the progressive nature that I was expecting. That said, I will continue to use the RP3 on XC rides to help lower the weight, but plan on using my DHX 5 on the majority of my riding. I suppose getting PUSH to change the compression damping or altering it to give a more progressive curve might help, but the DHX is so good I think I'm willing to put up with the weight penalty for the majority of the riding I do.

Questions and comments welcome,

BL

 

[tscheezy]

I'm curious as to how you are determining the bottoming. I deflate the shock completely, lean on it to shove the o-ring down the shaft, then put a sharpie mark on the shaft where the o-ring ends up. I find I can push the o-ring down the shaft to within less than, say 1/4" of the mark, but I rarely actually reach the mark. It seems like I have gotten all the travel, but I actually have stopped just shy.

I have been migrating up in pressure with the RP3 on my Spot too fwiw.

 

[BikeLust]

I'm curious as to how you are determining the bottoming. I deflate the shock completely, lean on it to shove the o-ring down the shaft, then put a sharpie mark on the shaft where the o-ring ends up. I find I can push the o-ring down the shaft to within less than, say 1/4" of the mark, but I rarely actually reach the mark. It seems like I have gotten all the travel, but I actually have stopped just shy.

I have been migrating up in pressure with the RP3 on my Spot too fwiw.

Fair enough. I didn't actually deflate and compress the shock as I wasn't sure if it would cause problems with cavitation like I've had with other air shocks. I was assuming I am bottoming out since the distance betweent the wiper seal and the O-ring is more than 2 inches. In fact, on one occasion, the O-ring was actually partially hanging off the shaft on the tapered section before the reducer.

Having to run that little sag in order to prevent bottoming is what is bringing me back to the DHX. I can run it with 30% or more sag, and just increase the bottom out a little if I'm using up all the travel. It gives me a more slack head angle, better tracking over pot-holes and the like, and still ramps up steeply towards the end of the travel.

I guess I'm concerned that bottoming the RP3 on a regular basis is going to damage the shock.

BL

 

[tscheezy]

Well, if you shoved the o-ring off the end of the shaft, I think we can conclude you bottomed it.

 

[Buzz]

Buzz

So are you looking to sell that RP3 now? I know of someone with an XCE who might be interested and weighs no where near 185lbs....

Buzz
MCM#45

 

[Roy]

So are you looking to sell that RP3 now? I know of someone with an XCE who might be interested and weighs no where near 185lbs....

Different Eye-to-Eyes between those 2.

 

[Buzz]

Yeah...

But with XR rockers it would be fine.....

 

[tscheezy]

XR rockers would not help. Still too long a shock.

 

[Buzz]

Oops

My bad....you are right......need the shorter i2i version...

Buzz

 

[mtn hack]

I've got out for 3 rides now with the RP3 on my pack and thought I would give others considering the same thing some insight. First and obvious, there is a significant weight savings. I am around the 185lb mark with riding gear on, and had to boost the shock to a higher PSI than expected. I am at 220PSI at the moment, and still bottoming on aggressive XC rides. The propeldal works very well, and the rebound adjustment took a very short time to dial in. If you are looking to shed some weight and turn your pack into more of an XC trailbike, this might be a good solution.

Now for the bad. Even when running the higher PSI, (I get less than 1/2" sag) I can still bottom the shock without doing anything crazy. No real drops of any significance (less than 2 ft, and rolling them rather than dropping them) and I think it lacks the progressive nature that I was expecting. That said, I will continue to use the RP3 on XC rides to help lower the weight, but plan on using my DHX 5 on the majority of my riding. I suppose getting PUSH to change the compression damping or altering it to give a more progressive curve might help, but the DHX is so good I think I'm willing to put up with the weight penalty for the majority of the riding I do.

Questions and comments welcome,

BL

I was under the impression (from the manual) that 200 psi was the max recommended for the rp3. No? What is max?

 

[Mr_Slash]

I was under the impression (from the manual) that 200 psi was the max recommended for the rp3. No? What is max?

According to the Fox manual: "Note: Average air pressure range is from 50 to 300 PSI. DO NOT EXCEED 300 PSI."

 

[tscheezy]

Don't forget that is max 300psi unsagged. At bottom-out the shock must experience well over 1,000psi.

 

[t66]

???

Air shocks on 6" travel bikes are for weight weenies who should get off the fence, just build a 2nd bike or realize they don't need 6" of travel anyhow.

