# Rear shock for 350lb rider



## mark! (Jun 1, 2012)

Do they exist? I'm on a SC Tallboy 29er. Still running the stock fox float ctd shock in the rear. I started at 464 and I'm down to 350, and wanted to get a better shock. I'm looking at more aggressive coil shocks since they seem to be more geared for downhill, dirt jump etc. I only ride xc style, some jumps but nothing insane. I don't ride incredibly hard but at my weight...me riding easy is still taxing my bike. Any input on a solid rear shock setup? Looking to keep it around $400. Thanks in advance.


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## woehlckabout (Aug 17, 2012)

I recently got my rear shock revalved for my weight which helps. There are a few different companies you can look at if you want to keep your current but upgrade. If that revalve had not worked for me I was goin to go with a cane creek coil shock which runs around $450 without a spring and just get a really stout spring to match my weight. Great job ! Good luck ! Keep it going !


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## leeboh (Aug 5, 2011)

Couple of resources for you. Lenz sport bikes, Zinn bikes. And push industries.


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## Cerberus75 (Oct 20, 2015)

mark! said:


> Do they exist? I'm on a SC Tallboy 29er. Still running the stock fox float ctd shock in the rear. I started at 464 and I'm down to 350, and wanted to get a better shock. I'm looking at more aggressive coil shocks since they seem to be more geared for downhill, dirt jump etc. I only ride xc style, some jumps but nothing insane. I don't ride incredibly hard but at my weight...me riding easy is still taxing my bike. Any input on a solid rear shock setup? Looking to keep it around $400. Thanks in advance.


Avalanche does great custom tuned, but to get a coil shock under 400 with a tune will be hard. If you want to have your shock retuned avalanche or push can probably do it.


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## mark! (Jun 1, 2012)

I'm going to check with Avalanche and see what they say. I sent out an email to Push a few days back, waiting on an answer to see if they have any suggestions and if they'll rebuild my shock for me. Thanks for the direction.


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## OfDirt4Dirt (Sep 9, 2017)

I've got no info to add but damn, great job man! I'm about the same weight as where you started and I can't even imagine getting down to 350. Thanks for the inspiration. My journey starts now. ( I have wondered the same thing about if a coil shock is needed for my weight VS if an air shock will hold up for even a season).


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## evobeaner (Aug 16, 2008)

I have an 05' Banshee scream with a push industries fox rear shock for the past 12 years! Still in great shape after being custom made for a 335 lb rider. Takes landings very well still.


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## Nubster (May 15, 2009)

woehlckabout said:


> I recently got my rear shock revalved for my weight which helps. There are a few different companies you can look at if you want to keep your current but upgrade. If that revalve had not worked for me I was goin to go with a cane creek coil shock which runs around $450 without a spring and just get a really stout spring to match my weight. Great job ! Good luck ! Keep it going !
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


What is your weight? I've looked around because I was thinking of going the same route and I'm only 260 and it's not easy to find a setup even for my weight. According to Cane Creeks site...I'm right at about the cutoff for their springs and that's using a 500# spring.

As far as an air shock, I'm on a Monarch + and not too impressed with it. I'm running it at 300psi and it's not doing such a great job. It has a max of 350psi but my shock pump only goes to 300psi. So I have a little psi to play with, I just need to get a different shock pump.

It's also been suggested to me to look at the Manitou McLeod. Supposed to be a pretty decent shock that will handle a heavier rider and not too expensive. Might even be cheaper than a custom tune...I haven't priced custom tunes but I can't imagine they are cheap. But maybe their reasonable. Guess it all depends on what's required for the tune.

I have sent Avalanche an email to see what they can do with my RockShox Monarch Plus RC3 DebonAir, if anything. I'm waiting for a response. It appears Push only does Fox so they aren't any good to me.


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## @[email protected] (Aug 25, 2017)

I don't know why a reaktiv wouldn't work just fine. I'm 250 and the shock can take 350psi, but I use about 270psi and I still have unused travel.


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## mark! (Jun 1, 2012)

@[email protected] said:


> I don't know why a reaktiv wouldn't work just fine. I'm 250 and the shock can take 350psi, but I use about 270psi and I still have unused travel.


I looked at the re:Aktiv CTD's but only found 7.25 eye to eye shocks. I'm in a bind with my Tallboy as it requires a 6.50 measured shock.


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## R_Pierce (May 31, 2017)

good luck finding a coil spring for your weight.

In a 300 lb rider and started with a Monarch RT3 (absolutely hated that shock, it was like riding a pogo stick when I had enough air in it to get a decent sag). Then switched to a Manitou Mcleod and will never look back. The Mcleod is an AMAZING shock! The only issue is that being heavier, you are going to likely run the rebound knob all the way closed. At our weight, a custom tune is nearly a must have.


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## @[email protected] (Aug 25, 2017)

R_Pierce said:


> good luck finding a coil spring for your weight.
> 
> In a 300 lb rider and started with a Monarch RT3 (absolutely hated that shock, it was like riding a pogo stick when I had enough air in it to get a decent sag). Then switched to a Manitou Mcleod and will never look back. The Mcleod is an AMAZING shock! The only issue is that being heavier, you are going to likely run the rebound knob all the way closed. At our weight, a custom tune is nearly a must have.


