dhx air for freeride bike

mudmav

mudmav

Likes Dirt
Hey guys i have a giant faith that i have been using as a downhill bike but due to purchasing a new dh rig i am turning the faith into a freeride bike.

This includes trying to loose some weight (ie stem/bars/cranks/seat and post/ tubeless/cranks) all the usual stuff. On top of this i was thinking about running a dhx 5.0 air.

So my 2 questions are is this a good idea (ie: air shock on a freeride bike)

and also the specs of the dhx 4/0 i would be taking of the faith are 8.75 x 2.75 stroke with a free coil length of 168mm.

So i know that the dhx air isnt available in this combo i beleive the closest is 8.75 * 2.5. (what will this do ie/ reduce travel). could i run a 9.5 x 3 and what would the pros and cons be.

lastly should i just scrap the idea of dhx air and buy a TI coil for the dhx4.0


thanks in advance guys
 
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Fat_Ride

Fat_Ride

Likes Bikes and Dirt
If you are thinking of saving some weight an approx saving would be around 300g for a Ti Spring, and close to 500g for a DHX Air.

The 8.75 x 2.5 would keep the geometry of your bike the same as it is now but you would lose a small amount of travel (approx 18.3mm) due to the shock having a shorter stroke length (6.3mm).
(correct me if i'm wrong but I think the Faith has 8" travel, therefore a 2.9:1 ratio???)

The 9.5 x 3.00 would effectively throw out your geometry and yes, checking that no linkage arms are going to hit your frame would increase your travel by around 37mm.

I'd recommend either the Ti spring or the 8.75 x 2.5 DHX Air options. Depends on your type of riding, how much weight you actually want to lose, and what you want to spend.
 
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Gruntled

Gruntled

Likes Dirt
Mudmav, I would leave the DHX Air out of the equation. If you really want an air shock go for the Roco. I got rid of my DHX Air long ago because of its lack of mid stroke compression and inability to handle either small bumps if set stiff, or big hits if set soft. I custom tuned the thing and farted around with it to no avail. When it was placed on a smaller travel Bullit it handled quite well due to the low compression ratio. With a DHX Coil I have never had these problems. I would suggest going for a DHX Coil with a Ti spring from Diverse, stocked at a good price from DHDirect. I'm getting one for my Scythe shortly.
 
bikesarefun

bikesarefun

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I've had a DHX air in my FR bike (bottlerocket) for a couple of years, and I'm stoked on it. Jumps nice, handles the big hits well. Never had any issues with it. I'd say go for it.
 
jakedh

jakedh

Squid
with the waight the dhx coil is actualy lighter then the dhx air soo if your trying to save some waight then thats not going to help
 
Fat_Ride

Fat_Ride

Likes Bikes and Dirt
jakedh said:
with the waight the dhx coil is actualy lighter then the dhx air soo if your trying to save some waight then thats not going to help
Click to expand...

Yep, that's correct! Although to get maximum performance from the DHX Coil you will need the spring which weighs around the 600g mark.
 
R

RangaRMX

Likes Dirt
Fat_Ride said:
Yep, that's correct! Although to get maximum performance from the DHX Coil you will need the spring which weighs around the 600g mark.
Click to expand...
Ha, love it.
Depending on your preference you might not find the air to be to your liking as there can be small niggling differences between an air and coil shock. To determine if this is the case all you can do is ride both types (if you haven't already) and see for yourself.
I always do say though that if you're being a weight bitch and whining about stuff and changing things just for the sake of being 'lighter' then you should wake up to yourself.
Go fit a coil and ride your god damn bike, the weight you will probably lose, and the fitness you would gain, will offset the 'coil' factor immensely.*


*I'm not directing this at you, just the tards who do stuff just to save weight. Cause, you know, lowering the weight is obviously going to help you while you're on the net bragging about how light your bike is:rolleyes:
 
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