Carbonda fm936 Thoughts

[SlappinBerms]

This shouldn't bent by riding hard with a working shock/linkage!
I presume you dailed in your shock as it should? You did not blown through your shock wright?
If not, I would check the bearings...

When I stripped this down to do the 200hr service on the shock is when I found this. All bearings appeared fine so far as I could tell. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary when checking it. Is there anything in particular I should look for when checking the bearings? They were all seated appropriately, no sticky points, nothing grimy... etc. The swingarm mounts appropriately as well, once again, so far as I could tell.

[Medico]

When I stripped this down to do the 200hr service on the shock is when I found this. All bearings appeared fine so far as I could tell. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary when checking it. Is there anything in particular I should look for when checking the bearings? They were all seated appropriately, no sticky points, nothing grimy... etc. The swingarm mounts appropriately as well, once again, so far as I could tell.

Seems fine then...grimy and sticky could be an issue...but if its smooth...
The shock itself pivots fine also? If this could happen when everything else is running smooth, I would not ask Adam foe a replacement...it wil be the same quality. My 2ct

[carbonazza]

Uh, I think I ride this a bit harder than most intended use...

Thank you for giving us all increased confidence in the frame 

[SlappinBerms]

Thank you for giving us all increased confidence in the frame 

My poor technique and lack of braking is really for you fine folks LOL

[Sdp74]

Hi guys, I wanted to know if the bike easily accepts the entire 165 * 42'5 shock travel. I ask this because there are bicycles that, although they accept 115mm of travel, it is very difficult to get them to give the full travel. I don't know if I explain myself well, since my native language is not English.

[Medico]

Hi guys, I wanted to know if the bike easily accepts the entire 165 * 42'5 shock travel. I ask this because there are bicycles that, although they accept 115mm of travel, it is very difficult to get them to give the full travel. I don't know if I explain myself well, since my native language is not English.

I have a 42.5mm shock..rs deluxe and with 25% sag it uses 80-90% of its travel..first i did 30% sag which did use full travel, but not that often... Less tsag means less pedalstrikes (in flat terrain with a lot of turns).

Hope it helps

[Sdp74]

I have a 42.5mm shock..rs deluxe and with 25% sag it uses 80-90% of its travel..first i did 30% sag which did use full travel, but not that often... Less tsag means less pedalstrikes (in flat terrain with a lot of turns).

Hope it helps

Thanks for answering, it helps me, but it raises more questions. In my case I have a trek top fuel xc with 100mm of travel. I have put a 120mm fork and as the frame supports it, I have also put a 165 * 45 shock absorber (it came from the factory with a 165 * 38 shock absorber). And although in theory it would have to have 120-120 travels, the truth is that the bike is not designed to take advantage of the entire shock absorber travel and I think it has been about 110mm of travel. My dilemma is that I don't know if when changing frames I will notice a lot of improvement going down. Keep in mind that the Trek suspension system is a "horst link" style and this system makes the suspension very independent from braking (which is not the case with the mono pivot system). On the other hand, I like the geometry of the carbonda, but I don't know if it will be too extreme for xc marathon (steering angle about 66º with 120mm fork). Going down I'm not good, but I'm not bad either. What is your opinion?

[theirishrider]

The 42.5mm shock works well, it seems to give more than 100mm but as far as I know we don't know exactly how much travel but probably 110-120mm. It feels natural with this stroke size so no worries there.
The bike is being raced a national level (https://www.facebook.com/patxiciafanpage)  and was even in the recent XCO world champs so it's clearly capable. I'm going to be riding it with 120mm in the National Points Series (hopefully) here in Ireland and I'm going to be keeping the 120mm Sid Select rather than 100mm due to the terrain here. I wouldn't worry about the head angle, people said the same every time it gets slacker - You don't go slower Where are you racing and what's the terrain like?

