Noleen NR-2 really does suck!

[slowride]

I made the mistake of switching to the original shock that came with my DM for a ride today. Good God! It was terrible. The rebound clicker seemed to do nothing, at one point I was climbing and I'm pretty sure the rear wheel was hopping, cause I kept slipping. It also felt like I put a wet noodle on the bike, I've never felt such swaying while pedaling.

It almost made me want to sell my bike. Then I remembered what it was like with the Stratos. Gotta get that air leak fixed!

[Rawwill]

well that`s not all...if you keep riding it it`ll just break into two....mine broke on the 4th ride...long life astro 5

[pedro]

My evo came with the nr1. I replaced it for a vanilla R, which offers a more lively ride. I can't say the nr1 is a bad shock. It I was to race the evo, I would put it back on, the bike bobbed less with it. But that is all hypothetical, I would not race my evo, and would only put the nr1 on if the van r went dead. , so I guess realistically it does suck.

[Carbon_Angus]

the shock itself never really EVOlved much since '97..almost seven years.  now there are many superior options.

taking it off a strut and onto the swingarm helped it from blowing, but the shock was still the old nr-2.

[slowride]

I thought they used to be made in USA? Mine is a Noleen "by DNM", which is not exactly a high end company.

[Carbon_Angus]

I thought they used to be made in USA? Mine is a Noleen "by DNM", which is not exactly a high end company.

i could be somewhat wrong.....but here goes

k2 bought Pro~Flex around 1996 and then Noleen, or at least the bike shock part of Noleen. Bikes were badged Pro~Flex until '98 when they sported the k2 logo and became "k2" bikes.

it was a marriage that was thought to combine effiiciencies of scale and to compete with the thin margins that exist in the mass market bike mfg business. the thing was the shocks that were designed for the bikes would "blow" , "spew", "vomit" and sometimes (often) break. the strut design of the WC frame ads a lot of torsional stress to the shock shaft. i had several replaced under warranty, back when my 857 was a 27speed. even the front Noleen bit the dust once. the seals were improved and the reliability improved. the move away from a strut and onto a canteliver beam swingarm (EVO style), practically eliminated the torsion stress on the shock shaft, too.

anyway, k2 decided to start putting better shocks on their bikes and went with Fox. a GREAT move rather than spend some more money on R&D.

if k2 had put some money into developing and evolving the shock along with the EVO frames, it might have been a different story as to how the nr-2 shock is remembered.

it IS a good evaluation (Noleen sucks) when you put your DM/Noleen on your bike and compared to your Stratos.  i'm just trying to point out that at one time it was pretty much state-of-the-art. so it's almost like kicking a dead dog.

also the Noleen Mega~Air is another good idea that stopped with much any kind of refinement or improvements.

like i said i STILL have both (nr-2 and Mega~Air) on my OZ.  suppose if i rode it more than once a week as opposed to my road bike i'd have swapped both out a few months back. my buddies have riden it and it is adequate, even more than adequate, but it the rear does buck unless you damp it out fully, then it feels dead.

btw i liked your pic with those wide bars between the trees.....good thing you stopped to have your picture taken before..... [smiley=laughing.gif]

[smiley=beer.gif]
my rant, more than you wanted i suupose
[smiley=beer.gif] [smiley=beer.gif]