 

[BikeLust]

Air shocks on 6" travel bikes are for weight weenies who should get off the fence, just build a 2nd bike or realize they don't need 6" of travel anyhow.

Thanks for the constructive comments. I planon running the DHX 5 90% of the time. I do plan on doing at least one epic race this year, as well as a possible 24hr race. I do not plan on building up another bike, when all that is required is swapping a few lighter parts for the "XC - days". Besides, I'm looking forward to the comments when I ride by on my pack and everyone else is on the uber light XC race bikes

BL

 

[jncarpenter]

...I guess I'm concerned that bottoming the RP3 on a regular basis is going to damage the shock.

BL

.............or, much worse................damage the frame!

 

[tscheezy]

Here is what I came up with:

At 200 psi I get ~31% sag with my weight distribution (65% on the rear wheel) on the bike. Weight distribution is a huge factor, obviously. At 220 psi I am down to 26% sag. It's damn hard to bottom at that point.

 

[Lambone]

If I weigh ~180, should my RP3 psi be around 200#s with a Flux?

I am at 150#s now, and maybe I need alot more air!

Matt

 

[gonzostrike]

Air shocks on 6" travel bikes are for weight weenies who should get off the fence, just build a 2nd bike or realize they don't need 6" of travel anyhow.

that's what I said about a year ago when a few people predicted 2005 would bring us cross-country bikes with 6" travel front and rear.

you don't need 6" of travel if you are concerned about weight, that's my feeling. the whole point of 6" of travel is to haul tuchus on rough descents. but if you have flimsy parts, you're not going to be able to haul tuchus. you'll have a flimsy 6"/6" travel rig.

but what can we do... people have been trying to make things into what they are not since alchemists were in fashion.

 

[Jm.]

you don't need 6" of travel if you are concerned about weight, that's my feeling. .

Sure, but you can have a 30lb 6-pack (or similer bike) with 6" of travel on both ends, and it can hold up to "agressive XC" as an intended usage just fine. I've been riding such bikes for a few years now, and the "failures" I have to deal with are well within my comfort zone. The one thing I would change is next time around I'd use brass nipples on the rear wheel that has mavic F519 rims, and DT competition 1.8/2.0 spokes. I don't claim that alloy nipples are a super-idea all the time, it was just an experiment to see how my wheelbuilding skills have progressed and how well they'd do in that role. The front wheel has DT revolution 1.5/2.0 spokes and alloy nipples with the same rim and it holds up just fine. Technically speaking, a front wheel does not need to be as strong as the rear, so the build of it can be a little less and you still end up with a roughly even "ratio" of strength in terms of the front wheel to rear.

The thing is that it takes money though, you have to shell out some dough for the maverick fork, or a marzocchi All Mtn 1 or All Mtn SL, resonably light and strong cranks, light pedals, the wheels are going to need some fairly high end hubs to remain fairly light, and son on. It won't be cheap, but it isn't going to be "weak" for the intended usage either.

Now, if you are getting a 30lb 6/6 bike to freeride, then obviously stuff is going to break and it's not going to take the abuse really well. I'm currently consolidating down to one bike because I'll be in relatively "flat" lands for a while and not able to even think about using a downhill bike, and I'm planning to do it with a "pack", but I'll use a build that will get the weight down fairly low.

 

[drumstix]

The thing is that it takes money though, you have to shell out some dough for the maverick fork, or a marzocchi All Mtn 1 or All Mtn SL, resonably light and strong cranks, light pedals, the wheels are going to need some fairly high end hubs to remain fairly light, and son on. It won't be cheap, but it isn't going to be "weak" for the intended usage either.

Now, if you are getting a 30lb 6/6 bike to freeride, then obviously stuff is going to break and it's not going to take the abuse really well. I'm currently consolidating down to one bike because I'll be in relatively "flat" lands for a while and not able to even think about using a downhill bike, and I'm planning to do it with a "pack", but I'll use a build that will get the weight down fairly low.

I agree with what you said here, the one thing that is nice about a frame like the 6 Pack is that with a wheel change to something abit sturdier like some 823's, maybe a shorter stem, perhaps a fork change, and you have a bike that can hold its own even on some DH race courses. It will defenetly be a good FR bike. It would be harder to lighten up a heavy DH or FR bike to handle trail or XC conditions well like the way a 30 pound Pack could do.