[Pharaohollie]

Not sure if this has already been posted, but Vitus (ChainreactionCycles.com's house brand) now offers the FM936 as their new Rapide FS model:

[Sdp74]

The 42.5mm shock works well, it seems to give more than 100mm but as far as I know we don't know exactly how much travel but probably 110-120mm. It feels natural with this stroke size so no worries there.
The bike is being raced a national level (https://www.facebook.com/patxiciafanpage)  and was even in the recent XCO world champs so it's clearly capable. I'm going to be riding it with 120mm in the National Points Series (hopefully) here in Ireland and I'm going to be keeping the 120mm Sid Select rather than 100mm due to the terrain here. I wouldn't worry about the head angle, people said the same every time it gets slacker - You don't go slower Where are you racing and what's the terrain like?

Hello, I live in Mallorca (Spain) and I do all kinds of routes and terrain, of course I also endured descents. In my land there is a lot of Stone. The idea is to change bikes to get a better performance going down and not going up slower ... If the carbonda doesn't go down much faster than my current top fuel xc, I don't think I'm interested in changing bikes.

[theirishrider]

Well

Hello, I live in Mallorca (Spain) and I do all kinds of routes and terrain, of course I also endured descents. In my land there is a lot of Stone. The idea is to change bikes to get a better performance going down and not going up slower ... If the carbonda doesn't go down much faster than my current top fuel xc, I don't think I'm interested in changing bikes.

That's quite dificult to quantify because it is really personal. I can say that the slack head angle makes it feel very confident on the descent, I don't feel like I'm underbiked. I have to remind myself that I'm on a 12kg-ish XC bike and slow down.

[reddi]

I had the first ride on my favourite trails

For my feeling, the rear is quite bumpy. But i'm not used to full suspension, so it might be relatively normal. I'm about 86 kg plus camelback and have 300 PSI in the rear shock.

Compared to my hardtail with 640 mm toptube (now 664) and 70° head tube (now 66), it feels much safer in descends. I'm an unconfident rider in descends and i'd say, changing to this bike gives an equal advantage like switching from 26" to 29" ten years ago.
On paveways, you just notice that you can actually see your front hub in front of your handlebar - and you ride just as usual, nothing has changed. I don't really feel slower on even grounds or uphill than before.
So i personally got what i wanted: A fast marathon bike wich gives me some extra confidence in descends.

But i think, this depends a lot on your build. When using trail bike tires, fork and weights, you should not compare uphill performance with a marathon bike.

[Medico]

I had the first ride on my favourite trails

For my feeling, the rear is quite bumpy. But i'm not used to full suspension, so it might be relatively normal. I'm about 86 kg plus camelback and have 300 PSI in the rear shock.

Compared to my hardtail with 640 mm toptube (now 664) and 70° head tube (now 66), it feels much safer in descends. I'm an unconfident rider in descends and i'd say, changing to this bike gives an equal advantage like switching from 26" to 29" ten years ago.
On paveways, you just notice that you can actually see your front hub in front of your handlebar - and you ride just as usual, nothing has changed. I don't really feel slower on even grounds or uphill than before.
So i personally got what i wanted: A fast marathon bike wich gives me some extra confidence in descends.

But i think, this depends a lot on your build. When using trail bike tires, fork and weights, you should not compare uphill performance with a marathon bike.

300psi ?
Is this correct for your shock...seems awfull lot for your weight.
Sag should be between 25 - 30%>>>so check it please. Could also explain the bouncy ride...also rebound could be off.

Good luck

[reddi]

Max. pressure for DT535 is 333 psi. So yes, 300 is quite a lot. But i used about 75% travel on my first ride, wich was pretty careful because of the slippery ground. When i gain some confidence and ride harder, there is not much room for lower pressure.
I started with 25 % sag on the first checkout ride. That was way too bouncy for me, felt like using 50% travel when riding an even asphalt road.
Rebound is at 11 from 22 clicks.

[Pharaohollie]

300psi ?
Is this correct for your shock...seems awfull lot for your weight.
Sag should be between 25 - 30%>>>so check it please. Could also explain the bouncy ride...also rebound could be off.

Good luck

I weigh 75kg and I have 270 psi in my Fox Float DPS on this frame to get the right sag.