Big Hit Aftermarket Link
When I first talked to Dan he told me that he actually makes several different links for the Big Hit as well as links for most Norco bikes. He kept telling me about the extra sealed bearings he was putting into the links that the stock links didn’t have. Personally, I couldn’t really see how an extra bearing could make that much of a difference in a link. Dan didn’t have any 9” links ready at the time, and I was heading off to Whistler with my girlfriend for the next week. We agreed that he would get one together and send it out to a buddy of his in Whistler who would help me set it up.
Luck would have it that I bumped into his buddy before I even had a chance to call him when I got to Whistler. Bad news was that Dan wasn’t able to get a link together in time to send it out to me; good news was that I got to try out his friend’s bike real quick. His friend’s bike was setup with a 7” link on the 2.25” stroke shock. The instant I sat on his bike I was blown away. His 7” bike felt about twice as nice as my 8” stock setup. Now I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the new link!
A few days after I returned from Whistler my new link showed up at Greyhound and about 30 minutes after that it was getting setup on my bike. Setup was pretty straightforward. You have to flip the shock around to accommodate how the link is built, swap a few shims around and you’re done. This was my chance to take a close look at the link and I now knew what he meant about the extra bearings. The stock links have only a metal shim where the shock and link attach. This link has a sealed bearing on either side taking away a whole lot of friction when moving through the travel. One issue that Dan warned me about was trouble fitting the link with a larger chain guide boomerang. Luckily, I have the Dual Slalom boomerang so there was no problems for me.
My first ride on it wasn’t a very good one. A group of us decided to go up Baldy Pass and have a fun race down after work. By the time we got to the top the sun had already gone down and it was starting to get dark. Did I mention that this was a couple days after one of the first snowfalls in the mountains this year and the top 1/3 of the trail was snow covered (the compact slippery kind)? Trying to race down a snow covered mountain trail in the dark with no lights is NOT the way to dial in a new setup! I had fun, but my rear end felt completely out of control the whole time. Early the next day I met some friends for a little dirt jump session at HFT (RIP). Despite the really bad hangover haze I managed to get the bike dialed in without killing myself.
Since then I’ve been able to spend several days playing at COP and a few days doing runs on Mount Swansea. No question that this is some of the nicest feeling suspension I have ever felt, it is butter smooth the whole way through. The longer travel link did change the geometry a little, but I’m now running a bit more sag so I don’t really notice it. Dirt jumping isn’t as nice as it was before the link. You may want to consider the fact that something like this will most definitely void the warranty on your bike, so maybe ride it stock for a year before getting this link. Cro Mag had a chance to spend a little bit of time riding the link as well. He loved the feel of the travel, but hated the change in geometry. We both agree that given the choice, we would opt for a slightly shorter travel link (7-8”
instead of the 9” because of geometry reasons. I’ve spoken to Dan about this and he’ll probably put one together if anyone is interestedAt about $300 (Canadian) this is a cheap option for upgrading your suspension. I’ve even stopped complaining about how much I hate my Fox Rear shock. Dan has never had anyone return a link or complain of a problem so that speaks for the quality of his product. He has not had a chance to do anything with the 2003 bikes yet, but he hopes to get his hands on one of them soon. If you have a Specialized or Norco 4 bar bike and you think that you’d like to do a little upgrading, give Dan a call at home (250)861-3151 to see what he can do for you.