[Turtle 1]

I was in intensive treatment for UGI and thought I was cured-that is until I read some of the threads about the Avalanche Chubby and read the feedback on the Avalanche Website. The Chubby sounds like a fantastic upgrade from the DHX 5.0, at the same time, I'm wondering why more of the riders on this site are not using one?

My understanding about the Avalanche shock is it is more active/plush at the initial part of the stroke and ramps up faster than the DHX 5.0, to me that's all good. As many of you have said, the DHX 5.0 gets stiff at the top of the travel because the pro-pedal and boost valve somehow work together. Please don't misunderstand what I'm saying, I don't understand the way shocks work, I'm just asking for feedback about the benefits of swapping the Chubby for the Avalanche.

Another option is sending the DHX to Push, Darren says the new DHX kit will accomplish the changes I'd like to make, he says the DHX kits will be available in 4-6 weeks. I know Squeak says the Push upgrade with the DHX is magic; I just don't want to drop money into the Fox if I'm not going to end up with what I want.

You guys are the wizzards of all things bike related in my book, what do you think?

My second question is about the Sram trigger shifters. How are you guys getting your shifters warranteed when the paddles break? I broke the paddle on one of the shfters the other day, but I can''t figure out who to contact to get it fixed.

Thanks, hope it's ok to ask two unrelated quesitons on one thread.
bad turtle

 

[Jayem]

My understanding about the Avalanche shock is it is more active/plush at the initial part of the stroke and ramps up faster than the DHX 5.0, to me that's all good. As many of you have said, the DHX 5.0 gets stiff at the top of the travel because the pro-pedal and boost valve somehow work together. Please don't misunderstand what I'm saying, I don't understand the way shocks work, I'm just asking for feedback about the benefits of swapping the Chubby for the Avalanche.

Well, that sounds odd. The avalanche uses shims and is more like a traditional "mx" type shock, more like the old fox vanilla RC, but with much larger oil displacement, much bigger piston, and more tuning options. The DHX is more like a "spv" type shock, although it eclipses most of the stuff out there like the 5th element and swinger in my experience.

One thing that the DHX has though is progression adjustment, so the statement that the "avlanche ramps up faster" doesn't really make sense.

 

[rr]

My second question is about the Sram trigger shifters. How are you guys getting your shifters warranteed when the paddles break? I broke the paddle on one of the shfters the other day, but I can''t figure out who to contact to get it fixed.

Call your shop, Sram won't deal direct apparently, at least that was my experience with an X.O der. issue I had.

 

[Turtle 1]

Well, that sounds odd. The avalanche uses shims and is more like a traditional "mx" type shock, more like the old fox vanilla RC, but with much larger oil displacement, much bigger piston, and more tuning options. The DHX is more like a "spv" type shock, although it eclipses most of the stuff out there like the 5th element and swinger in my experience.

One thing that the DHX has though is progression adjustment, so the statement that the "avlanche ramps up faster" doesn't really make sense.

Thanks for the response Jayem; Like I said, you guys are wizzards when it comes to mechanics and understanding the workings of bike related stuff. Regarding the way the shock ramps up, my DHX does not ramp up quick enough-for me, I'd like it to rebound quicker and keep the wheel on the trail.

I was hoping the Avalanche could be valved to ramp up faster than my DHX. At the same time, I think Darren at Push said he could accomplish the same thing with the new kit. I'm not sure if what I'm saying makes sense because I don't understand what it takes to get a shock to ramp up quicker.

All I know is when I increase the pressure in the boost valve and turn the bootom out adjuster all the way in I end up with a pretty stiff ride. In addition, I end up sitting high in the travel and that doesn't work for me. I don't know how to get the shock to respond efficiently with 25-33% of sag-it's either too stiff or I end up with too much sag and can't pedal. Every now and then I get the shock to work great, but if I try and adjust the ride for a different trail I totally loose that sweet spot.

I gained a lot of weight in the last year and I think the 700lb spring I'm using is about at the end of it's value-I don't think they make a bigger spring. What do you think.
turtle

 

[Turtle 1]

Call your shop, Sram won't deal direct apparently, at least that was my experience with an X.O der. issue I had.

