[dfuse]

Hi guys, I'm riding the first generation of the Darkside, might have seen my pictures in the beginning of the thread. Due to various factors in my life, I only started riding it this year. I'm very much a beginner, I only do small drops and jumps, but even then I completely bottom out my dbair cs, no matter what I do with the settings, even with the compression dampening turned all the way up. If I put in more air, my sag isn't correct anymore. Any tips? Should I add an extra volume spacer or better to switch to coil? I weigh 90kg (198lbs) with gear on btw.

Also, I find that my nose dives a lot on jumps, could that be due to the low rebound dampening setting on the shock not being high enough? (haven't touched it yet)

 

[builttoride]

Hi guys, I'm riding the first generation of the Darkside, might have seen my pictures in the beginning of the thread. Due to various factors in my life, I only started riding it this year. I'm very much a beginner, I only do small drops and jumps, but even then I completely bottom out my dbair cs, no matter what I do with the settings, even with the compression dampening turned all the way up. If I put in more air, my sag isn't correct anymore. Any tips? Should I add an extra volume spacer or better to switch to coil? I weigh 90kg (198lbs) with gear on btw.

Also, I find that my nose dives a lot on jumps, could that be due to the low rebound dampening setting on the shock not being high enough? (haven't touched it yet)

Adding volume spacers should solve the bottom out problem for you by making the shock more progressive, so you can run correct sag without bottoming out. It makes a big difference. Return damping settings to base tune and use volume spacers to dial in progression to get that right for correct sag before fine tuning damping.

Regarding nose diving on jumps, make sure that your front and rear suspension feel balanced (push the bike hard into the ground and see if suspension front and rear reacts in an even and controlled way). Generally speaking you want the fork to rebound a bit faster than your rear shock. But also pay attention to how much they compress. A well balanced bike should feel balanced of jumps.

There are lots of good tutorials for basic suspension setup on youtube that you might benefit from.

 

[dfuse]

Thanks for the advice!

 

[han_slomo]

I just grabbed a DVO Onyx to use in my conversion to 27.5. The geo chart states that the Darkside's measurements are based on axel to crown of 565mm in both wheel sizes. Does this mean that my 27.5 fork with an a to c of 584mm will slacken out the geo by 1 degree approx. Banshee website shows completes with boxxers and the quick search I did shows the boxxer 27.5 at 581mm a to c. Are the Boxxers lowered somehow to maintain the geo? I ask because I dont want the bike to be slacker. Should I Just use a measuring tape and lower the dual crown until I achieve 565mm a to c?

 

[pinkrobe]

I just grabbed a DVO Onyx to use in my conversion to 27.5. The geo chart states that the Darkside's measurements are based on axel to crown of 565mm in both wheel sizes. Does this mean that my 27.5 fork with an a to c of 584mm will slacken out the geo by 1 degree approx. Banshee website shows completes with boxxers and the quick search I did shows the boxxer 27.5 at 581mm a to c. Are the Boxxers lowered somehow to maintain the geo? I ask because I dont want the bike to be slacker. Should I Just use a measuring tape and lower the dual crown until I achieve 565mm a to c?

Yes, you can drop the lower crown until it's at the axle-to-crown distance you want, but there is a limit to how low you can go! There should be a mark or line on the stanchions that indicates the lowest position the crown can safely be run at. If there's no mark, you'll want to check with DVO to see what the limit is. Too low, and the crown could hit the top of the tire at full compression, which would be bad.

I'm assuming that you are already running the dropouts in the high position and don't want to go slacker than that.

 

[han_slomo]

I pretty sure there is a mark for the lowest position on the fork, Ill adhere to that. thanks @pinkrobe. The wheel hitting the crown would be a disaster. Im running the dropouts for the lowest position and like it, which is why when switching to 27.5 i dont want to use the high position to compensate for the longer a to c. I prefer low for the bb height. But... I also don't think ill want a 1 degree slacker head angle. That would put it around 62.5. Curious if the dual crown users with 27.5 on the forum have considered this same thing? and also what Banshee does with their complete bikes sold in 27.5 .

 

[pinkrobe]

I'm running 650B in the low setting on a Fox 40 with 584mm A to C. It's no trail bike, but it doesn't feel like a slug either. Riding with friends at WBP, they remarked that my bike was "agile", although they might have meant that my riding was squirrely...

