The Flying Dutchman
E*POWAH Master
Product Image:
Product name: DVO Jade X
Price paid: $900NZD
Score (out of 10): 8/10
Review: Coil shocks are soo hot right now! The Fox DPS I had on my Giant Trance wasn't a bad shock but with my heavyweight (120kg) the resulting ridiculous PSI I had to run made small bump compliance almost zero and I struggle to get the right balance of dampening and support.
After the straightforward install earlier in the week, I've had a few good rides and happy to report my experience on DVO's latest springy thingy.
The good stuff:
There's a long list of Pro's that instantly improved my ride
This awesome upgrade is not without its little flaws which are probably more to do with coil shocks in general rather than this particular make/model.
Product name: DVO Jade X
Price paid: $900NZD
Score (out of 10): 8/10
Review: Coil shocks are soo hot right now! The Fox DPS I had on my Giant Trance wasn't a bad shock but with my heavyweight (120kg) the resulting ridiculous PSI I had to run made small bump compliance almost zero and I struggle to get the right balance of dampening and support.
After the straightforward install earlier in the week, I've had a few good rides and happy to report my experience on DVO's latest springy thingy.
The good stuff:
There's a long list of Pro's that instantly improved my ride
- Price: At $900 NZD DVO is about $200-300 cheaper than the equivalent offerings from the big players like Fox, Ohlins, CaneCreek and far cheaper than the boutiques. I could have had the shock even cheaper before the NZD tanked. There's also a Jade (no "x") option which I have on my analog which is cheaper yet but doesn't have the 3 levels of compression/lockout.
- Plush AF: On the trails, the first thing I noticed was how smooth the bike felt. The rear wheel was glued to the ground and this gave me added traction coming into corners under heavy braking. On small bumps and roots, the bike was noticeably less chattery and my hands were less fatigued at the bottom of the hill. The low stiction is great and the biggest improvement over the little air shock I had. The shock needs almost no breakaway force to start doing its job. It can be a bit of a mind f#uck at first, as my instinctual assumption of the shock working under little force is that's running too soft and I'll bottom out on the big hits (which I didn't)
- Local product support: The NZ importer is also a tuning specialist and does a custom tune on every shock that he sells. You tell him your bike, weight, and riding skills, he then does his magic and sends you a shock you can ride immediately. He also accounts for different suspension systems, leverages, and kinematics etc. His wife races for Giant/Liv on the EWS circuit so he has experience tuning to Giant's Maestro system which I heard is very difficult to do. If you live outside NZ, you may not have this resource but I get the feeling DVO is a company where most employees are daily MTBers
- Online setup guide: DVO's setup guide on their webpage is super easy to follow and gets you very close to optimal settings out of the box. They also have a troubleshooting guide to help diagnose and address unwanted riding characteristics.
- On the fly adjustability (T3): Now there isn't a heck of a lot that you can adjust on a coil but the Jade X has the most important feature you can have on a shock, on the fly compression adjustment. The 'T3" system has the settings you normally find on an air shock; Open, Mid, and Firm. The biggest issue I had with my first gen Jade on my normal bike was the pedal bobbing which noticeably cuts your climbing efficiency. On the new Jade X, the Mid setting is very ridable on the downhill and not a drastic jump in low-speed compression from Open, in fact, I found Mid to be ideal for flowy and fast trails but still handled the braking bumps extremely well. On my air shocks, the Mid setting is very harsh and only increasing the required breakaway force. For the steep and techy stuff, the Open setting feels like another shock, soaking up the bumps and keeps the bike planted, you still get the pedal bob as you do with coils but on an eeb, it's not going to be a major drama. The Firm setting should be called Lockout as it is almost dead rigid. I don't think I'll use Firm often (if ever) but would be good for long climbs or reminding me not to ever buy a hardtail.
This awesome upgrade is not without its little flaws which are probably more to do with coil shocks in general rather than this particular make/model.
- Weight: This is one heavy sucker, I didn't weigh it but I bet you could do a home workout lifting this thing up and down for a half-hour. I do have a big steel spring and I could save a 100g or so with a lighter Titanium spring but it's still going be double the weight of the air shock. If you're a weight weenie, this isn't for you.
- Springs: You need to buy a spring separately which means you need to get the right one or risk having to buy another to get the right sag. You may also feel the need to change out for heavier or lighter springs for different riding conditions which isn't a big job but is still added cost. DVO also only makes springs up to 600lb so if you're a fat bastard like me, you'll need to source a heavier rated spring from another brand. Luckily spring dimensions are pretty much universal.
- No ramp-up: The good thing about air shocks is the bottom out measures you can take to ensure you don't kank your steed on big hits. With the coils, the linear nature means there's no increased support towards the end of the stroke but if you have the right setup and riding technique, you should be fine.
