Rear Shock Compatibility Across Brands

[all_mt_clyde]

I'm thinking of upgrading to a '20 Bronson frame this winter and swapping out the stock DPX2 with a DHX2 and new lower link. I'm curious how hard it will be to sell the stock shock. I've read a few articles years ago that indicated that manufacturers work with suspension companies to custom tune the shocks for their suspension designs and desired behavior (linear, amount progression, support in-stroke, etc.). Would my potential new DPX2 be fancy paper weight or could it be more compatible with other brands that the shock will fit than I'm lead to believe? Thanks.

 

[ebarker9]

I don't know specifically about the Bronson and DPX2 tunes, but generally there are a few different compression and rebound tunes available for a given shock, in addition to the different sizes and features that they obviously can have. Fox has their 4 digit decoder thing on their site as well, so if you can track down the shock designation you should be able to see which tune it has. There aren't too many cases now of companies doing a truly custom shock just for that bike and the recent Santa Cruz frames seem to have pretty normal leverage curves so I would expect the shocks to fall within a normal range. Also, I bet that a minority of people potentially buying a shock are going to be familiar with the different tunes anyway.

 

[Ryan.P]

Why not save it as a backup ? New takoff stuff sells pretty cheap and the dhx2 will need to be serviced once a year as any damper should be, so you will at least have a properly tuned backup for when shit happens .

 

[graveyardman67]

Isn't the DHX2 a coil shock? Santa Cruz actually recommends against the coil for the Bronson. You may be doing more harm than good.

I just went through a change for a Trek Remedy. Trek has a proprietary mount, and the conversion parts to a standard trunnion-mount were sold out. Fortunately, I have a machine shop and made some temporary parts. All the correct hardware is now installed. Honestly, not a whole huge difference between the original Fox Float, a RockShox (from my son's Remedy) and the "NEW" DPX2. It feels more responsive when I'm really pushing, but all new shocks feel better than 1 year old shocks.

 

[ebarker9]

He may be referencing an aftermarket link like this:

V3 Bronson LT Link

The Bronson LT link makes the Santa Cruz Bronson what it always should have been. The stock Santa Cruz Bronson suspension isn’t especially progressive, which makes it easy to bottom out when riding aggressively. Hence why the stock shock ships with volume spacers installed. Borrowing from the...

cascadecomponents.bike

I'd also suggest riding the bike stock before determining that the change to the DHX2 is necessary. I bought a Hightower this summer and it works really well with the stock shock, although coil shocks are great.