To the Machinists out there...

[shovelon]

Keith, I totally get it.   I can see that it would prevent any side to side play.

A 7.5 inch i2i shock drops right into the cone of the strut, and mimicks the 8.25 inch cone to eye length of the stock shock.

Would you plan to enlarge the hole in the strut?

Terry

[shovelon]

Doug, I am a big fan of the Manitou Swinger shocks. They are pretty cheap on Fleabay, and are pretty durable. They just make the Proflex design even better in my opinion.

One grip I have with Noleens is they have to be overdamped to overcome bobbing. 50 to 75 lbs. pressure in the platform chamber prevents bobbing, then is buttery smooth when broken thru on big hits.

Some clearance of the frame or swingarm may be necessary, but only slight.

Terry

[keith]

I am reluctant to drill the frame ,will probably shape lug and use a nut on top of it with original bolt.If that doesn't appear too clever will drill larger hole and use a washer to spread the load

[DugB]

I am reluctant to drill the frame ,will probably shape lug and use a nut on top of it with original bolt.If that doesn't appear too clever will drill larger hole and use a washer to spread the load

The only think I worry about is that the bolt along is not enough to prevent flexing and the eventual bolt snap where the strut meets the shock eyelet. The original design uses the conical insert to provide additional linear stability. That was the reason for the u-shaped piece in my approach...to cradle the eyelet as snugly as possible, and maybe even allow for additional attachments to the cylindrical piece running through the eyelet. I just doubt an M6 bolt, no matter how torqued, will be enough to prevent the shock/strut combination from buckling in the middle on the first heavy hit.

Just my $0.02...

- Doug

[keith]

The eyelet appears to fit the shape of the seatstay cradle perfectly without any extra packing.

[DugB]

The eyelet appears to fit the shape of the seatstay cradle perfectly without any extra packing.

Oh, right, if you're talking about the top/seatstay mounting then it should be fine. I was talking about where the shock's lower eyelet would meet the top of the strut. A single M6 bolt going up through the bottom of the eyelet and keeping that connection rigid would not be enough.

- Doug

[keith]

It's the lower eyelet top of strut I mean,seems to fit pretty well.Given the original shock was secured with a m6 bolt,why would it not be sufficient now?

[DugB]

It's the lower eyelet top of strut I mean,seems to fit pretty well.Given the original shock was secured with a m6 bolt,why would it not be sufficient now?

You're talking about an X56 or X57, right? It wouldn't be sufficient with an unsupported lower mounting point because the shaft of the original shock fit into a conical sleeve that nestled into the strut top to provide extra support, like a collett one might use for machining a rod.  Because of that sleeve the shock was not only supported by the M6 bolt bot also on the size by the sleeve, adding linear rigidity. Linear rigidity was further reinforced by the pressure of the elastomers/springs down onto the top of the strut (which I'm trying to replicate with the u-shaped piece) which helped to prevent the shock/strut combination from folding in half.

These are just my thoughts...I've been thinking about this for a couple weeks now, trying to devise a solution. Maybe it is as easy as drilling a hole in the bottom eyelet and screwing into a threaded piece inside the eyelet...but with it being less common to see a spare strut for sale, and the likelihood of other damage/injury if the rear support folded on you while riding, wouldn't you want that connection to be as rigid as possible?

Seriously, though, I'm a web designer not a structural engineer... ;-)

- Doug

[keith]

I'm a carpenter Dug,Don't have much idea of this,just kicking ideas around at the moment.

[keith]

Anyone know how the eyelet on the thin end of the shock is attached? Was wondering if it would be possible to remove the eye and fix it as per origonal?

[benton]

DugB -- Making a u-shaped socket that is a tight fit for the eyelet is not a trivial thing. The socket would have to be made in three pieces and welded together, or it would have to be done on a CNC machine. Maybe you could make the socket a loose fit and line it with a thin piece of rubber.