What does a custom tune mean?


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## Nubster (May 15, 2009)

@[email protected] said:


> What does a custom tune mean?


Send it to a suspension tuner for custom work to be done which may include new internal parts. Places like Push and Avalanche are popular but depending on the tuner they may or may not work on a particular brand of shock/fork.


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## R_Pierce (May 31, 2017)

@[email protected] said:


> What does a custom tune mean?


Its basically a custom designed shim stack to suite your weight and bike's leverage curve. Without getting too much into shock dynamics, the thickness/diameter of the shims is what controls how fast the oil moves through the stack upon compression and rebound (the shims physically bend/deflect to let the oil move through) Sometimes a new piston/valve is also installed.


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## BikePilot1 (May 15, 2006)

If you could find a coil shock with the right spring rate and get it valved for your your weight that'd be ideal. I think air shocks will get weird at the pressures you'd need and will have heat issues on long rough downhills. I've had real good luck with fox downhill coil shocks. Im only average in weight but have raced dh and pushed shocks rather hard. If you stick with air a high volume/lower pressure design will probably be the best option.


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## R_Pierce (May 31, 2017)

BikePilot1 said:


> If you could find a coil shock with the right spring rate and get it valved for your your weight that'd be ideal. I think air shocks will get weird at the pressures you'd need and will have heat issues on long rough downhills. I've had real good luck with fox downhill coil shocks. Im only average in weight but have raced dh and pushed shocks rather hard. If you stick with air a high volume/lower pressure design will probably be the best option.


I dont think there is a spring out there that will work with 300+ pound riders. I dont think it exists currently.


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## BikePilot1 (May 15, 2006)

Worth checking. Depends a lot on the bike leverage ratio. A spring to suite a 175lbs rider on a 4:1 bike should suit someone twice the weight on a 2:1 bike. I don't know what rate your bike would need for you but it's worth a quick check to see if it's available. Perhaps call Push and see what they have to offer.


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## masonmoa (Jul 11, 2011)

This thread is a little old, but as someone who just went riding weighing in at around 330 at the moment, thought I'd pipe in. I wouldn't bother with Push at your weight. From my experience, they won't work on a shock or fork for someone over like 275 or so. Maybe they've changed their perspective since I last tried using them a few years ago. Suspension Experts did a fork for me years ago and it worked well for a while, but eventually it didn't hold up. Never tried Avalanche, although I am curious. 

For forks, I've had good luck with RockShox Lyriks and Pikes and for shocks, I have Cane Creek Double Barrel Air CS's on all of my full suspension bikes. But that success is only because of what BikePilot said regarding leverage ratios. But I just took out a new ride last weekend for it's second ride and I'm having problems with enough shock support, so I'm going to add shims to the shock. As someone who's ideal weight is 280ish and who currently has 4 full squish bikes, when you get close to or over 300, frame design and leverage ratios are really important to look at when choosing a bike/frame. 

When I first started riding again after several years I tried to keep making bikes made by big bike makers work for me with custom shock and fork tunes only to never really be happy with the performance. It really all came down to researching leverage ratios and always using piggy back shocks.


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## Nubster (May 15, 2009)

So what bikes do you have?


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## masonmoa (Jul 11, 2011)

These are my main rides. The trike is the bomb!


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## yeti187 (Nov 3, 2005)

R_Pierce said:


> I dont think there is a spring out there that will work with 300+ pound riders. I dont think it exists currently.


Pohl springs has made custom coils for me in the past. Other spring makers on my list but I forget what came of research are: dendoff, hyperco, and royal. Options are usually limited by what diameter wire they have on hand as you don't want to buy a big batch raw material for a 1-off. I'm currently running a cane creek DB coil and run the rebound and compression all the way in and I think a 850 coil. I'm 325 on a GG megatrail.

Anyone have any luck with the new RPX2 shocks? The megatrail was designed around a air spring curve and currently blows through travel with sag set properly so I'm looking into testing out air shocks on it now that fox has a 350 PSI rated shock. I'm just not sure on the dampening circuits handling max pressure. I've had rockshox coils in the past and the dampening circuits were junk for the highest weight coils offered. I'm trying to track down an RPX2 to test.


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## BigART (Aug 30, 2017)

mark! said:


> Do they exist? I'm on a SC Tallboy 29er. Still running the stock fox float ctd shock in the rear. I started at 464 and I'm down to 350, and wanted to get a better shock. I'm looking at more aggressive coil shocks since they seem to be more geared for downhill, dirt jump etc. I only ride xc style, some jumps but nothing insane. I don't ride incredibly hard but at my weight...me riding easy is still taxing my bike. Any input on a solid rear shock setup? Looking to keep it around $400. Thanks in advance.


What's your shock setup on your Tallboy 29er? I'm at 320 and wouldn't mind a trail geometry hardtail, but if I can get a full suspension to handle my weight I'm in. I'm on a highball right now and I'm tired of the 27.2 seatpost and want something stronger. I snapped my Thomson dropper off Tuesday just above the seatpost collar. The ergonomics on my highball xxl is fantastic, but the seatpost size is upsetting.

Has anyone tried the Fox DPX2 on the hightower lt?


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