Fevans - How do you rate your Risse & Psylo?

[Oz-SUB]

Fevans

I like the moving pics of fork travel.  See you have gone for the dark and mysterious look for your Oz - no decals or anything.

I'm thinking of changing out my Noleen NR-2, what do you think of your Risse Astro 5?

Also, how do you rate the Psylo?  Is it a XC, SL or Race?

Oz-SUB

[fevans]

Yeah, I didn't like the decals, so I ripped them off.It's definitely in full stealth mode now!:P



If you are considering getting a Risse, I highly recommend it.  It's definitely a smoother ride than the NR2 and you can adjust the air pressure to suit your tastes.  I mainly use the damping knob as a pseudo-lockout when the trail ends and turns to pavement.  Coupled with the front lockout, it's almost completely rigid.  I've also ridden the Risse Genesis on my old Amp Research and it is just as smooth and cheaper.  If money is no object I'd definitely go for the Astro.  The Astro will drop about 1/2 pound from your bike.  It's a little heavier than the Genesis due to the damping knob.



The black fork is actually an SL, but I've only had it a short while.  Before that, I had a white Race on it.  They are both incredibly plush forks.  I thought the SL would be less plush than the Race, but was extremely surprised to find that it was even plusher.  When my friend, who also has a Race, tried it out, he decided that he had to have one.  It's the  butteriest fork I've ever felt.  I ride it in the 5" mode all the time.  It's great for all of the various types of riding that I do.  I intend to keep the Oz for as long as it holds up, which appears to be a very long time!



My friend and I did some measurements with the fork in 3, 4, and 5" mode.  The bottom bracket heights were 13 1/4", 13 1/2", and 13 7/8" respectively.  We also attempted to measure head tube angle but I'm not sure how accurate our measurements were.  We came up with 70.1, 68.27, and 68.35 deg  respectively.  We had to get out the trig book to remember the right formula.  Man, it's been a long time!



I checked out your Oz-Sub pics.  Looks nice.  How do you like it?  It bears a striking resemblance to another fork that I won't mention the name of.  Is there any relation there?   It definitely sets off an already unusual bike.  I'd say you may have a one-of-a-kind there!



Cheers!

[Oz-SUB]

Fevans

Thanks for your comments on the Risse Astro 5.

I'm running on a refurbished Smart Shock that I had converted to an NR-2 at the same time.  But, reading various posts on how replacement shocks change the Oz for the better, I can not make my mind up between Fox Vanilla RC + Ti spring, Stratos, or an air shock.

Have you seen my 'File' on my findings of suspension travel of the Oz?  Swingarm max extension (i2i = 8.75"), to frame touching gives 9.25" wheel travel.  I'd like the i2i to be 8.5" with 2.5" travel, that way it would correct the geometry and give about 6" wheel travel.  Perfect compromise?

I have the SUB fork on a 3 month trial, the owner of my local LBS likes to do deals!  I really need more time on it before voting one way or the other.  I measured the actual travel (published is 100mm), t'is 70mm!  However, it is supposed to be an enduro fork (all day XC).  It is 3.18 lbs (virtually the same as the XLink with Smart Shock it has replaced.  It does what it says on the tin - when you brake the energy from the wheel balances the dive force, in fact if anything it lifts slightly, so all the travel is always available (except for the usual sag).  SUB stands for Stability Under Braking, and I don't disagree that this is the advantage it gives.  I'm still dialling in the correct air pressure, choosing between the 3 compression adjusters and setting the rebound turns in / out.  It does tend to bob if the air pressure is light, so I'm trying to find a balance - at least two more weeks trials.  The engineering is the 'dogs bollocks' and it's British (apart from the EKO Sport Inc. air shock - the internals, which are USA).

It does suit the Oz carbon to give a jaw dropping radical look - more pics to come.

But is it really worth £800 (not that I paid that!)?  Well, I suppose if you want to be individualistic, yes.  But, could I get a better ride from a Psylo, Marzocchi or Fox Forx and still have money for that Vanilla rear shock with Ti spring - maybe, jury is still out!

