Santa Cruz Nomad - air or coil shock?

lochussie
lochussie Posts: 276
edited November 2012 in MTB buying advice
My Monarch shock is getting replaced (rebound dial broken, never serviced in 4 years). Not sure whether to go air (Fox CTD BV trail adjust say) or coil (DHX RC4 or CCDB say). Bike used for everything short of proper DH (have DH bike). So trail centres, enduro races, long days in mountains with long gnarly descents. Fork is Van 36 160 which is great if a bit heavy. I can't say I have ever thought, god that Monarch was shit there, and I'm not one to play for ages perfecting a load of adjusters. Any opinions?

Comments

  • benpinnick
    benpinnick Posts: 4,148
    Vivid air or DHX I would say. The CCDB Air is great, but its 100% the wrong shock for someone who doesnt like to fiddle with their shocks.
    A Flock of Birds
    + some other bikes.
  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    I really like the feel of a good coil shock but I would say air for this bike. Coil shocks are heavy and don't have good pedal platforms. I would avoid the Fox CTD shocks, they blow through the mid range too easily and lack the adjustment to dial it out. The DHX air just isn't a nice shock. A standard RP23 would be my choice
    Transition Patrol - viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=13070235
  • lawman
    lawman Posts: 6,868
    I love my custom tuned kashima rp23, it feels great! Plenty of support and its so easy to setup. The CTD looks like it might be a better bet for shocks than forks, so either would be good
  • ilovedirt
    ilovedirt Posts: 5,798
    If you don't ride full on downhill, i'd probably stick to the air shock. Coil shocks add a lot of weight and you lose the switchable platform damping.

    Agreed with the others, I'd go for an RP23, tried and tested and just works. That or maybe a newer high end monarch.
    Production Privee Shan

    B'Twin Triban 5
  • lochussie
    lochussie Posts: 276
    Cheers for info guys. Has anyone else had bad experiences with the CTD shock? Santa Cruz said to go for it, with a volume spacer, maybe that fixes it.
  • ilovedirt
    ilovedirt Posts: 5,798
    A volume spacer probably would fix it.
    Production Privee Shan

    B'Twin Triban 5
  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    CTD seems another pointless feature that everyone must have, just like Kashima
    Transition Patrol - viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=13070235
  • bennett_346
    bennett_346 Posts: 5,029
    RockmonkeySC wrote:
    CTD seems another pointless feature that everyone must have, just like Kashima
    This.

    As far as i see it CTD is just the same as propedal anyway, open (descend), propedal (trail), lockout (climb).

    I'd rather they made an air shock with properly adjustable compression damping like you have on forks.

    And don't get me started on kashima.
  • lochussie
    lochussie Posts: 276
    I'm not too bothered whether I get RP23 or CTD, it's just availabilty of the latter seems much better. Unless somebody can point me to somewhere that has the former with the tunes clearly stated.
  • ricardo_smooth
    ricardo_smooth Posts: 1,281
    CTD will only come on old stock. If you specifically want the rp23 contact Stif cycles as they are next door to the SC UK distributor (jungle).
  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    bennett_346 wrote:
    RockmonkeySC wrote:
    CTD seems another pointless feature that everyone must have, just like Kashima


    And don't get me started on kashima.

    Kashima feels slick when new but once the seals are bedded in there is bugger all difference between kashima and standard Fox stanchions. Fitting SKF seals makes 10 times more difference for a fraction of the cost
    Transition Patrol - viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=13070235
  • ricardo_smooth
    ricardo_smooth Posts: 1,281
    RockmonkeySC wrote:
    bennett_346 wrote:
    RockmonkeySC wrote:
    CTD seems another pointless feature that everyone must have, just like Kashima


    And don't get me started on kashima.

    Kashima feels slick when new but once the seals are bedded in there is bugger all difference between kashima and standard Fox stanchions. Fitting SKF seals makes 10 times more difference for a fraction of the cost

    Incorrect i'm afraid IME (the bugger all difference bit) although I must say it's not jaw droppingly different and could happily get on without it. I do however 100% agree that the SKF seals are the far superior difference makers!
  • lochussie
    lochussie Posts: 276
    ricardo_smooth wrote:
    CTD will only come on old stock.(jungle).

    Sorry, I don't follow, CTD is the new one.
  • ricardo_smooth
    ricardo_smooth Posts: 1,281
    Sorry I meant the rp23 will only come on old stock

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