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This past weekend, I was able to give the Rocco a thorough testing in a variety of terrain ranging from slow technical slick rock, to fast rocky singletrack. I threw in a mix of drops to tranny, and flat, as well as some gaps and stepups. Here are my impressions:
Day 1 was spent on the Barrel trail. For anyone who has ridden that trail, they know how fast and technical it is. The ride starts out with a 20 minute climb to the top. This is where I spent my time fiddeling with the TST adjuster. There are 5 clicks of adjustment. Basically the TST is the propedal adjustement. When turned all the way to the +, the shock feels like it is almost completely locked out. Turn the knob 180 degrees to the -, and the shock becomes uber-plush. I am amazed at the range of platform you get from one half turn of this knob. On the stock DHX, the propedal knob to me never created a noticable difference, but on the Rocco, the difference is night and day. This I loved. Day 2 was spent out on the slickrock of Little Creek Mesa. For this type of slow speed techy riding with quick up's and downs, I set the TST in the middle setting: This created a more forgiving feeling in the rear suspension, without wallowing in it's travel, when climbing up stair steppy sections. Every click of the TST adjuster makes a notivable difference.
Descending: For the initial descent on the Barrel trail, I opened the TST up all the way, and let er' rip. The rear end of my 07 RFX tracked nicely, and I give the Rocco an advantage over the stock DHX, but, I still feel that the Push'd DHX tracked better than the Rocco. Despite playing with the rebound knob several times, the Rocco still got a bit spikey in the high speed chop, but still significantly better than the stock DHX.
Big hits is where the Rocco really shines. The Rocco feels nice and deep, without that harsh ramp up at the end of the stroke, like the stock DHX. I was running 220 psi in the air chamber on the Rocco. The range is 180-220 psi, and I set it at max, and left it there.
I really think that the Rocco is superior in every way to the stock DHX. The TST adjuster is very nice, and much more convenient than the Propedal adjuster of the DHX. The Rocco tracks better thru the chop, and feels much deeper on the big hits than the DHX.
Two thumbs up.
Day 1 was spent on the Barrel trail. For anyone who has ridden that trail, they know how fast and technical it is. The ride starts out with a 20 minute climb to the top. This is where I spent my time fiddeling with the TST adjuster. There are 5 clicks of adjustment. Basically the TST is the propedal adjustement. When turned all the way to the +, the shock feels like it is almost completely locked out. Turn the knob 180 degrees to the -, and the shock becomes uber-plush. I am amazed at the range of platform you get from one half turn of this knob. On the stock DHX, the propedal knob to me never created a noticable difference, but on the Rocco, the difference is night and day. This I loved. Day 2 was spent out on the slickrock of Little Creek Mesa. For this type of slow speed techy riding with quick up's and downs, I set the TST in the middle setting: This created a more forgiving feeling in the rear suspension, without wallowing in it's travel, when climbing up stair steppy sections. Every click of the TST adjuster makes a notivable difference.
Descending: For the initial descent on the Barrel trail, I opened the TST up all the way, and let er' rip. The rear end of my 07 RFX tracked nicely, and I give the Rocco an advantage over the stock DHX, but, I still feel that the Push'd DHX tracked better than the Rocco. Despite playing with the rebound knob several times, the Rocco still got a bit spikey in the high speed chop, but still significantly better than the stock DHX.
Big hits is where the Rocco really shines. The Rocco feels nice and deep, without that harsh ramp up at the end of the stroke, like the stock DHX. I was running 220 psi in the air chamber on the Rocco. The range is 180-220 psi, and I set it at max, and left it there.
I really think that the Rocco is superior in every way to the stock DHX. The TST adjuster is very nice, and much more convenient than the Propedal adjuster of the DHX. The Rocco tracks better thru the chop, and feels much deeper on the big hits than the DHX.
Two thumbs up.
