Levo Gen 3 Cascade Link 2022+ Levo Long Shock Kit

[FirstAscent]

Haven’t ridden the new changes yet but upped the pressure to about 20% sag. I’m now at 100psi (170mm travel) which is about 13psi higher than before.

Also opened up the compression all the way to start. HSC was already almost full open from before, only had one more click.

I do fully intend to do a lower leg service no matter what once the last tool arrives. But I’ll get another ride in with these settings and hopefully dial it in better. That way I can have a better comparison before/after I take the lowers off and check the negative air chamber

• Fork: Fox 38 - 170mm
• Sag: 100psi/20%
• HSC: Full Open
• LSC: Full Open
• LSR: 6 out
• HSR: 5 out
• Rider Weight: 160 with gear

I’m trying not to change anything yet on the E-Storia, the front needs too much work to be focusing on the rear lol. It’s simply set at their recommended settings that shipped with the shock and first 375lb spring.

 

[pontoon]

Haven’t ridden the new changes yet but upped the pressure to about 20% sag. I’m now at 100psi (170mm travel) which is about 13psi higher than before.

Also opened up the compression all the way to start. HSC was already almost full open from before, only had one more click.

I do fully intend to do a lower leg service no matter what once the last tool arrives. But I’ll get another ride in with these settings and hopefully dial it in better. That way I can have a better comparison before/after I take the lowers off and check the negative air chamber

• Fork: Fox 38 - 170mm
• Sag: 100psi/20%
• HSC: Full Open
• LSC: Full Open
• LSR: 6 out
• HSR: 5 out
• Rider Weight: 160 with gear

I’m trying not to change anything yet on the E-Storia, the front needs too much work to be focusing on the rear lol. It’s simply set at their recommended settings that shipped with the shock and first 375lb spring.

Is your fox 38 the e-bike version or the regular one?

 

[FirstAscent]

Is your fox 38 the e-bike version or the regular one?

Regular

 

[pontoon]

Regular

I got the e-bike version but haven’t built the bike yet (still waiting on parts to arrive). I’ll let you know what I think when I get it. All I can compare it to is a fox 36 factory on a Nomad

 

[FirstAscent]

I got the e-bike version but haven’t built the bike yet (still waiting on parts to arrive). I’ll let you know what I think when I get it. All I can compare it to is a fox 36 factory on a Nomad

Yeah I’m curious about that. I just know it’s a difference damper tune but to what degree I dunno.
I should have my Nomad built up in about 2-3 weeks just need to finalize the wheels, can’t wait to test that beast

 

[cosas_genericas]

Cascade LT kit
165mm EXT E Storia
180mm Vorsprung Smashpot Fox 38
Headset in 0 degree and rear in low mode
SQLabs 35mm stem and 12 degree backsweep bar no spacers under stem.

I set the Smashpot to 180 assuming the bike would sag deep given the high weight of the bike.

Running great so far, very good steeps, endless travel and support on large doubles. BB is likely higher than usual until sagged.

 

[FirstAscent]

Cascade LT kit
165mm EXT E Storia
180mm Vorsprung Smashpot Fox 38
Headset in 0 degree and rear in low mode
SQLabs 35mm stem and 12 degree backsweep bar no spacers under stem.

I set the Smashpot to 180 assuming the bike would sag deep given the high weight of the bike.

Running great so far, very good steeps, endless travel and support on large doubles. BB is likely higher than usual until sagged.

180, nice!

How do you like the 35mm stem? I usually run 40mm, on this bike I tried a 32mm, seems just fine so far, only have one ride on it so far though.

 

[cosas_genericas]

180, nice!

How do you like the 35mm stem? I usually run 40mm, on this bike I tried a 32mm, seems just fine so far, only have one ride on it so far though.

So far feels better than the 40mm renthal that had more degrees of offset.

I am taking this approach to the steering center of axis: NSMB.com - Paul Aston's 210mm Do Everything Nicolai G1

 

[FirstAscent]

Haven’t ridden the new changes yet but upped the pressure to about 20% sag. I’m now at 100psi (170mm travel) which is about 13psi higher than before.

Also opened up the compression all the way to start. HSC was already almost full open from before, only had one more click.