One thing I forgot to mention, maintenance is a cinch, so I won't have to spend $ on sending it off now and again.

[Dugo]

Hey guys,

Just out of curiosity, how much do your bikes weigh???  They sure do look sweet.  Nice work, both of ya...

Dugo

[Dennis]

Oz-SUB,
I have a Fox Talas R fork coming. supposedly in 2-3 weeks. I will let you know what its like, but you may have tried one by then. I really won't be able to test it on trails for a while yet. but, I will post what I think when I can. Your bike looks the business!!

[Scott]

Dugo,
Try this http://idriders.com/cgi-bin/YaBB_K2/YaBB.pl?board=news;action=display;num=1044049090
It's an earlier weight post with quite a few responses to it-ranging from +45 lbs to low 20's

[fevans]

Oz-Sub,



I took a look at your measurements and I have a few questions/comments:



- How did you make the measurements, in a stand?



- Is the 9.25" the total range of motion of the rear wheel, with no shock in the frame?



- Does the max i2i come from the maximum spread of the 2 eyelets, when measured with the shock disconnected?



- What's the NR-2 rubber mean, is that the little stop thingy on the shaft?



- The two NR-2 Rubber measurements appear to conflict, 165mm and 48mm/1.89".  Should this be 43mm or 160mm?



- What's the spindle measurement refer to?







Rear Shock:



My vote for a rear shock would be an air one and I do plenty of jumps, not IFO-style jumps I'm sure, but 2-3'.  One reason that I like air is for the adjustability of the compression rate, which you can change at any time.  I wonder if Risse could do a custom length shock for you.  It might not hurt to ask and it seems like it would be simple to extend the current design by 1/2" or so.  







SUB:



- Where did you measure the wheel travel of the SUB at.  At the skewer or where the shaft mounts to the swing-arm thing?



- I have to wonder if the anti-dive characteristics of the fork will effect it's ability to absorb bumps while under braking.  It seems that when the brakes are applied, the force of the brake will attempt to extend the shock which is in opposition to it's ability to compress for bumps.  Maybe the leverage ratio is greater for bump compression.  Have you tried braking during a rough section of trail.







Front Shock:



In my opinion, if you are going to put a 6" shock on the rear, I wouldn't go any less than 5" on the front.  One nice thing about the variable travel forks is that you can change it if you don't like it.







Anyway, the USE definitely looks cool, but that is some serious jack for a fork.  I highly recommend the Psylo, should you want to save a little cash.  It's the smoothest fork I've ever seen and I don't think you could go wrong there.  I've never been on a Fox, so I can't comment on them, but I've only heard good things.  As for Marzocchi, I've ridden a few and the only one that came close to the Psylo was the X-fly 100.







Just my thoughts.  It all depends on what kind of riding you do.  But I'll tell you, for the style of riding that I do, I REALLY love my bike!





Forrest

[Oz-SUB]

Fevans

Well you'll probably have a good laugh, but I made the measurements with the bike upside down!  So OK they wheel travel measurements were made relative to the floor (which I know isn't quite exact, and the relative height of the bars to saddle will affect things slightly, in this case the bars and saddle were pretty much level).  I promise to make measurements with the bike in the stand next time!

The above does not alter the rear i2i figures and wheel travel.

Yes the 9.25" is the total range of swingarm motion without a shock fitted.

Yes to next question also.

NR-2 rubber - this means the travel when the rubber stop thingy is being compressed (bottoming out).

Yup I made an wrong entry, so you are correct with 43mm.

The spindle measurement is from the floor @ 90^o up to the spindle.  For spindle also read skewer.

The SUB travel measurements were made floor to skewer.

SUB - as for the brake effecting the bump absorption, I don't think this occurs to the point where the fork does not work as a suspension device.  Going downhill seems a much more confidence inspiring affair, but I do need to test it out on steeper rockier downhill sections where I'm appling the brake quite a bit of the time.  But this is why I've got it on a three month trial.  Check out www.use1.com

Thanks for the suggestions on the Psylo and Air Rear - I do take on board your considered opinions.