Thanks rroeder; Unfortunately my shifters are sitting on the bench at the shop-not sure what's up with that. I'll see them on Friday and ask them to make something happen-the paddles on the shfters suck!

 

[markz06]

Call your shop, Sram won't deal direct apparently, at least that was my experience with an X.O der. issue I had.

They will deal with you. All you have to do is call. The only catch is that they will have to ship your replacements to your shop and will probably call them to ensure it is ok. They recently replaced my shifters and cables after I called them direct.

 

[Dava]

I gained a lot of weight in the last year and I think the 700lb spring I'm using is about at the end of it's value-I don't think they make a bigger spring. What do you think.
turtle

I've seen peeps on this site talk of springs higher than 700# (800# comes to mind). I run my DHX with very little bottom out, like 1 turn, boost valve at about 85psi 0 clicks of proPedal and the 700# spring no preload is perfect for me at 195lbs kitted (never bottomed but get full travel on every ride).

I too am looking at the Avalanch, but figure that the DHX is a great shock when set up right and the cost vs performance is probably going to be negotiable for my untrained ar$e!! Oh and I do climb the bike with the shock set like this no worries.

See if you can borrow a spring and try that out, I have a feeling the incresead pressure plus loads of PP and bottom valve will create a harsh ride, especially in the first half of the stroke.

Just a thought

D

 

[snowskilz]

Avalanche shocks have an anti bottom thingy to make them ramp up. I have owned a dhs and i currently own a dhf-ti. I never bottom the dhs ever. Def the sweetest shock i have ever ridden. super plush. Pedaled well ramped up perfectly. I am going to get an avy dhs for my iron horse sunday when i get the cast together

i have bottomed my dhf 2x and both were on the same drop at keystone where i landed 10 feet to virtually flat. I was amazed that i didnt get bucked off the bike when i landed so harshly. But with the anti bottoming thingy it makes your clunk more stable.

Push makes some great stuff, I would def suggest sending your fox to them and having them revalve it. Of course i def think you should get an avy but getting your shock push'd is alot more practical

 

[Wils]

I'm using an 800lb spring on my DHX - that apparently IS the biggest spring you can get, and even then Fox only make it in a 2.3" size, so it's difficult to fit if you haven't got some spring clamps or a bunch of strong zip ties/nylon webbing to bodge it.

 

[Jayem]

All I know is when I increase the pressure in the boost valve and turn the bootom out adjuster all the way in I end up with a pretty stiff ride. In addition, I end up sitting high in the travel and that doesn't work for me. I don't know how to get the shock to respond efficiently with 25-33% of sag-it's either too stiff or I end up with too much sag and can't pedal. Every now and then I get the shock to work great, but if I try and adjust the ride for a different trail I totally loose that sweet spot.

Well, what do you mean that you "can't pedal" with 33% sag? Do you mean that it's bobbing too much? More bobbing means less damping, which means that the bike will react better on smaller bumps, more supple. That's the way that I run my pack. When I want it to pedal a little better, I usually just turn the propedal knob, and if that doesn't make a difference, I'll (rarely) put more pressure in it, but for the most part, I just leave it at about 33% sag, and I like the way the suspension rides like that. Just the weight shift from your feet pedaling the bike will induce bob on a longer travel bike, and there isn't much way to get around it completely, and if you are using a shock to reduce bob by using some sort of damping adjustment, it WILL compramise the suspension performance to some degree.

Why do you have the BO adjuster all the way in? Are you having problems with the bike bottoming? If not, then unscrew the BO.

 

[Jayem]

Avalanche shocks have an anti bottom thingy to make them ramp up. I have owned a dhs and i currently own a dhf-ti. I never bottom the dhs ever. Def the sweetest shock i have ever ridden. super plush. Pedaled well ramped up perfectly. I am going to get an avy dhs for my iron horse sunday when i get the cast together

i have bottomed my dhf 2x and both were on the same drop at keystone where i landed 10 feet to virtually flat. I was amazed that i didnt get bucked off the bike when i landed so harshly. But with the anti bottoming thingy it makes your clunk more stable.

