Gene
The Dancing Machine
I saw this in the pivot group on Facebook today and wonder if anybody went down this road before to share their experience.
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For anyone who has the standard trail suspension and is looking to go to the enduro suspension, Cory Stem of Stillwell Performance can build the rear shock for you! His number is 480-612-1582 and his email is cory@stillwellperformance.com.
The FOX DPSx, as used on the Trail 429, is not a standard configuration. You can't order it from either FOX or PIVOT directly. But Cory can make it for you, tuned to the exact specifications that PIVOT uses. The parts needed for the setup are not high volume, so be sure to call Cory and confirm he can secure the needed parts from FOX before you commit. The conversion is about $275 on top of the price to buy the shock. The fork is much easier. You just need a FOX 36 and change the air spring to a 140mm.
My reasoning was that the standard T429 suspension is perfect for the trails around me, which are really only XC trails. But I wanted a little more capability for going to bike parks and going to more advanced trail systems further from home. I really didn't want to buy a new bike that I have to drive 4 hours to really use and so though this would be good compromise.
My thoughts on the Trail vs. Enduro suspension...
You definitely get added capability. The more robust fork is much better under high speed braking (say, over 20mph). I personally think the added stiffness is more valuable than the added travel. The rear shock feels a bit more progressive/bottomless than the the standard DPS shock, but you are still working with only 120mm. I felt the rear travel most mostly an issue with drops to flat or with less than ideal transitions.
If I had to put numbers to it, I would say the enduro suspension adds like 15% capability to the bike. It's noticeable for sure, but not transformative. You don't go around feeling like you are on a Firebird. So a high speed technical trail I would normally limit myself to maybe 20mph, I could take it up to maybe 23-25mph before feeling I was getting over my head. I was able to get a total of 7 days riding at both Killington and Highland bike parks. I think the bike did amazing work with the travel that it has. On blue technical and flow trails, it's awesome! It's light, it's quick, and it has enough squish to hit any of the jumps, drops, and features therein. When you get into the black trails, you will hit the limit (especially in the higher speed stuff) but it's still doable. You just don't have a lot of safety factor if you misjudge something - especially on bigger jumps and drops.
Just note on frame protection. I noticed the chain ate some paint away on the seat stay. So if you are planning on hitting some fast chunk in the future, throw some protection on there just to be safe.”
“
For anyone who has the standard trail suspension and is looking to go to the enduro suspension, Cory Stem of Stillwell Performance can build the rear shock for you! His number is 480-612-1582 and his email is cory@stillwellperformance.com.
The FOX DPSx, as used on the Trail 429, is not a standard configuration. You can't order it from either FOX or PIVOT directly. But Cory can make it for you, tuned to the exact specifications that PIVOT uses. The parts needed for the setup are not high volume, so be sure to call Cory and confirm he can secure the needed parts from FOX before you commit. The conversion is about $275 on top of the price to buy the shock. The fork is much easier. You just need a FOX 36 and change the air spring to a 140mm.
My reasoning was that the standard T429 suspension is perfect for the trails around me, which are really only XC trails. But I wanted a little more capability for going to bike parks and going to more advanced trail systems further from home. I really didn't want to buy a new bike that I have to drive 4 hours to really use and so though this would be good compromise.
My thoughts on the Trail vs. Enduro suspension...
You definitely get added capability. The more robust fork is much better under high speed braking (say, over 20mph). I personally think the added stiffness is more valuable than the added travel. The rear shock feels a bit more progressive/bottomless than the the standard DPS shock, but you are still working with only 120mm. I felt the rear travel most mostly an issue with drops to flat or with less than ideal transitions.
If I had to put numbers to it, I would say the enduro suspension adds like 15% capability to the bike. It's noticeable for sure, but not transformative. You don't go around feeling like you are on a Firebird. So a high speed technical trail I would normally limit myself to maybe 20mph, I could take it up to maybe 23-25mph before feeling I was getting over my head. I was able to get a total of 7 days riding at both Killington and Highland bike parks. I think the bike did amazing work with the travel that it has. On blue technical and flow trails, it's awesome! It's light, it's quick, and it has enough squish to hit any of the jumps, drops, and features therein. When you get into the black trails, you will hit the limit (especially in the higher speed stuff) but it's still doable. You just don't have a lot of safety factor if you misjudge something - especially on bigger jumps and drops.
Just note on frame protection. I noticed the chain ate some paint away on the seat stay. So if you are planning on hitting some fast chunk in the future, throw some protection on there just to be safe.”