Shock upgrade advice please: CaneCreekDBair, MonarchPlus or CCDBinline for NorcoRange

[Axelnose]

My Range 7.1 alloy comes standard with a fox ctd which is ok at best, so I'm looking to upgrade it with something a bit more capable all round. About the only thing I like about the fox CTD is the climb mode which really locks it solid for those long smooth climbs (but in other modes I find it so unresponsive and the slow bump compliance shocking)
It's my everyday bike and has literally replaced my downhill rig and trail bike. I know it won't do either job as well as terrain specific bikes but I just want to have one bike in the stable and ride it as well as it can be.

Would love to hear peoples thoughs as there is not much on the net regarding the Range at all
Cheers

 

[moorey]

One thread, nigs.

 

[pink poodle]

Get a ccdba. They are very nice.

 

[Jaredp]

Just pulled my ccdb air CS off in favour of a monarch plus debonair.... Wicked shock makes perfect pairing to the Pike.

I always felt the ccdb felt dead. It's a great downhill/enduro (euro style) shock. But for a general trail bike, it's not everything the media says it is.

 

[moorey]

Just pulled my ccdb air CS off in favour of a monarch plus debonair.... Wicked shock makes perfect pairing to the Pike.

I always felt the ccdb felt dead. It's a great downhill/enduro (euro style) shock. But for a general trail bike, it's not everything the media says it is.

I disagree. Mine does 95% trail riding (with pike up front). Maybe you just needed a performance tune. Mine feels the shizziest shiz.

 

[Jaredp]

I disagree. Mine does 95% trail riding (with pike up front). Maybe you just needed a performance tune. Mine feels the shizziest shiz.

We also ride in different terrains as well.. The trails in Perth barely get to 10% gradient. The few rocky gnarly 15-17% gradient trails we do have. I would give the upper hand to the CCDB. But a 155mm travel bike with no real pro pedal in Perth... Kinda sucks.

The Amount of Reigns you see in Perth is ridiculous and everyone all says the same thing, gotta flick the pro pedal for the trails/ pedalling sections or you just drag the backend. I wish we had more shuttling trails, but we got what we got.

 

[moorey]

We also ride in different terrains as well.. The trails in Perth barely get to 10% gradient. The few rocky gnarly 15-17% gradient trails we do have. I would give the upper hand to the CCDB. But a 155mm travel bike with no real pro pedal in Perth... Kinda sucks.

The Amount of Reigns you see in Perth is ridiculous and everyone all says the same thing, gotta flick the pro pedal for the trails/ pedalling sections or you just drag the backend. I wish we had more shuttling trails, but we got what we got.

Shuttling trails? You have me confused. These are XC trails around my home trails, the downs are just flow, really. 140mm rear, 160mm front, not a CS shock, BTW. Even when I ran shocks with pro pedal/CTD, I didn't use it, so I don't miss it now.
I did race this bike at the Buller enduro a few weeks ago. The CCDBA and pikes got a chance to do what they were meant for.

 

[ducky1988]

The Monarch plus on my freinds alloy 2014 and 2015 c.2 feel amazing. I can't see the need for a CCDBA. I will be putting a monarch on my A7.1 as I don't see the point of a CCDBA. The fox "shock" is pretty average, either feels like its doing nothing or blowing through its travel.

The shock and wheels are the only real let down of the bike. Otherwise its pretty amazing.

 

[moorey]

You can't see the need (twice), after having tried one, I assume?

 

[ducky1988]

You can't see the need (twice), after having tried one, I assume?

Yeah..... I should be asleep. I have done a few runs on DBA and they're good but,
i just think they're a bit of a wank. Most the people I know who have had both say they feel the same and can't justify the DB's extra cost.

 

[Zaf]

Get a Vorsprung can for the Fox. Cheaper option and it's night and day with how it feels: just a lot more active and plush.

It also looks "the beans".

 

[moorey]

Yeah..... I should be asleep. I have done a few runs on DBA and they're good but,
i just think they're a bit of a wank. Most the people I know who have had both say they feel the same and can't justify the DB's extra cost.

Fair enough. Anyone who I've spoken who tried both, says the opposite.

 

[merc-blue]

I would go a better fox shock over a monach +, the evo line isn't a very fair comparison to a factory shock.

Rode a CCDB inline wasn't impressed, alot of the comparisons out there are, swap outs for 12+month old (unserviced) Evo Fox or monach RLs, so there is a big improvment.
Swap out a nice well loved factory spec or High spec well serviced Monach for a CCDB and you will see alot less gain..

 

[Boom King]

The big benefit of the CCDB is it's tunability, being r2c2. It negates the need for specific tunes to suit the exact suspension curve of your frame.

