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Santa Cruz Megatower

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Santa Cruz Megatower
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flag 605endurbro
Posted: Mar 29, 2020 at 12:10 Quote
has anyone had problems with the sidewalls on the stock tires (assegai 120 tpi exo+ casing) getting ripped up super fast? Like within probably the first 100 miles? I live in the PNW so not many or any gnarly sharp rocks around.
flag gnarnaimo
O+ FL
Posted: Mar 29, 2020 at 20:30 Quote
My OEM exo+ tire sidewalls were porous and would drop 10 psi in about an hour. Ended up getting them swapped out for exos under warranty.
flag jeremy3220
O+ FL
Posted: Mar 29, 2020 at 21:54 Quote
Mine came with DHF and DHR2 in EXO+ casings and haven't had any problems.
flag 605endurbro
Posted: Mar 29, 2020 at 22:37 Quote
gnarnaimo wrote:
My OEM exo+ tire sidewalls were porous and would drop 10 psi in about an hour. Ended up getting them swapped out for exos under warranty.

Oh nice. I’ve been running Maxxis for about 8 years now and never had this problem
flag gnarnaimo
O+ FL
Posted: Mar 30, 2020 at 8:12 Quote
I have always ran maxxis as well and never had this issue. Was pretty bizarre. Also was my first set of exo+ tires so I immediately wrote them off as junk, now I realize nobody else I have talked to had this issue... So I must have had the only two faulty exo+ tires..?
flag Austink
Posted: Mar 30, 2020 at 23:22 Quote
gnarnaimo wrote:
I have always ran maxxis as well and never had this issue. Was pretty bizarre. Also was my first set of exo+ tires so I immediately wrote them off as junk, now I realize nobody else I have talked to had this issue... So I must have had the only two faulty exo+ tires..?

I have heard someone else say that about a set of exo+ tires. They got another set and it was resolved. I have never had an issue with exo+ and I have run multiple sets since they were first introduced.
flag sharpy182
O+ FL
Posted: Apr 2, 2020 at 3:21 Quote
Has anyone tried both air and coil? I’m currently running air but considering swapping to coil, just can’t seem to find a nice balance of what I’m looking for from the air shock. It’s seems a difficult bike to get sag right without going up considerably with air pressure. Has anyone had this problem or found something they feel is a good set up?
flag jhowlett
FL
Posted: Apr 2, 2020 at 3:51 Quote
sharpy182 wrote:
Has anyone tried both air and coil? I’m currently running air but considering swapping to coil, just can’t seem to find a nice balance of what I’m looking for from the air shock. It’s seems a difficult bike to get sag right without going up considerably with air pressure. Has anyone had this problem or found something they feel is a good set up?

having the same issues as you. Try mtbr for some more advice, think im going to swap to a fox x2
flag sharpy182
O+ FL
Posted: Apr 2, 2020 at 5:58 Quote
jhowlett wrote:
sharpy182 wrote:
Has anyone tried both air and coil? I’m currently running air but considering swapping to coil, just can’t seem to find a nice balance of what I’m looking for from the air shock. It’s seems a difficult bike to get sag right without going up considerably with air pressure. Has anyone had this problem or found something they feel is a good set up?

having the same issues as you. Try mtbr for some more advice, think im going to swap to a fox x2

Thanks for the reply. can I ask what your settings are at the moment?
flag jeremy3220
O+ FL
Posted: Apr 2, 2020 at 7:38 Quote
sharpy182 wrote:
Has anyone tried both air and coil? I’m currently running air but considering swapping to coil, just can’t seem to find a nice balance of what I’m looking for from the air shock. It’s seems a difficult bike to get sag right without going up considerably with air pressure. Has anyone had this problem or found something they feel is a good set up?

Yeah mine came with the SD Ultimate (air) and I currently have the Fox X2 and DHX2.

I couldn't get the SD to work for me. I found the recommended sag/pressure to be far too wallowy/unsupportive. Increasing the pressure to the point it felt supportive also made it really harsh. I played around with spacers, rebound, and compression of course.

So I ended up buying an X2. Night and day difference in my experience. The X2 is both supportive and compliant. After getting the X2 dialed I switched back to the SD for awhile which really confirmed my thoughts. The SD felt like it would hang on roots and rocks that I wouldn't think about plowing into with the X2. I also noticed on the SD that I had the run the rebound faster than I wanted due to it packing up. The X2 is calm and planted through steep jumps, rock gardens and climbs.

I recently sold the SD and picked up a DHX2. I haven't had a chance to put the DHX2 through the ringer at the bike park or anything but so far it feels great. A bit better midstroke support and small bump compliance versus the X2 (which is the most coil like air shock I've ridden). If you don't mind the weight, I can't see how you could go wrong with a coil.

Some people have been happy with the MegNeg air sleeve too though. However, I'm 210 lbs and like having the full damper adjustments.
flag tgent
O+ FL
Posted: Apr 2, 2020 at 7:40 Quote
sharpy182 wrote:
Has anyone tried both air and coil? I’m currently running air but considering swapping to coil, just can’t seem to find a nice balance of what I’m looking for from the air shock. It’s seems a difficult bike to get sag right without going up considerably with air pressure. Has anyone had this problem or found something they feel is a good set up?

