Rear Shock upgrade for FSR XC 2009

kingsfool

Hi Everyone.

I am not new to the MTB scene by a long way. However, I have now owned my first full sus for nine months and want to uprade the shock on my

Spesh FSR XC Comp 2009.

I am looking for advice on upgrading the rear shock. The O2 one supplied has been superb considering the budget price. I have ridden higher end shocks though and they are much better.

What would be a good upgrade form here? And what would fit the bill of 200 smackers?

Advice Much appreciated!

Miles

GHill

What size shock is it? There are two measurement to worry about, the eye to eye length and the stroke.

The FSR XC used to have an odd size shock that was difficult to replace, not sure if that is the case here.

kingsfool

The suspension is graded at 120mm so i suppose the rear would match it?

This is what confuses me. I presume that the rear would have similar travel to the front? Around 110-120mm?

Thanks for your reply. Think I need to get it to a bike shop.

The Northern Monkey

forget the travel for now...

whats the eye to eye length of the shock? ie the distance between the bolt points at either end of the shock/.

Daz555

Eye to eye is now a standard 7.5" on the 09 and 10 FSRxc but stroke length is custom for Specialized - 1.75".

Someone like TFTuned will will fit the required spacer to a standard stroke shock for a few quid extra ontop of the purchase price if you buy from them.

Having said all that (and owning an 09 XC Comp) I'm surprised you want to replace the shock at all. The fork is the weakest link on the whole package for me and that would be where I'd start tweaking my bike.

supersonic

You need to know the eye to eye length and stroke length as mentioned above.

A shock with adjustable compression damping or pro pedal is a decent idea to counter the FSRs inherant bob.

kingsfool

thanks for your reply again. dodgy and difficult question i suppose.

the distance is approx 195mm.

is this what i should be looking for?

thanks again.

supersonic

You need to know it exact, and the shaft stroke length.

The Northern Monkey

i'm sure if you popped tftuned a phonecall they'd be able to help you out.

Seeing as though you'll need the shock stroke changed you might as well go through them, as Daz555 pointed out.

Cheshley

I don't recall the exact measurements of the shock on the XC but they are a custom unit for this bike. I had some problems with the shock on my 2008 XC Comp and I got it replaced (and upgraded to the next in the rage of X_Fusion shocks) under warranty. At the time I looked into getting a much better shock and the guys at TF Tuned said they could custom tune an RP23 to the correct measurements. I couldn't afford it at the time and the retail cost of this also breaks your budget, but it's the way I would go.

kingsfool

thanks everyone.

To Daz555: You are absolutely right. I upgraded the fork to a revelation.

Got my eyes on other kit too, but was really curious about the rear shock. Having said that, the shock is amazing for the price - not had a proplem with it and it sucks up the bumps well.

I have had the pleasure of riding some lovely RP23s and they are somewhat above the O2. But like Daz555 has said, there are far more needed upgrades.

So what would you say I need to upgrade next? I have the revelation up front, and some juicy sevens stopping me. I have replaced the wheels because they collapsed and looking at a new chainset and headset.



Will give the dudes a call on the matter like suggested.

supersonic

Might as well get a new bike lol.

Can't you just replace the headset bearings?

GHill

kingsfool wrote:

So what would you say I need to upgrade next?

What's holding you back, or what's worn out? If the answer is nothing, well...

If the money is really burning a hole in your pocket, how about a skills session or taking a mini-break to ride some different trails (Dales bike centre)?