 

[han_slomo]

Got the DVO onyx fork last night. Set it to the min. Crown height. Measured from center of the Axel to where the crown race will be. About 565 mm. I was surprised but also pumped. It's going to look sweet on the darkside.

 

[han_slomo]

Final Stages of re build in process. I just recieved a Vivid R2c coil from a seller online. He said it came off a Darkside, but when it arrived I see it has a M/L tune. Earlier on this thread Keith suggested an M/M tune and it would seem Darksides are shipped with M/M tunes. How will this impact the performance? I am 190lbs riding Whistler. Will it not work well with the Leverage curve of this bike? Can anyone explain what the difference is? Ive looked online but find it confusing. Medium / Rebound and Low / Compression tune results in x performance?

 

[warpig2]

Lightest pedalling set up?



Hi everybody, let me share my winter pedalling set up: 13,940 kg (30,7 lbs?) with full travel 180 mm front + rear and propedal front + rear.

I have reach this target with a little bit of carbon (bar and saddle), light Fullcrum wheels with ultralight 10-48 cassette, but mostly thanks to the Formula 35 fork, the only 180 mm fork that weight 1,850 kg and have the idraulic compression block.

I know there are further 200 grams to cut with a finest crank, but surfing the web I haven't found any Darkside under 14 kg... Any chance this is the lighter set up around?

 

[exitwelve]

Hey builttoride hows it going? I’m new to this site so bare w me if I’m not posting right or asking something that has already been answered! I’ve been through the thread and found a few posts about my question, but wanted to get your thoughts on it too. I’m pumped to be building up a darkside for this season, but I’d like to know if there will be a big noticeable difference running the 27.5 dropouts w 26” wheels? I’d like the option to be able to switch between 26 and 27.5 w out swapping the dropouts every time. What are your thoughts? Thanks in advance for any insight!

 

[builttoride]

First of all it depends on the rim / tire combo, max tire size for 650b with 26" dropouts is probably 2.3-2.4" with a 30mm rim.. depends on tire brand also.

As you'd expect darkside feels a bit more nimble and easier to manual with 26" dropouts, and a bit more stable with 650b (although is still a nimble and fun bike)

 

[freeasarider]

First of all it depends on the rim / tire combo, max tire size for 650b with 26" dropouts is probably 2.3-2.4" with a 30mm rim.. depends on tire brand also.

As you'd expect darkside feels a bit more nimble and easier to manual with 26" dropouts, and a bit more stable with 650b (although is still a nimble and fun bike)

hi builttoride, what you think about a setup with 650b front and 26 rear, too much slack?

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[builttoride]

what fork are you thinking of running?

 

[freeasarider]

what fork are you thinking of running?

i have a 180 lyrik 650b and both dropout kits (650b and 26), still running 26 wheel and now i have to change the tyre but i was wandering if would be time to swap to 650b and if there are so much differences between these format. i ride, in enduro session, an ebike with 29 front and 27,5 rear but i really feel the difference with the 27,5, will be the same also between 27,5 and 26...

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[builttoride]

there is definitely a different, feel, but is not hugely dramatic.

 

[freeasarider]

there is definitely a different, feel, but is not hugely dramatic.

the cheaper way to try is start with front wheel, maybe with 26 rear wheel and 650b dropout in middle position i can keep a decent geometry.

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[dufferin]

@builttoride when measuring the 20mm sag, do you recommend in the seated pedaling position or in the standing attack position?

 

[builttoride]

For the darkside I'd say standing in neutral position.

Positioning for sag is always subjective, basically I look at it as the position that you will spend most your time in while riding the bike in question.

Also, don't ever just set sag and forget about it... it's adjustable and can be fine tuned to suit your preferences. For example 2 people set sag the same, one rides fast flowy jump trails, and one rides super steep slower tech trails. The super steep slow tech needs more sag than the fast flowy jump stuff as less weight on rear wheel and slower speed of impact.

Stay within a range (so darkside generally 25-35% sag, 15-22mm), and set shock up to feel balanced with the fork, while offering enough traction and bottom out resistance for the riding you are doing. (should never notice bottom out unless you have made a big mistake, if you feel bottoming out regularly then change your shock settings to be more progressive / less sag).

 

[dufferin]

Thanks those were super helpful tips. Just finished building my banshee darkside as a freeride/enduro bike with a 170mm fork and 650B tires. Do you have a baseline setting for the Vivid R2C? I weigh 180lbs and the 400 lb spring gives me the perfect sag. Thanks again and any other setup tips would be great.