Ohlins suspension and a Stumpy 6Fattie for enduro?


Hi Lee, two more questions about the stumpjumper fsr 6 fattie, What do you think of the Ohlin shocks? and do you think it would be a good enduro bike I am planning on tackling a few enduro races, I currently have the camber with a 130 mm rockshox pike on the front and love this bike but not sure it can handle enduro racing.

Thomas


Thomas,

I’ve ridden the 2017 Ohlins suspension on a 2016 Stumpy 29, and:


Rocky Ridge is a ridge, and it’s rocky. San Jose, CA.

Tuning is different from FOX and the others. Read the manual. Before I read the manual, I found a setting that was terrible! After reading the manual, all good.

Being able to dial in the fork’s spring curve is great. The third air chamber gives you much more (and easier) control than changing spacers in a FOX or RockSHox air chamber. With little effort I matched the fork exactly to the shock. On a hardtail like the new Fuse, this fork would make a quick swap from trail to bike park and back.

Compared with my beloved FOX setup, the Ohlins feels less lively, more muted and more composed. I was riding fast rocks on a smaller tire than I’m used to, and the whole package felt … mellow … fast … easy. Ohlins is doing something different in the damping department, and it works.

While some riders might prefer (or think they prefer) a FOX- or RockShox-style ride over the Ohlins, the Ohlins seems damn good. I could get used to it.

Thanks to Lars Thomsen at Trail Head Cyclery for the best loaner ever.

I think the Stumpy 6Fattie can be a great enduro race bike. Especially in skilled hands and certainly with the new GRID plus tires. I’ve been riding my FOX-equipped Stumpy6F for light DH, and it is insanely fast. I’m PRing my local climbs on the same setup. This is a great all-around bike!


That’s pretty enduro, right? Captain Ahab in Moab, UT.

Guys like Curtis Keene say they need full on DH casings for enduro racing. That’s why Curtis isn’t racing plus tires. But I’m no Keene, and my Stumpy6F is working great for me.

Lee

UPDATE Aug. 16 2016:

The 2017 Enduro has been announced! This is a bike for big-time, heavy duty trail riding and enduro racing. Perhaps more bike than most people need but certainly enough for all but serious DH. Compared with the Stumpy, it’s burlier, slacker and has more suspension travel — and it take plus tires!

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/mountain/trail/enduro


Know more. Have more fun!

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6 replies
  1. Kenny Carson says:

    Lee,

    How is the trail riding with the plus tires? I’m seeing mixed reports,on if they handle rocks and logs well.

    Reply
  2. Grant says:

    Hi Lee, I’m interested in your comments regarding the Ohlins fork as I too have recently converted from years on a Fox 36, to running the Ohlins RXF34 on my Enduro. Could you please tell me what you did to find settings that you liked for the fork? I’m really struggling with setting mine up to my liking (I’ve rear and re-read the manual), particularly having to run very slow rebound to try to find traction on the front end. Any help would be much appreciated, cheers.

    Reply
  3. leelikesbikes says:

    Kenny!

    Sorry this took so long. I like plus tires so much I’ve committed to a Stumpy 6Fattie and a Fuse for all of my trail riding. When you get the air pressure right

    https://www.leelikesbikes.com/air-pressure-for-27-5-plus-tires.html

    the tires give nice cushion and great traction without too much bounce. Do they feel different from regular tires? Yes. But I believe a lot of riders will like the overall benefits in most riding situations, and they can adjust their riding styles to suit.

    One big factor for me is my shoulders, which no longer have cartilage. Even with the best suspension, the softer tires take some of the edge of random impacts.

    Reply
  4. leelikesbikes says:

    Grant,

    Darnit! I wanted to write a detailed report about how I tuned that Ohlins Stumpy, but I never got around to it, and I lost some of the detail.

    As I recall, I ran the rebound at my standard speed (fast, but with a hint of control), and I added air to the negative chamber to give the fork more suppleness and more ramp. In the stock setting the fork was stiff on the little bumps and wallowed in the big bumps, which I did not care for.

    When I increased the progressiveness of the air spring, the fork became seamless … and that’s a compliment since I’m used to the fantastic FOX 34 with FIT4 damper.

    Reply
  5. Grant says:

    Hi Lee, thanks for the reply.

    I presume you are meaning that you added pressure to the ramp up chamber at the bottom of the fork? While I’m running 20% sag (in standing position) on the fork, I’m wondering if I should keep taking more air out of the main chamber, and adding air to the ramp up chamber, to achieve the setup you mention. Presumably I could also speed up the rebound damping at the same time and still achieve decent traction.

    My only gripe here would be potentially running way more sag than what I was used to on my old Fox 36, though I’m not sure that this really matters with this particular fork.

    Do you think changing the fork setup in this way would make sense? Cheers for your help.

    Reply
  6. leelikesbikes says:

    Give it a try.

    You should get the same sag, but your air pressure willl be a bit lower so the fork will feel. Ore supple on small bumps.

    Reply

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