I've been researching the crap out of this lately because I'm doing the same, so I figured I'd share with you all my thoughts and findings.

I currently only own the Rockshox super deluxe coil that came with the bike. I did demo the bike with the stock air shock, and I thought it felt really good overall, so I have ridden it but not extensively. I'm a heavier rider, ~190 kitted, on an XL bike, and it seems heavier riders aren't having issues with the compression tune on the shock. I bought the bike, recently, with the intention of owning both coil and air, and setting the coil up for lift/park days and the air for trail rides, it's currently my only bike, and I anticipate running air about 75% of the time coil 25% of the time.

I can't talk a ton to setup of the air shock, but if you're a lighter rider you are more likely to have issues. Things I'd check if you're struggling on setup is opening your compression all the way and trying to tune from there. I would also try removing all volume spacer bands from the shock as a starting point as the bike itself is plenty progressive. People have also reported success installing a megneg, but IMO that's only going to make a significant difference in the initial stroke and won't help your midstroke at all. The coil is definitely less damped than the air shock, and the super deluxe coil has a really wide range of adjustability, so it should work better in terms of being able to tune easily and find a good spot for you.

Another thing I wanted to touch on is the X2. It's a really popular upgrade for the MT and lots of people who don't like the super deluxe are putting them on and liking it. The X2 is a fantastic shock with plenty of adjustability to dial it in for any riding style and weight, IF you know what you're doing when it comes to tuning. I had one on my previous Bronson and it is great. The reason I'm not going with an X2 is because I'm a heavier rider so the super deluxe tune works pretty well for me, and because I'm pairing it with a coil I want a lighter duty air shock to differentiate more between the air and coil. If I was going to have one shock for the MT it would be an X2 for what it's worth.

Hope that helps!
flag bikefuturist
Posted: Apr 2, 2020 at 8:05 Quote
I went from:
- SD deluxe R: if i recall this was quite ok. A bit divey through the mid. Not amazing grip but not bad on fast hits either.
- same with megneg 2 neg 0 pos bands This improved the early part significantly. And boosted mid a little bit.
- megneg with 0 bands both chambers. This was better early and mid but felt a quite stiff beyond 50% sag on faster hits.
- tf tuned set up marzocchi bomber with push van rc internal upgrade. Way better than anything I could achieve on sd air regardless of setup.

bomber cr has lsc and the characteristics of the shock change from ultra plush magic carpet to being rly supportive through mid speed events when you dial up the lsc YET it still opens up on anything fast way plusher than SD air did on any setting.

opens up on fast hits through the travel regardless if it is in the 30-50% sag (more leverage) or 50-80% (less leverage). I think especially the smoothness on fast hits (imagine similar as riding down a flight of stairs) was the biggest improvement over sd air. And as a plus side there is also more grip and it does not dive through the middle if I put just few clicks of lsc :-) Im super happy how the bike feels now.
flag jhowlett
FL
Posted: Apr 2, 2020 at 8:26 Quote
sharpy182 wrote:
jhowlett wrote:
sharpy182 wrote:
Has anyone tried both air and coil? I’m currently running air but considering swapping to coil, just can’t seem to find a nice balance of what I’m looking for from the air shock. It’s seems a difficult bike to get sag right without going up considerably with air pressure. Has anyone had this problem or found something they feel is a good set up?

having the same issues as you. Try mtbr for some more advice, think im going to swap to a fox x2

Thanks for the reply. can I ask what your settings are at the moment?

im about 11 stone, running around 30% sag and 2 tokens. I just purchased a gnar dog token so im going to try 3.5. Wont have chance to test until this is all over sadly
flag tgent
O+ FL
Posted: Apr 2, 2020 at 8:52 Quote
jhowlett wrote:
sharpy182 wrote:
jhowlett wrote:


having the same issues as you. Try mtbr for some more advice, think im going to swap to a fox x2

Thanks for the reply. can I ask what your settings are at the moment?

im about 11 stone, running around 30% sag and 2 tokens. I just purchased a gnar dog token so im going to try 3.5. Wont have chance to test until this is all over sadly

Are you having issues bottoming out?? 11 stone is 154 lbs so you're very light, with how much progression the megatower has and an air shock I'm shocked you are having issues with bottom out. I'm sure the shock is overdamped but that's pretty crazy you are bottoming out with 2 tokens already.
flag jhowlett
FL
Posted: Apr 2, 2020 at 8:57 Quote
tgent wrote:
jhowlett wrote:
sharpy182 wrote:


Thanks for the reply. can I ask what your settings are at the moment?

im about 11 stone, running around 30% sag and 2 tokens. I just purchased a gnar dog token so im going to try 3.5. Wont have chance to test until this is all over sadly

Are you having issues bottoming out?? 11 stone is 154 lbs so you're very light, with how much progression the megatower has and an air shock I'm shocked you are having issues with bottom out. I'm sure the shock is overdamped but that's pretty crazy you are bottoming out with 2 tokens already.

Yes bike is blasting through the midstroke.
I’m managing to bottom it even on features that my old bike wouldn’t.

 


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