Knolly Shock Stories: Upgrades and Comparisons

[jm2e]

CTD
vs
CTD with custom tune (Avy, Push, Suspension Exp, etc)
vs
Monarch Plus
vs
CCDB Inline
vs
CCDBAir
vs
Other options?

What did you find was different between the two (or more) shocks you used on your Knolly? Do you wish you'd gone with something else?

[Big B]

I recently put an Avalanche Woody on my Chili, and then rode Seymour on the N. Shore. Easily the most plush ride I've ever had on my Chili, with minimal bob on climbs. Small bumps simply disappear and it soaks up the larger ones with total control. Other shocks I've tried were the CCDB Coil and Rock Shock Vivid Air. Avy was the best, by far, but I could probably play with the CCDB a little more and get it close.

[tom34]

CCDB air and CCDB coil with titanium. The CCDB titanium on chilli is the best! Set and forget

[marco_g]

Bumping this up - looking to replace the CTD in my 26" Endorphin. Riding mostly consists of sustained singletrack climbs with some technical bits mixed in, then back down again. Located around the front range foothills so lots of rocks mixed in with fast turns and drops.

I've been eyeing the new Fox piggybacks and was wondering if anyone has put a coil shock on this frame? Did it end up hurting or helping the ride overall?

[graypaw]

Hello.
I want to buy a Warden and move the DBa CS to it and buy a BDCoil CS to my chilco, I think is the best market option today for large enduro bikes
(Also I will modify my RS Lyrick coil to get 180)

[cfrench]

ccdb coil on my podium = awesome, get the right spring, set it, forget it. no need for anything better.

ccdb coil on my chilcotin, took a while to get the spring rate right for all round use, but awesome when i got there. switching it to ccdb coil cs and going down a spring (500 to 450).

avalanche woody is the only alternative to ccdb coil.

on the warden and endo go air, cc inline (if your light enough), ccdb air cs (if you do really long climbs), bos kirk (specific tune available for these bikes) or fox dps (latest greatest). all excellent shocks.

[marco_g]

Cfrench - thanks for the input on coil vs. air, much appreciated.

[DirtMerchantBicycles]

What's your reasoning on a CCDB Air CS "if you do really long climbs" over the Inline? CS tune?

For longer descents, yes, Air CS over Inline is a no brainer.

[graypaw]

About CC, I think inline shocks climb better than the oters which are the best to downhill, or not?

[cfrench]

cs switch provides a climbing platform and more efficiency over long climbs on shocks better suited towards dh. You get a good climber and descender in one shock. if your less dh oriented and do less rough descents the inline might be better, but it depends on you and the bikes combined weight. I assumed that if you do really long climbs then you do big descents...but you might not be riding down park/enduro/dh trails..which incidentally would be a shame if you had a warden

I love the float x ctd on my rocky, its factory tuned for the frame (it's a very effective pairing, and I didn't expect CTD to be any good! I'll never swap it for anything else). The 'in between' trail mode is awesome when there's less rock gardens and drops / more of a flow coming down, it's quicker than descend mode on these bits of the trail. I flick between trail and descent quite a bit, acceleration can be faster in trail when your pumping the bike.

For speeds sake, tune is really important on different trail types, i.e., it can be just as important as the choice between shocks.

[LWK]

+1 for Avalanche stuff. I have an Avy tuned RP23 that was transferred from my old Endo to my Chili and it is truly excellent. No matter what type of riding (XC to full on DH), I never notice the back end of the bike - I will play with the air pressure a bit depending on the type of ride.

[knollywood]

New float dps on my 650b Endo feels incredible right out of the box. Evol aircan makes a huge difference on the small bump and initial stroke is so smooth. Came from a ccdb inline and ccdb coil on my Warden. Both amazing shocks. Best out of bunch for feel was for sure coil but huge weight penalty. Inline and float dps are very close. Due to ease of setup with the float I'd have to give the edge to fox. Defiantly a bonus it's the lightest of the bunch as well.

Hope that helps,
Trevor

[Vadim0791]

Replaced cc inline to push 11-6 on my Warden
Heaven
Now need avi's ssd cartridge, fork to match the shock

[G-AIR]

Replaced cc inline to push 11-6 on my Warden
Heaven
Now need avi's ssd cartridge, fork to match the shock

Details? Looking to upgrade my CC Inline with something a bit more DH oriented. Would like to try the Fox Air X2 but my gut tells me coil is the way to go.

[bubba13]

Bumping this up - looking to replace the CTD in my 26" Endorphin. Riding mostly consists of sustained singletrack climbs with some technical bits mixed in, then back down again. Located around the front range foothills so lots of rocks mixed in with fast turns and drops.

I've been eyeing the new Fox piggybacks and was wondering if anyone has put a coil shock on this frame? Did it end up hurting or helping the ride overall?

Best bang for the buck would be to send the CTD to Craig at Avalanche. With the stock CTD, I could not get rid of the high speed harshness on my gen2 Endorphin. The Avy tune solved that and made the bike feel like it should have from the beginning. It will change the feel of the CTD settings though. Firm setting is not as firm with the Avy tune etc. Removal of boost valve increased shock reliability also.

If you think you need a piggyback shock I am liking the EVOL Float X on my Warden.

Also have experience with the DBair on my Chilcotin and Endorphin. Not bad, but could not get it to feel the way I wanted on either bike. Reliability so-so.

Avalanche Woody was excellent on the Chilcotin. That shock is now on BigB 's bike as described above.

Cheers