2010 Corsair Crown Bike Check

With everyone asking about my 2010 Corsair Crown in Whistler BC this past weekend I felt the need to do a bike check on my beloved Crown with all the unique features the bike has.The 2010 Corsair Crown DH is truly an amazing bike developed to compete on the World Cup DH circuit with Corsair's ‘never seen before suspension systems'. Featuring two rear shocks the Crown is super tunable, comprising of a Marzocchi Rocco coil for the first eight inches, and an X Fusion air for the last two inches (which is removable) 260g of extra shock doesn’t seem like a lot of extra weight given the increase in travel. The Crown is designed to be fully adjustable and tune-able for any DH race course.


Suspension
Corsair Bikes have put so much thought and time into the Crown DH with one of the key features of the flagship downhill bike is the low leverage ratio, suspension design. This they say leads to an increased range of compression and rebound damping, improved longevity and durability of shock, lighter weight spring and improved small bump sensitivity even though you can alter the travel this is achievable without altering the geometry. The Crown’s ‘Dual shock’ system features travel configurations from 7.5” up to 10.5” and riders are able to use 9.5” or 10.5” eye to eye dampers. I'm running a 9.5" shock with secondary blow off shock to give the Crown 10” travel.


Floating idler pulley system
Corsair says that they are the first to offer a ‘floating’ idler pulley, basically this technology neutralizes chain pull and is said to improve pedal efficiency, I just want to point out that when the pulley is mounted to the swingarm it gives great improvements on pedaling ability. With out it on, the bike is not a friendly pedaler.



Adjustable Head Tube:
The adjustable head tube is a bit different, featuring a deeper 20mm insertion depth, 30% larger bearings, and including +/– 1 degree headset cups. Essentially the Crown doesn’t use headset sleeves, reducing the frame's weight. Bearings are all Pinch bolted - nothing is press fitted.


With all these unique features the Corsair Crown adds up to be one solid, world class downhill bike. Even with the parts I have on my crown:

The Specs

Fork	RockShox World Cup Boxxer
Crankarms	SAINT
Chainring	SAINT
Bottom Bracket	SAINT
Chain	SRAM PC 991
Cassette	SRAM DH 9 Speed
Rear Derailleur	SAINT Mid Cage
Shifter	SAINT 9 Speed
Handlebar	Syncros
Stem	Race Face Atlas Direct Mount
Grips	ODI Peaty
Brakes	Avid Codes
Tires	Front, Schwalbe Muddy Mary 2.5 Rear, Schwalbe Muddy Mary 2.5
Saddle	Chromag Snipe
Seatpost	Syncros
Pedals	NRG
Guide	e.13 with Corsair Top Pulley

It weighs in at 38.5 pounds and I'm hoping to lose some weight with a new wheelset soon, but I love this bike overall. Corsair sure did a great job on this frame design! Once you have the bike's suspension set up properly, which isn't hard (I use James Downing From Suspensionwerx), this bike will no doubt handle anything you throw at it and will be begging for more!


Big thanks goes out to Velocity Cycles, Corsair Bikes and SuspensionWerx!

Thanks for reading,
Joey MacKillican

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Reviews and Tech First Looks