By the way, OP was right, the XLink whilst being a steer on rails had only 58mm of real travel allowing for 11mm of sag.

Oz-SUB

[Steve O]

I was running an'02 Psylo with a 20mm thru axle and the adjustable travel U-turn kit, and swapped out the U-turn kit for a preload kit from an '01 Psylo. I never ride in anything less than 5", and I like being able to "load up" the fork when I'm playing around at the local jumps or on really gnarly trails. If you don't need the adjustable travel, swap it out for the preload kit, you'll love it.

Steve O

[Oz-SUB]

Fevans

Just one more thing, whats your Risse i2i and stroke?

Is it the stock Smart Shock replacement?

Oz-SUB

[numbnuts]

Fevans et al







What year psylo's are you using? I think there are some good deals on 2002 models but I was put off by all the negative posts/reviews, particularly on mtbr.







I love the concept, it is ideal for my Evo I think, but I really need something durable. How much difference does the 20mm axle make. I would have to buy a new hub but am thinking of switching to disc so need to change anyway.







I am not that experienced with rear shocks but after studying this forum decided that a fox rc would be ideal. But it couldn't fit so I got a van r instead. I find it to be very plush and able to take a lot of abuse, and it didn't cost an arm and a leg. So much better than the nr shock that came with the bike, only problem is that the increased travel means I need at least 5" on the front for optimum ride downhill, so will have to dig in my pocket again [smiley=worry.gif].

[Oz-SUB]

numbnuts

What is the i2ia and stroke of your Van r?

Oz-SUB

[fevans]

I'll try to answer all of the questions in one post here:



Dugo,

I don't really know the weight of my Oz, since I've never weighed it.  But based on feel, I'd guess that it's somewhere between 28-30 lbs.  Strictly a guess, though.



Oz-Sub,

I believe that the i2i on the Risse is the same as the stock NR2, if I remember correctly.  I think that's 8.25".  Not sure about the stroke.  You could email Risse, though.  I'm sure they'd be happy to provide the exact numbers.



numbnuts,

I've had 2 different Psylos on my Oz, an 02'ish white Race and the current 02' black SL.  The 02'ish Race is supposedly one of the models that were intended for the Maverick bikes and had 01 lowers with the 02 bushings.  Got this one from Supergo for $300.  I did have some problems with air leakage at first and even had to send it back to RS, but I think I got those problems worked out.  I did a maintenance teardown myself and haven't had any problems since.  It's an extremely plush fork.



The newest fork is the 02 black SL.  I got an awesome deal on it for $187 on ebay, brand new.  I had always wanted a black fork and wanted to try out the coil version, mainly to alleviate the worrys in the back of my mind about the air problems that I once had.  I was not dissapointed.  I honestly didn't think it could be as plush as the air setup, but I was wrong, it's plusher.



As for the negative reviews on mtbr, I don't know.  Maybe they are using the fork to do huge drops.  Both of mine are the standard axle versions.  I don't know anything about the tulio version.  I don't think I'll be able to break mine and I do 2-3' drops all the time.  My friend, who bought one after trying out mine, commented on the negative reviews as well.  It didn't stop him from buying one.  We both have the 02'ish Race's.



fevans

[numbnuts]

Oz-sub

I bought the van r on ebay and the seller quoted 8 for the i to i , but I think it is a little shorter, 7.85 or thereabouts. I think I would prefer this to something
longer than the original 8.25, I don't think they make the exact 8.25 but I could be wrong. I think it came off a Kona stinky, I had to cut and grind down the bushings to fit and shim the bolts at both ends with bits of a pepsi bottle and a papermate pen. works fine until I order the correct bushings and bolts!

the stroke is 2.35 and this is fine

[numbnuts]

I don't think I'd give a toss about negative reviews either if I could get the SL for 187 . And black is the only color IMHO.