Is No One Going To Say This?

by trivialmtb

 

 

Here’s an unpopular opinion for the internet: The Cane Creak Double Barrel Air is a terrible shock.

I define my great as a Fox RP23 from 2008 then.

 

I’ve ridden several bikes that I would have otherwise been pumped on with this shock, and they all felt like a frown faced Yeti 575- which is to say, one of the worst best-selling-bikes of all time.

“Oh you probably just didn’t have it tuned right, because you’re stupid.”

Possibly.

I didn’t spend six days dialing in every adjustment on the shock each time I rode it. But I know where I roughly like my rebound and when the spring is too hard or soft. And when messing around with high and low speed compression settings still didn’t do much to eliminate the mid-stroke poopy diaper, then that tells me something is wrong with the shock, probably the spring rate? And when that happens across several suspension platforms over a couple of different years, then that tells me the DB Air is an overrated product.

Or at the very least, it’s set up for people who have vastly different ideas of what they are looking for in suspension. Like maybe they care that it really gulps those medium sized bumps when they are rolling down the trail, ass planted firmly in the saddle as they drag their brakes through every turn.

It’s my opinion that fiddling around with a jillion knobs and dials is just placebo tinkering and arm chair racing. I’m going to make an overarching and unsubstantiated claim that 93% of your adjustable suspension performance comes from spring and rebound. All that other stuff is crap that you are likely not good enough to really notice.

Not to deny all progress though as dampers have come a long way so a current DB Air is still a huge upgrade from a Fox Alps.

I’m not a suspension engineer so what do I know.