Plenty of room for the Topaz T3 but you may have some issues airing the bladder chamber depending on your shock pump. As others said, it will fit most air shocks other than the ones with gear on the damper end like the Fox X2, Rockshox Vivid air, Cane Creek DB, etc. Basically the same ones that won't fit on the HT v2.
That’s a very good point. I’ve noticed a lot fewer Topaz shocks on VPP bikes since SC went to the lower mounting. I’m sure there’s a good solution for that, but I’d want to be sure before I bought one for an 831 whether a normal shock pump fits comfortably or if you need one with a right angle attachment or adaptor.
I’d been planning to get a Topaz for my 831 build (once I’ve got the money to commit to the group buy, not sure how soon that’s going to be), but maybe I should be looking elsewhere unless/until somebody confirms exactly how this works for them.
The problem is I really don’t know what other off the shelf shock is likely to be anywhere near close to the right tune…DVO used Santa Cruz as one of the testbeds for their default tune. I guess I can try to find a 210x55 in a Low tune and go from there, but I liked the idea of a one stop shop (and DVO does their own custom tuning service if I need customization).
The good news is that the second generation Topaz T3, which is in production now but not officially for sale yet, has a sideways piggyback like the one on the Topaz 2. Bryson Martin from DVO showed it off on his Instagram recently.