Push makes some great stuff, I would def suggest sending your fox to them and having them revalve it. Of course i def think you should get an avy but getting your shock push'd is alot more practical

Avalanche shocks and forks have a hydraulic anti-bottoming cone, but that is not progressiveness, and the poster's description of "not ramping up" doesn't seem to be quite the same. He is stating that,

Regarding the way the shock ramps up, my DHX does not ramp up quick enough-for me, I'd like it to rebound quicker and keep the wheel on the trail.

If he wants quicker rebound, then the avalanche *might* help, according to the avalanche drawings, it has a shimmed rebound control, which means that it will have more rebound at lower speed, but less at high speed, allowing the wheel to react faster to bumps at high speed, hopefully fixing the "rebound quicker and keep the wheel planted to the surface".

He might also be feeling some harshness on the DHX that is associated with the propedal and oil flow, and this could manifest itself in what he is describing, making smaller impacts feel a bit harsh, and the PUSH DHX modification could help in this respect.

To further compound the matter though, he is also saying that he is having trouble getting the bike to pedal efficiantly with 33% sag, which is how I run my 6pack. I usually set the pressure at 100-160psi depending on the trail, BO about halfway in, propedal all the way out, and about 33% sag. Does it bob some? Yeah. Does it react great on small stutter bumps and choppy terrain? Yeah, I think it works in that situation a lot better than my romic, progressive, and curnut experiences. So much so that I can easily pull away from my buddy on a 5" travel bike running a push shock when encountering those small studder bumps (the push shock has increased compression damping to pedal well). A big part of this though is the sag I run. With the DHX shock I can easily get away with 33% sag and not worry about bottoming it or blowing through the travel too fast. The DHX-Air shock was a bit different, at the same sag and BO settings that should would blow through the travel, but I'm pretty happy with the 33-40% of sag that I run on the DHX-Coil shock, and it responds to the terrain very well.

The above comments about Push do not mean that a Pushed shock will necessarily be worse, it could be much better depending on what you ask for, but the key here is that the best pedal efficiancy (on a shock) is the complete opposite of the most plushness. The two are at odds with eachother.

 

[Turtle 1]

Hey Guys, thanks for the feedback/ideas about the shock. I can imagine how hard an 800lb spring would be to put on. I have a 2.3 700lb spring and it took four of us to compress it enough to get the retainer on. However, I just may look at getting a heavier spring if I don't start loosing weight.

When I was saying I have trouble pedaling with 33% sag, what I'm really saying is all of a sudden I start climbing and the next thing I know the bike drops into the travel and the front end comes up. I'm not sure if the problem is the spring weight or maybe I didn't have enough air in the boost valve. The reason I pumpped up the boost valve and turned in the bottom out ajuster is I didn't want to blow through the travel; I'm weighing 240 without gear; puecro grande.

I can't spend the money for an Avalanche anytime soon so I'll wait to see what Push charges for the DHX kit. I guess I'll try a heavy spring too. Thanks for the feedback and ideas.

Does anyone have the phone number for Sram, all I found was international numbers.
turtle

 

[mtnbikerx]

Turtle, Turtle, Turtle .....

Hey man, you're supposed to call your support group when that urge strikes. It's gonna be winter soon and not much ridin' right? And Christmas is coming, maybe you should wait. Ahhh, and ah -- Chit, I'm jonesin' for a new fork and I don't need to buy it now .... must be strong, OMMmmm, OMMmmmm ....

 

[Renegade]

Turtle, a week ago today I spent the sfternoon at push industries. I got to ride Darren's 6 pack with the pushed dhx-coil in the parking lot. It IS pure butter; his claims are all that and then some. Say goodbye to all the funky tuning of the boost chamber; this will be a simple yet very effective modification. Wait a few weeks, save your UGI money. I can't give any more details, sorry.

Darren just re-pushed my vanilla rc that I had been unhappy with. I believe I have the same hot-rod piston that the dhx-c mod will have, and he re-shimmed my compression stack so that I get ALLMOST the same buttery whoosh of compression stroke that the dhx-air gives, but with a little more mid range support and progressiveness. It now blows away my dhx. I'm a believer in what he can do. My vanilla rc is now my shock of choice, yes, a VANILLA RC is a kick-ass shock.
Wait, save your pennies!