I do fully intend to do a lower leg service no matter what once the last tool arrives. But I’ll get another ride in with these settings and hopefully dial it in better. That way I can have a better comparison before/after I take the lowers off and check the negative air chamber

• Fork: Fox 38 - 170mm
• Sag: 100psi/20%
• HSC: Full Open
• LSC: Full Open
• LSR: 6 out
• HSR: 5 out
• Rider Weight: 160 with gear

I’m trying not to change anything yet on the E-Storia, the front needs too much work to be focusing on the rear lol. It’s simply set at their recommended settings that shipped with the shock and first 375lb spring.

Today was the first time riding after a few changes, some listed above. I was not happy with the harsh feeling Fox 38. As recommended by some of you, I upped my pressure from 87 to 100psi, this brought be down to about 21% sag.

Yesterday I also took the lowers apart, disassembled the air spring and cleaned all the excess grease in the negative air chamber and reassembled.

The fork felt much better today on the same trail I had rode before but not perfect. At least to the point I can tweak it.

However, even with some steep chunky terrain and jumps to flat I have quite a bit of travel remaining. I wouldn’t expect to use 100% but this is a 170 fork not a 140 haha.

Now normally my first though would be to reduce pressure, but I had just literally increased it.

There are currently two tokens (from the factory) in the fork, I was thinking of removing one of them.
I’m only about 160lb with gear.

Any thoughts?

Side note, with the fork feeling better I was able to better pay attention to the rear, the long shock link and EXT did well today.

 

[ebikerider]

Today was the first time riding after a few changes, some listed above. I was not happy with the harsh feeling Fox 38. As recommended by some of you, I upped my pressure from 87 to 100psi, this brought be down to about 21% sag.

Yesterday I also took the lowers apart, disassembled the air spring and cleaned all the excess grease in the negative air chamber and reassembled.

The fork felt much better today on the same trail I had rode before but not perfect. At least to the point I can tweak it.

However, even with some steep chunky terrain and jumps to flat I have quite a bit of travel remaining. I wouldn’t expect to use 100% but this is a 170 fork not a 140 haha.

Now normally my first though would be to reduce pressure, but I had just literally increased it.

There are currently two tokens (from the factory) in the fork, I was thinking of removing one of them.
I’m only about 160lb with gear.

Any thoughts?

Side note, with the fork feeling better I was able to better pay attention to the rear, the long shock link and EXT did well today.
View attachment 115271

Keep the higher pressure and start removing tokens. I'd be surprised if you needed any tokens as you are quite light.

 

[cosas_genericas]

Today was the first time riding after a few changes, some listed above. I was not happy with the harsh feeling Fox 38. As recommended by some of you, I upped my pressure from 87 to 100psi, this brought be down to about 21% sag.

Yesterday I also took the lowers apart, disassembled the air spring and cleaned all the excess grease in the negative air chamber and reassembled.

The fork felt much better today on the same trail I had rode before but not perfect. At least to the point I can tweak it.

However, even with some steep chunky terrain and jumps to flat I have quite a bit of travel remaining. I wouldn’t expect to use 100% but this is a 170 fork not a 140 haha.

Now normally my first though would be to reduce pressure, but I had just literally increased it.

There are currently two tokens (from the factory) in the fork, I was thinking of removing one of them.
I’m only about 160lb with gear.

Any thoughts?

Side note, with the fork feeling better I was able to better pay attention to the rear, the long shock link and EXT did well today.

Do you have a suck down condition on the fork? It will sit a bit deeper in the stroke at rest than a normal bike due to the heavy weight of the levo but 38s are especially susceptible to getting sucked down.

 

[FirstAscent]

Keep the higher pressure and start removing tokens. I'd be surprised if you needed any tokens as you are quite light.

Are you calling me fat? yeah I’ll try that, thankfully it’s super easy.

Do you have a suck down condition on the fork? It will sit a bit deeper in the stroke at rest than a normal bike due to the heavy weight of the levo but 38s are especially susceptible to getting sucked down.

I’ll have to check, I’m guessing yes. I know it did before I took the fork apart by maybe 2-3mm. But that was also at the lower psi (87)

 

[Don805]

Are you calling me fat? yeah I’ll try that, thankfully it’s super easy.

I’ll have to check, I’m guessing yes. I know it did before I took the fork apart by maybe 2-3mm. But that was also at the lower psi (87)

@ FirstAscent, I am 170 lbs with riding gear and am finding the same issues as you (except @ 160mm travel) I have tried everything from 3 tokens @ 72 psi to 0 tokens with 98 psi. When the bike was stock there was no problem with using most of the forks travel. My thinking is the only thing that really has changed on the bike has been the addition of the Cascade long shock with the e-storia coil. I am guessing that what is going on now is the The fox 38 and the EXT shock are working on different spring curves. My bike feels balanced in the parking lot but I suspect that in the attack position going DH the bike is not equally balanced towards the end of the stroke or travel.
I have a Smashpot sitting here to be installed. Wondering if having a coil at both the front and the rear of the bike will solve the not using all the fork travel ?

