I am thinking about upgrading the suspension system on my Santa cruz ultralight. Currently I have 100mm travel in front and a fox air rear shock. Recently I rode an Intense spider with a stable -platform system from Fox and thought it was great The bike was set up in a more upright position, which took a little gettiong used to. My bike is in a more cross country position, which I prefer.
Does anyone know if a new suspension will drastically change my riding position? Is the upgrade worth it?
A longer front fork will slacken the head angle and make the bike handle differently and a shorter one will have the opposite effect so if you upgrade make sure the fork you get is not too much longer or shorter than you current one.
Changing the rear shock will not change the angles on your bike as long as the stroke is the same.
As for whether or not its worth it thats a matter of cost versus benefit. New forks and a new rear shock will be pretty expensive
stable platform shocks and forks work really well (i've got SPV suspension on the rear of my bike) but you will have to weigh up the cost
You mean a santa cruz superlight right? The reason you probably felt the spider more upright is because its designed as a XC race bike and its typically matched with an 80mm fork giving it a steeper head angle. If you were to install a 100mm fork it would handle closer to your superlight and the same way, if you put an 80mm fork on your bike it would feel more like the spider you tested. You can get SPV forks in 100mm to keep the same geometry you have now. Some options are the Fox F100X, Manitou Minute and Manitou Skareb Platinum. As for the rear you need to get the same length and stroke shock as your frame is designed for so you won't notice any geometry changes there. Santa Cruz now sells the Superlight with a 5th element air in the rear.
Currently I have an intense Spider with a Manitou Minute 3 up front and a standard Fox Float AVA (non SPV) on the rear. The suspension design of the spider itself is designed to work as a stable platform by itself without the need of any special shock.
