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Finally getting around to replacing the shite Monarch on my Hightower, but I'm torn between coil and air.
Got about £500 max to spend and I've been contemplating the Cane Creek DB IL (coil and air).
I've done quite a bit of reading regarding people's experiences with coil and air on the Hightower. Some say it shouldn't suit the suspension, but people who have had them fitted say they work really well.
I'd like it to remain playful and not turn into a sponge, but at the same time I do like charging down rocky things!
Oh and coil spring sizes confuse me! So I'd need to find out what size spring for the 200x50.
I'm open to suggestions though for other shocks as long as they are in budget.
Well, I've sussed out the spring thing 🙂
Looking between 600-640lbs spring and 2-2.25 stroke if I go coil.
Or I could just go air and forget about all the faff (apart from setting it up).
I’m a massive coil fan, but decided against it on my Hightower build. Fitted an X2 to my Hightower and it transformed the bike! The monarch was absolutely tripe! X2 made it a different bike completely!
I'd expect the air inline to work very well, had one on a 130mm travel 29er myself in the past and it was brilliant.
So that'd be my choice.
2-0 in favour of air then so far 🙂
Gonna go for DBair IL then I reckon. Would love to try a coil one day, but on the right bike.
I've had a coil CCDB, air CCDB and a DBil on a V10, Nomad and Blur respectively and they have all been great and quite frankly once you get the bike moving I would be struggling to tell the difference between the coil and the air.
That said, the air is far better for getting the sag spot on for your weight and being able to add 5-10psi for pedally tracks or drop 5-10psi for rougher tracks.
Yeah, the weight thing was stressing me out as it depends on what sort of ride I'm doing, the weight can vary.
Ordered the DBair IL now so I'll do some swotting up on how to set up.
The climb switch works well on the IL as well. I've just got an OPT for the bars so I don't have to reach down to adjust it on the shock.
Oh yeah, I saw that OPT thing. Might be an option in future. Should have really got one as it was in budget.
Sale on all Cane creek stuff on freeborn at the moment.
The Topaz gets a lot of praise and there's a bunch of guys riding it in the mtbr Hightower thread. I just fitted one to mine but haven't ridden it yet side from up the street. Very smooth with low break away is all I can say for now. It was on sale at CRC last week too which was nice.
I considered the Topaz as a mate has got one on his Nomad. I was buying from TF and they didn't have the right size though.
DBair IL should be on its way now, so hopefully it'll be a big improvement! I had that same saddle on my last bike. Wish I'd have kept it for this one 🙂
DBAir was second on my list. The X2 being too expensive. Only thing against it was the expensive service Vs do it yourself with Topaz. The Topaz comes back into stock every couple of weeks at CRC. I kept checking then bought last week when it appeared for my Hightower sizing. The Topaz forum is full of former DB users.
Me too on the saddle and the brakes and the bars. Moved them all over. 🙂
I'll see how I get on with the DB then I suppose. X2 would have been nice, but same as you, it was a bit too expensive and I didn't want to start chucking loads of money at it again 🙂
darrenspink
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<div class="bbp-reply-content">Sale on all Cane creek stuff on freeborn at the moment
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coil IL for £279 plus J-tech have the valt springs on sale at £47. That seems like a no brainer
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Looking at the VALT springs and they don't seem to go high enough for weight. I'm around 14 stone 10 without gear and the calculators were putting me in the region of a 600lbs spring.
Just went with the air 🙂
Cane Creek have dropped the price of the valt springs, not a sale price. Its as they have discontinued the steel springs.