 

[FirstAscent]

@ FirstAscent, I am 170 lbs with riding gear and am finding the same issues as you (except @ 160mm travel) I have tried everything from 3 tokens @ 72 psi to 0 tokens with 98 psi. When the bike was stock there was no problem with using most of the forks travel. My thinking is the only thing that really has changed on the bike has been the addition of the Cascade long shock with the e-storia coil. I am guessing that what is going on now is the The fox 38 and the EXT shock are working on different spring curves. My bike feels balanced in the parking lot but I suspect that in the attack position going DH the bike is not equally balanced towards the end of the stroke or travel.
I have a Smashpot sitting here to be installed. Wondering if having a coil at both the front and the rear of the bike will solve the not using all the fork travel ?

Interesting! I didn’t get too much time with the fork stock before I installed the EXT and cascade long shock link.

I just removed both volume spacers so now I’m at 100psi and 0 spacers, we’ll see if I get the same results as you.

I’m in a similar boat as you though, I keep forgetting I have an avalanche hybrid coil on the way haha. But I would like to still get the Fox 38 as dialed as I can so I can have a better before and after comparison.

 

[Don805]

Interesting! I didn’t get too much time with the fork stock before I installed the EXT and cascade long shock link.

I just removed both volume spacers so now I’m at 100psi and 0 spacers, we’ll see if I get the same results as you.

I’m in a similar boat as you though, I keep forgetting I have an avalanche hybrid coil on the way haha. But I would like to still get the Fox 38 as dialed as I can so I can have a better before and after comparison.

I am curranty sticking with 0 tokens around 100 psi for now. I probably would never had tried that setup if it weren't for ebikerider comment above. Curious what you think.
Side note i have found that the compression settings on the shock can have an effect on fork travel. I assume that's a physics thing.

 

[FirstAscent]

I am curranty sticking with 0 tokens around 100 psi for now. I probably would never had tried that setup if it weren't for ebikerider comment above. Curious what you think.
Side note i have found that the compression settings on the shock can have an effect on fork travel. I assume that's a physics thing.

Yeah I’ll let you know, I should be getting it back out for a ride tomorrow or Thursday.
I rode a ton last week and exhausted

I haven’t adjusted anything on my e-storia yet. Still using the initial 375lb spring as well, I do want to test the 400lb as well that came with it

 

[villn808]

Have you guys needed to remove any chain links after installing the long shock kit?

I had the stock shock cascade linkage with my 11.6 and it was horrible, I did go up in spring rate. Went back to the stock X2 today and it was sooo much better

I now have the long shock link and a 230x65 X2 that I got from the Commencal website as that shock size is hard to find here in Australia at the moment

It’s tuned for a Clash DH bike, light compression and rebound tune, do you think it will be worthwhile getting it changed to a medium tune while the bike is at the shop getting the smashpot changed to 170mm?

Haven’t ridden the long linkage yet but don’t want to go back twice if avoidable

Thanks for any input.

 

[maramouse]

Have you guys needed to remove any chain links after installing the long shock kit?

No one on my Expert carbon size S2

 

[NoseDiver]

Today was the first time riding after a few changes, some listed above. I was not happy with the harsh feeling Fox 38. As recommended by some of you, I upped my pressure from 87 to 100psi, this brought be down to about 21% sag.

Yesterday I also took the lowers apart, disassembled the air spring and cleaned all the excess grease in the negative air chamber and reassembled.

The fork felt much better today on the same trail I had rode before but not perfect. At least to the point I can tweak it.

However, even with some steep chunky terrain and jumps to flat I have quite a bit of travel remaining. I wouldn’t expect to use 100% but this is a 170 fork not a 140 haha.

Now normally my first though would be to reduce pressure, but I had just literally increased it.

There are currently two tokens (from the factory) in the fork, I was thinking of removing one of them.
I’m only about 160lb with gear.

Any thoughts?

Side note, with the fork feeling better I was able to better pay attention to the rear, the long shock link and EXT did well today.
View attachment 115271

I have the same 170mm fork up front. I'm 140lbs, running one token and 18% sag, just bottoming out on ~4ft flat drops, which is exactly where I want it to be.