 

[Turtle 1]

Turtle, a week ago today I spent the sfternoon at push industries. I got to ride Darren's 6 pack with the pushed dhx-coil in the parking lot. It IS pure butter; his claims are all that and then some. Say goodbye to all the funky tuning of the boost chamber; this will be a simple yet very effective modification. Wait a few weeks, save your UGI money. I can't give any more details, sorry.

Darren just re-pushed my vanilla rc that I had been unhappy with. I believe I have the same hot-rod piston that the dhx-c mod will have, and he re-shimmed my compression stack so that I get ALLMOST the same buttery whoosh of compression stroke that the dhx-air gives, but with a little more mid range support and progressiveness. It now blows away my dhx. I'm a believer in what he can do. My vanilla rc is now my shock of choice, yes, a VANILLA RC is a kick-ass shock.
Wait, save your pennies!

Wow, I'm liking what you said about Push and the new upgrade, glad you got your shock running smooth; it's so cool to have a good working shock. I was drooling over the new Rocco from Marzocchi, I bet it's a sweet ride-especially if it works like their forks. However, I think they're expensive.

Thanks for the heads up on the new DHX kit from Push. One thing for sure is I'm waiting no matter what. The upgrade for my fork won't be ready till February-that's when I plan to do the rear shock, until then I'm saving my money. However, I can see that I'm going to be calling on my UGI support people, the urges/cravings are intense; I get chills when I say the word intense; gotta be more careful. You guys rock
thanks, turtle

 

[Lucky7]

Hey Turtle, no matter what you choose, it will be wise to start saving all of that spare change now. I run my Chuby with a slightly softer spring than I did on the Fox Vanilla RC I was running and find it to be so supply, have tons of traction, and (since turning in an extra turn of preload) don't have any harsh bottoming. The shock is extremely smooth throughout its entire stroke and has a fairly linear set up. Craig at Avalanche will custom shim it if necessary, but says 90% of riders don't need custom valving. There is a bottom out bumper on the bottom (it's tapered) that goes into a retainer that increases the bottom out resistance very smoothly by adding 500lb of resistance to the end of the stroke. All that said, my DHX has also worked well (mounted to my Intense). It's not quite as smooth, but it handles high speed hits quite nicely. I have my boost valve pressure up and the bottom out dialed all the way in and still bottom it. Not a bad shock, but would like to have it tweaked. I too have wanted to send it to Push, but it's taken them a year to develop their coil upgrade (they told me 4-6 weeks last December). I finally gave up waiting and spent the money on the Avy.

 

[Turtle 1]

Thanks to everyone for the feedback/insight/suggestions about the shocks. As Lucky 7 says, I better start saving up. I'd like to see a package from Avalanche under the tree, but I'll have to write to Santa first-I haven't been so good this year.

Best case senairo would be to find a used Chubby-please let me know if you see one for sale. I tried calling MtbrX today but there was no answer, I experienced a full blown UGI relapse and ended up buying a new set of 2.5 Nevagals; I think it was a cheap fix, my ride quality just improved about 75%.

I gotta say that I can understand part of the reason you guys like Avalanche, the customer service I received from Craig was awesome, he took a lot of time to explain stuff to me; once he figured out how cluless I really am about mechanics, he asked me to call him-sorta of reminds of the excellent customer service we get from DT and Company.
Thanks,
turtle

 

[mtnbikerx]

Support gone awry ... sorry

I tried calling MtbrX today but there was no answer, I experienced a full blown UGI relapse and ended up buying a new set of 2.5 Nevagals; I think it was a cheap fix, my ride quality just improved about 75%.

Oh, that was you? My secretary said "some guy called, giggled a little and then burbled something about craving to PUSH something and needed help." She just hung up .... sorry Turtle.

 

[Turtle 1]

Oh, that was you? My secretary said "some guy called, giggled a little and then burbled something about craving to PUSH something and needed help." She just hung up .... sorry Turtle.

It's ok, a set of tires is cheap upgrade-I'm better now, I'm sure I've got it under control, I'll never do it again; I swear.

 

[drumstix]

Best case senairo would be to find a used Chubby

Try getting a hold of those two now fired Atlanta Cheerleaders that were moaning in the ladies room stall, (the reason they were fired?) anyway might find one there!

Sorry, just couldnt refuse.