Mountain Biking - which shock is better

I have an 02 kona stinky and i have been looking into a new rear shock. I dont know wether to get a 5th element or a fox dhx. i would like your imput and any imformation will help. -Derek

which is the beter shockl for my 02 kona stinky with the 7inch danger boy plates. manitou swinger, fox dhx or the 5th element. any impute will help. - Derek

This goes in the MTB section. This section is for the general forum assistance, not bike stuff.

well, what kind of riding do you od mostly? what kind of feel do you want? are you fat or skinny? how impostant is adjustablity to you? could you be more specific

Moved to the proper forum.

BTW my recommendation is the fox. Smoking nice shock

the only shock that will handle the abuse of those linkage plates (massive shock ratios are killer for rear suspensions) is an avalanche dhs. both betd and dangerboy reccomend avalanche's exclusively. but honestly, just run the avvy on the stock plates.. quality travel>more travel.

I do not think the 5th will fit an '02 Stinky. I would contact Progressive and ask them to be sure. Both are great shocks.

:beer:

I don't think I can afford the Avalanche right now..This is my first FS bike after many years of bmx racing. Still have a lot to learn about suspension.
Riding style is mainly free ride stuff, big jumps and some drops (Not to flat!) Looking for nice controlled landings, weight is less then 150lbs. Not much high speed stuff where I live unfortunatley. Bike has a Jr-t on the front.

Thanks for replies.

go with the dhx

Threads merged. Same question 2x :)...good luck

DEE ACH ECKS! I would go with the fox. ;)

I don't think I can afford the Avalanche right now..This is my first FS bike after many years of bmx racing. Still have a lot to learn about suspension.
Riding style is mainly free ride stuff, big jumps and some drops (Not to flat!) Looking for nice controlled landings, weight is less then 150lbs. Not much high speed stuff where I live unfortunatley. Bike has a Jr-t on the front.

Thanks for replies.


if you cant afford an avvy, i dont reccomend using those plates, they have a nasty tendancy to blow shocks very, very quickly. go to mtbr.com forums, the kona specific forum has a kona rep, his forum name is joe-kona, hes gone into great depth about those linkages.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=49325&highlight=dangerboy

Please, everyone read this;

We do not condone swapping plates on our bikes, or buying aftermarket plates!
This will never change. It's not just the plates the affect the travel on our bikes. Putting Stinky rockers on a Coiler will really mess up the way the bike rides, and it will void the warranty. It will screw up the leverage ratio of the shock, and quite possibly make the tire hit the seat tube.
Please, please please everyone do not swap rockers around on our bikes. We like our bikes to ride well, and doing this will make them ride something very far from well.
Thanks!
Joe.

EVERY ONE READ THIS

okay handlebarsfsr is right putting the new rockers on a kona stinky or coiler will throw off the ratio of the shock. you usally have the ratio of 3 to 1 or lower on a fs bike. my stinky on its stock mode is less it is about
2.75 to 1. With the dangerboy plates it gives you the option of adding 1 or 2 inches to that. adding one inch to make it a 6 inch bike makes the ratio 3 to 1 and the 7 inch setting 3.25 to one which will make a diffrence in the way it rides and fells. but there is a solution to this! if you buy a new shock with a 1/4 longer stroke and place the shock in the six inch setting of the plates it will give you about 7 inches without messing up the ratio of 3 to 1 there for making the bike still feel and ride just as good as all the other 7 inch bikes. i know kona does not like the idea of the plates but i love it. (old shock size 7.875X2) (new shock size 7.875x2.25) my 26 inch tire does not hit the seat post but i dont know about the coilers.