 

[ebikerider]

Have you guys needed to remove any chain links after installing the long shock kit?

I had the stock shock cascade linkage with my 11.6 and it was horrible, I did go up in spring rate. Went back to the stock X2 today and it was sooo much better

I now have the long shock link and a 230x65 X2 that I got from the Commencal website as that shock size is hard to find here in Australia at the moment

It’s tuned for a Clash DH bike, light compression and rebound tune, do you think it will be worthwhile getting it changed to a medium tune while the bike is at the shop getting the smashpot changed to 170mm?

Haven’t ridden the long linkage yet but don’t want to go back twice if avoidable

Thanks for any input.

I kept my chain the same length and it works fine with both set ups.

I'm currently running an X2 out of a Kenevo SL and that has a light tune. It works quite well and has just been rebuilt under warranty to 2023/24 specs so fingers crossed it lasts. I'll likely try the medium tune when I get it serviced again and take the 2.5mm spacer out too but the light tune isn't terrible. I'm still dialing it in so can't give a complete verdict just yet.

 

[Wayne509]

Excuse my lack of knowledge but is this the latest x2 and the one I want ?

Fox Racing Shox Float X2 Factory 2Pos-Adjust Shock | Tredz Bikes

Save 27% - Fox Racing Shox Float X2 Factory 2Pos-Adjust Shock £559.99 or just £15.56 per month with 0% APR finance. All Air Shocks are delivered free to the UK mainland*, 365 day returns & Price Match. Buy Now.

www.tredz.co.uk

Have had the long travel linkage sitting here for months and now funds are allowing me to buy a shock .

Was considering selling it but as well to try it eh

 

[Ou812]

Excuse my lack of knowledge but is this the latest x2 and the one I want ?

Fox Racing Shox Float X2 Factory 2Pos-Adjust Shock | Tredz Bikes

Save 27% - Fox Racing Shox Float X2 Factory 2Pos-Adjust Shock £559.99 or just £15.56 per month with 0% APR finance. All Air Shocks are delivered free to the UK mainland*, 365 day returns & Price Match. Buy Now.

www.tredz.co.uk

Have had the long travel linkage sitting here for months and now funds are allowing me to buy a shock .

Was considering selling it but as well to try it eh

There’s a few brand new take off 230x65 X2s on Pinkbike for £4-500. Fox has an updated rebuild kit for the X2 that’s supposed to make it more reliable but who knows if it actually is or not.

 

[Wayne509]

There’s a few brand new take off 230x65 X2s on Pinkbike for £4-500. Fox has an updated rebuild kit for the X2 that’s supposed to make it more reliable but who knows if it actually is or not.

sorry for not answering sooner. Thanks for the heads up but ordered from my local bike shop today. Hopefully worth all this expense

 

[villn808]

I kept my chain the same length and it works fine with both set ups.

I'm currently running an X2 out of a Kenevo SL and that has a light tune. It works quite well and has just been rebuilt under warranty to 2023/24 specs so fingers crossed it lasts. I'll likely try the medium tune when I get it serviced again and take the 2.5mm spacer out too but the light tune isn't terrible. I'm still dialing it in so can't give a complete verdict just yet.

Thanks for the feedback mate. Yep chain length all good here too.

Went for my first proper ride on the new setup today. 170mm smashpot, long link with the Clash tuned X2, 155mm cranks, slack/low positions, 63 deg HTA measured.

Absolutely blown away, I think it does sit a bit higher as not even a hint of a pedal strike. And I used to get a lot with 160mm cranks in high position!

Handles and corners like an absolute dream, using every mm of travel front and back on large flat landings but feels bottomless.

Couldn’t imagine riding a better E-Enduro bike.

 

[PhilS]

… nothing more to say

 

[Wayne509]

Anyone have the part numbers for any bushings needed please

 

[Wayne509]

Eventually …. Can feel the difference immediately , even just on a short XC ride home. Actually have some rebound damping now and no more harshness or bucking. Was considering selling it as thought the changes for me would be limited …. How wrong was I …..

 

[rydeezie]

Update: cascade + 40 = so plush and fast

 

[Oakhills]

For anyone with the aluminum frame version of the LT link (the extra machined brace version), have you experienced any rocks or debris caught in the link bracing and hitting the seat tube?

 

[Christurbo]

If anyone needs a long travel cascade link in naked Alu (in the UK), I have one. Only used for around 2 or 3 rides.