[DugB]

DugB -- Making a u-shaped socket that is a tight fit for the eyelet is not a trivial thing. The socket would have to be made in three pieces and welded together, or it would have to be done on a CNC machine. Maybe you could make the socket a loose fit and line it with a thin piece of rubber.

Hey!

Yeah, I figured it'd be no small matter. I pretty much assumed I'd take the shock to my local machine shop and have them match the eyelet profile. They're a small outfit but very competent and pretty cheap, too. That said, after reading the MTBR reviews for the Risse shocks, I'm thinking that I'll spend little to no additional cash on the shocks I have now, and possibly spring for some Risses at some point. Would be nice to have a Genesis for the front, and one with lockout for the rear.

- Doug :-)

[shovelon]

Yeah, I figured it'd be no small matter. I pretty much assumed I'd take the shock to my local machine shop and have them match the eyelet profile. They're a small outfit but very competent and pretty cheap, too.
- Doug :-)

Doug, you make 2 sets of mounts, one for you and one for me. And in exchange, I will weld it on your strut.

Terry

[u02sgb]

Hmmm, I seem to have been away for a while!  This is all looking quite promising.  I'm still quite interested in getting something like this for my 857 so if it works, count me in!

I think a good shock for this would be the bottom of the range Fox.  You can pick it up new from chainreactioncycles for about £150 eBay prices seem to be 50-100 ish for used ones.  Personally I'd prefer a fox shock with Pro-pedal to a Risse shock and Fox servicing is much easier to get too.

The talk of snapping an M6 bolt makes sense so we'd need something stronger connecting the shock to the swingarm. 

I have no idea if this is possible but how about "threading" the end of the shock and making the adaptor with a threaded hole/sleeve it slides into?  Or just making the adaptor deep enough that it supports the shock?

The adaptor would look like a "cup" that maybe 3 centimetres+ of the end of the shock would go into.  We could drill through the sides of the "cup" so a bolt could pass through the eyelet making it secure.  Failing that we could go back to the idea of drilling through the bottom of the shock eyelet and the adaptor to provide a secure attachement for the M6 bolt.

Also, not sure if I ever got an answer to this: Can anyone who's used a rear shock tell me if it's possible to rotate the bottom eyelet of the shock through 90 degrees?

Cheers,
  Stuart.

[shovelon]

Hmmm, I seem to have been away for a while!  This is all looking quite promising.  I'm still quite interested in getting something like this for my 857 so if it works, count me in!

I think a good shock for this would be the bottom of the range Fox.  You can pick it up new from chainreactioncycles for about £150 eBay prices seem to be 50-100 ish for used ones.  Personally I'd prefer a fox shock with Pro-pedal to a Risse shock and Fox servicing is much easier to get too.

The talk of snapping an M6 bolt makes sense so we'd need something stronger connecting the shock to the swingarm. 

I have no idea if this is possible but how about "threading" the end of the shock and making the adaptor with a threaded hole/sleeve it slides into?  Or just making the adaptor deep enough that it supports the shock?

The adaptor would look like a "cup" that maybe 3 centimetres+ of the end of the shock would go into.  We could drill through the sides of the "cup" so a bolt could pass through the eyelet making it secure.  Failing that we could go back to the idea of drilling through the bottom of the shock eyelet and the adaptor to provide a secure attachement for the M6 bolt.

Also, not sure if I ever got an answer to this: Can anyone who's used a rear shock tell me if it's possible to rotate the bottom eyelet of the shock through 90 degrees?

Cheers,
  Stuart.

Hey there Stuart. 

Rotating the bottom eyelet has been done often. Here is my current config.


(Disregard the front fork, as I have moved on to a slider). The eyelet of the shock drops right into the taper of the strut. Many comments have been made that without boxing in the shock there may be some flexing of the swingarm, but the improvement of the shock action cancels that out(in my mind at least. I have been toying with the notion of making some side pieces and welding them in.