 

[Axelnose]

I've ridden a CC inline on a Sight and a ccdb on a Canfield Balance (very briefly) and honestly as cool as they look they both felt a bit ummm lifeless? I'm sure it will be an improvement over the ctd, but it's a lot of $$ to splash out for a better looking heavier shock that may not improve things by that much. I've heard the inline isn't suited for long travel trail bikes and but I also feel I need a climb switch as I need alllll the help I can get to get to the top of the trails here in Adelaide (I run a 30t nw up front with a 42 at the back ffs) I know im soft.
The fact that Norco went w the monarch on the top models must mean it's a good match to the pike but I thought it's worth checking if anyone has tried and fell in love with other shocks.
Has anyone taken the monarch out for a differnt shock or are you all in te same boat (replaced the standard ctd?)

 

[Boom King]

I've ridden a CC inline on a Sight and a ccdb on a Canfield Balance (very briefly) and honestly as cool as they look they both felt a bit ummm lifeless? I'm sure it will be an improvement over the ctd, but it's a lot of $$ to splash out for a better looking heavier shock that may not improve things by that much. I've heard the inline isn't suited for long travel trail bikes and but I also feel I need a climb switch as I need alllll the help I can get to get to the top of the trails here in Adelaide (I run a 30t nw up front with a 42 at the back ffs) I know im soft.
The fact that Norco went w the monarch on the top models must mean it's a good match to the pike but I thought it's worth checking if anyone has tried and fell in love with other shocks.
Has anyone taken the monarch out for a differnt shock or are you all in te same boat (replaced the standard ctd?)

You can get a CCDB CS (climb switch), and XV (extea volume) cans are available too.

Equivalent Monarch would be a plus Debonair RCT3.

New Fox for 2016 look very nice and they have finally addressed the negative volume issues that the Vorsprung corset fixes (and RS fixed with the debonair can).

The thing with Monarch and Fox is that you'll need the correct compression and rebound tune to suit your frame.

 

[slimjim1]

I've ridden spesh enduro's with both the fox shocks (evo and performance) and the CC inline. Honestly, not impressed at all with the inline (not sure how different the double barrel is). Probably need to spend a lot of time dialing them in but who could be bothered, I certainly wasn't.

I have only tried the monarch plus on an ibis mojo (yes I know, completely diff bike) and thought it was superb. Great small bump compliance and better mid stroke support than the fox's. I would be plumping for one of those, especially considering it will be a lot more reliable than the Cane Creek and should be serviceable by any good LBS (wont need to be sent off like the CC).

Edit: the monarch I tried was the Debonair.

Edit: Also I refuse to do any future business with the Australian distributor of Cane Creek (will remain nameless). They are useless.

 

[Axelnose]

I'm sure the ccdb air would be good but I would love someone with personal experience say it's a worthwhile upgrade before I bite the bullet. And I too found the inline lack luster with the small bump stuff. And as far as playing around with the settings goes... I'm more than happy to spend a bit of time adjusting it best for my weight/terrain but I don't want to concentrate too much on my shock whilst riding, I just want to shred! I'm hiding the pike hard enough to set up I don't need the same from the shock. Other than flicking between uphill and gravity sections.
I might just weld it solid and go back the hardtail days and just enjoy riding for the sake of riding. (Before strava and the rest of it)
I sound like a grumpy old man now

 

[hakka]

I'm more than happy to spend a bit of time adjusting it best for my weight/terrain but I don't want to concentrate too much on my shock whilst riding, I just want to shred! I'm hiding the pike hard enough to set up I don't need the same from the shock. Other than flicking between uphill and gravity sections.

Never ridden a CC but I have the monarch + rc3 and a pike on my trance. The shock is a good match for the pike, easy to setup, just set sag and rebound, there's also the volume spacers if you want to go a bit further. It has the pedal and lockout settings if you want them but I just leave mine in the open position (if it had a bar mounted lockout I'd switch it on the climbs). Its a huge improvement over the monarch rt I had previously.

The Monarch is only available in a medium comp + medium rebound tune, if that's not suitable for your suspension design you might need to revalve it.

You can get one from bike-discount.de for under $400 delivered.

 

[Jaredp]

Shuttling trails? You have me confused. These are XC trails around my home trails, the downs are just flow, really. 140mm rear, 160mm front, not a CS shock, BTW. Even when I ran shocks with pro pedal/CTD, I didn't use it, so I don't miss it now.
I did race this bike at the Buller enduro a few weeks ago. The CCDBA and pikes got a chance to do what they were meant for.

Yeah I worded that badly.... Downhill tracks. I put 2.5's on the Enduro and run downhill or switch back to 2.3's and do 30-60km trail rides. The CCDB is excellent in the downhill and gnarly stuff. But without a proper pro pedal and also the need to use tools to adjust the shock means way to much mucking around to setup the bike.

I can get the bike setup for trail riding by dialling out some high speed rebound, increasing low speed compressionand and a slight bit more air. But even then it bobs about and just feels dead in the back end when climbing or pedalling through flow sections.


The debon air is not quite as composed in the gnarly stuff and the rebound knob seems more for slow than high speed stuff. But the I set it up in descending setting and it's still a great shock, flick it to the hard setting and the bike actually feels good on climbs. A proper high and low adjuster would be my only wish and I couldn't ask for a better shock.