Making it ride better...

[NetBiker]

Hey Guys,

I have a 2010 Commencal Supreme (not the DH version) which is an awesome bike, espeically for DH and jumps but I am possibly looking to make it a little lighter/rideable for XC, uphills and all mountain stuff,
Its stock apart from replacing the tyres to 2.5” minion front and 2.35” minion rear (these tyres are a lot skinnier then the stock kendas and I think they roll a lot better aswell and seem to be quite grippy.
The basic specs are:
Fork-Fox 36 Van R-160mm
Shock-Fox Van R (7.875 x 2.25 I think)-160mm travel
Sram X7 running gear
Avid Elixer 5 Brakes
Commencal Rims
e-thirteen chain guide
Truvativ cranks
Bel Air Seat

It comes in at 16.9kg according to several websites

I use it for DH, AM and XC and was thinking of 2 possible upgrades that may just improve it (questions included):

-Swapping the rear shock to an air shock (ie DHX 5 air) would mean I could lose some weight and pump it right up so its stiff for XC but let it back off for downhill. Would this upset the balance of the frame, Would it even provide much benefit or would it only be minor? This will be about $500 I think?

-Going tubeless-will this save much weight? Is it much of a pain to do? I have never had a problem with flats (although only had the bike a short period of time), what’s required to do it and rough $ to get going with a moderately decent setup?

Don’t want to change anything else as it all seems to run sweet and I would imagine everything else probably wouldn’t save you much weight or rideability anyway.

 

[merc-blue]

Dont bother with tubeless its more about preventing flats than weight savings.
fork and shock would be a good place to look for improvements.
As it is it should be pretty good the only noticeable improvements your going to get really is in shock and fork.
its always going to be a compromise a RP23BV and set of RLC floats would be the way to go if the budget is there.

Im currently running Fox 36VanRC2 and a DHX5air and will be going to RP23BV and 35FloatRLCs when i have the $$ the RP23BV is meant to be the shiz. but the new monach plus all could be a good option, but i have yet to heard much about it from a performance side

 

[NetBiker]

Thanks man,

Why you getting rid of the DHX 5 air? for even more weight saving? The RP23 is a much smaller shock without the piggyback so I guess that would be a compromise between performance and weight

 

[peanut]

It depends if your happy to swap parts out depending on what your doing that day?
If so then some 2.35 high rollers f & r will roll better than minions for the xc stuff,
put the minions back on for dh days, or get a second lighter xc-ish wheelset and swap them over depending on the day.
Swapping shocks in the supreme is a 5-10 minute job, alot faster than changing the spring on the coil.
so if you had a fox float you could swap in for xc days you'd save a bit in weight, more importantly having it valved for your weight and riding style(xc) will make the bike more xc pedal friendly, valving the current coil for dh will give the bike 2 definite personalities.
increasing the preload on the vanilla 36 will also reduce it's sag, if it has compression adjustment, add more compression to make it firmer, coupled with a float on the back with reduced sag then you getting to the more trail friendly riding characteristics.

if you dont really want to change stuff all the time, still try high rollers out, get a rear coil with a titanium spring and adjustable pro pedal and have it valved to suit your weight and riding style.
Turn the pro pedal up when doing xc turn it down for dh.