Which rear shock to replace my X-Fusion O2 RL? Budget £250

MTB-Rich

I bought a new bike a few weeks ago and i'm not overly happy with the X-Fusion O2 RL that came with the bike... I had it set for my weight (67KG) and it still seems to bottom out very easily even going down a single 30cm step. I've read pretty unflattering reviews about it form users so am now looking to replace it with something better.

Budget around 250 GBP.

I've been looking at:

DT Swiss XM 180 2011 http://www.dtswiss.com/Products/Suspens ... M-180.aspx

Fox FLoat Rp23 2011 http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=78528

Any feedback on those two, or other reccommendations? The DT Swiss seems to get very good user reviews, and the price seems great and includes a remote lockout kit!

Rich.

nicklouse

You say you have set it up correctly for your weight, what sag?

Fitting a different air shock and setting it up the same will give you exactly the same result.

Add more air and save your cash.

YeehaaMcgee

I'm with Nick. Upgrading your shock won;t make it any less likely to bottom out., it depends on the spring rate, or air pressure.
And, how and where you ride.
I can land drops of over 6 feet, and have the shock not bottom out, or, I can clumsily just crash into the ground from a foot, and bottom out, hard.

cooldad

First thing, forget your weight - not relevent.

tarbot18

i have the same shock on my bike and have no problems with it and i do llandegla black , marin trail and penmachno . Im 14 stone and x fusion recommend for general trail use you take your weight in lbs ie mine is 200 then subtract 40 and that ll give you a rough guide to adjust for sag. I have mine with 170 lbs in as i like it it firm but ive never bottomed it out to my knowledge going over drops etc.

YeehaaMcgee

tarbot18 wrote:

take your weight in lbs ie mine is 200 then subtract 40 and that ll give you a rough guide to adjust for sag.

NO.
Pressure required varies drastically between bike designs. Just set the pressure so you have the right sag.

tarbot18

as i said above it gives you a rough guide to start from and worked for me and saved a lot of time so er YES .......

nicklouse

tarbot18 wrote:

as i said above it gives you a rough guide to start from and worked for me and saved a lot of time so er YES .......

Nope.

YeehaaMcgee

tarbot18 wrote:

as i said above it gives you a rough guide to start from

Nope.

supersonic

Different frames have different leverage ratios - going on a formula you could easily be miles away!

blister pus

So would that be a no then?

nicklouse

blister pus wrote:

So would that be a no then?

May be I am not too sure!

cat_with_no_tail

The correct formula is obviously

(X*4)-Y

Where X is the number of days in the month and Y is your age.


In other news, the X-Fusion O2 RLX I've got on the Reed is an absolutely fantastic shock, I'd gladly recommend one to anyone.

MTB-Rich

Thanks guys some good advice here, glad to hear it may not be the shocks fault. Im going to duly consult my manual and recheck the sag, then report back (once I change my tyre, got a flat, doh) to see what difference it makes.