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Shock and Fork Suggestions for a 1999 Iron Horse G8

1786 Views 6 Replies 3 Participants Last post by yakmastermax, Jun 17, 2009

VicReschke0626

Discussion Starter · Jun 12, 2009

Hey guys,

About a year ago I finally started riding again after a loooong break due to injury in a different sport, anyways, I blew the dust off my old 1999 Iron Horse G8 and started riding it. The bike itself is in great shape, I bought it brand new and never really rode it much because of my previously stated injury. But, recently I have been riding it pretty regularly and after several months of just warming up into riding and hitting the local trails around my house, I've begun to find fault in my ride.

So, basically, I'm looking to stiffen it up a bit. I'm a bigger guy, (250lbs) and although I don't hit any trails that are too crazy, I find myself spending a lot of time on fairly smooth but hilly trails, I'd like to make the suspension not nearly as mushy as it is from the factory, I think I'm losing a great deal of my pedaling power into the mushy suspension travel.

So I ask you all, I'm thinking I want to upgrade my rear shock first, although, admittedly, I'm not a mountain biking addict and don't know much, because I find myself bottoming out a lot on my back end, the front is pretty mushy too though, what's a good shock and fork combo for an old Iron Horse like mine with a, slightly heavier, rider like myself?

Thanks in advance,

-Reschke

PS: I'm not looking to spend too much, this is a pretty old bike and I think if I begin to really go wild into mountain biking I'll probably just buy a newer, better bike, but for now, while I'm getting my feet wet, this old girl will do.

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kilroy

· #2 · Jun 13, 2009

beating the iron horse dead

when u start upgrading old bikes u can often find yourself paying more in upgrades than what a more current/better complete second hand bike would cost.

one option would be not upgrading the bike, but selling it and buying another used bike that may suit your needs better than the upgraded g8.

to keep on the cheap look for stiffer springs for your existing shock, if you are replacing the shock you may want something with some sort of platform such as propedal.
On one of my bikes from 2001 i am swapping a fox vanilla r coil for a flox float with rebound/propedal/lockout for less bob.

An air shock for starters will be much stiffer and the platform or lockout is a bonus.

as for the front, you can also look into stiffer springs, otherwise I'm not sure what the max travel that frame would allow but if not high buy a fork with multple travel lengths to perhaps bring to a newer frame in the future where you'll want to run it longer.

considering what you are upgrading from any air shock or fork run at high psi will solve your issues, look for anything you find cheap even if used from rock shox, marzocchi or fox and you'll be happier..

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VicReschke0626

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jun 13, 2009

Thanks for the help! What do I need to check for to know that the shock I am looking at will fit the frame okay?

I could budget a decent rear shock if it will really stiffen up that mushy rear end.

-Reschke

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kilroy

· #4 · Jun 14, 2009

e2e i2i eye to eye

measure from the center of the bushing, (the eye) to the center of the other bushing.

the measurement is called eye to eye, and that's what you need to match.
4, 5, 6.5, 7.875 inches, .. etc..

to be safe take to your local bike store, tell them about your problem, see what they recommend. upgrade or not, and then get the measurement info from them if you're not sure. ebay has tons of old shocks that will fit older frames which is handy if you don't have a common measurement.

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VicReschke0626

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jun 15, 2009

Thanks for the suggestions. I measured my E2E spacing and it is 7.5". I will scour eBay for good deals. I'm really looking to almost go as stiff as I possibly can because I don't want to lose any of my energy when I'm pedaling on flat, hard surfaces.

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VicReschke0626

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jun 16, 2009

Could anyone tell me how good Yasusu coil shocks are? I'm not looking for a shock that can with stand huge drops, I really don't downhill much, and for less than $100 on eBay, these seem pretty value priced. Would this be a decent shock to throw onto an old bike for just some simple trail riding and backyard bashing around? I'm specifically looking at the BCRP 402, 602 and 501.

I'm not looking for anything top of the line fantastic, just a noticable upgrade to the mushy, nasty, coil only rear shock the G8 came stock with until I'm ready to upgrade to a whole new bike. I've also seen some X Fusion shocks on eBay for cheap also. Bearing in mind that I'm not looking for $300-$400 Fox, Mantiou, Rock Shox or Marzocchi performance, would you suggest either of them? I've gathered from the searching I've done that they are a house brand, but unfortunately haven't been able to Google up any specific reviews of these shocks.

Thanks in advance as always,

-Reschke

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yakmastermax

· #7 · Jun 17, 2009

" measurement is called eye to eye, and that's what you need to match.
4, 5, 6.5, 7.875 inches, .. etc.."

there is more to that. Not only do you want the eye to eye to the same but the stroke length should also be similar or close. If the stroke length is alot more than that of the orig shock, you could damage the frame during a bottom out.

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