Begode EX30 DNM DV-22AR coil shock

[Planemo]

 

Despite my second hand EX being mint having covered only 1700 crash-free miles and none of it being hard off-road, the stock shock was absolutely goosed. It still seemed to hold air pretty well but the entire shock, most of the linkages and mudguard were coated in oil. I’m amazed there was so much in there tbh given Fox etc use minimal amounts of lube. In any event the oil seals were completely blown and so I wanted to get rid of it asap in case it totally let go on me on a ride 60 miles from the car.

After much deliberation and viewing or various EX30 coil shock videos I went for the DNM on the basis that it was readily available in the UK (off the bay). Due to the advice I saw I went for a 190x50 ***NOW USED 200x55 - SEE UPDATE*** which transpired isn’t ideal given that the stock shock is an (oddly sized in the MTB world) 195mm. Unfortunately I had already placed my order so went ahead anyway. Mine came with a 750lb spring which I was pretty nervous about given most (including Marty) were using at least 1000lb and I am about 200lbs geared. But again, it was all I could get on the hurry-up so I took the gamble. Cost was £70 delivered.

The DNM uses a shorter body casting around the lower eye area which means it fits with zero modification to the shock or the alloy knuckle it bolts to. This could be desirable to some users who don’t want to mess about with an angle grinder as Marty had to with his shock. I would also prefer not having to grind into a shock body that holds not only considerable pressure but would also be in an area of extreme stress. I know Marty hasn’t had any problems but still it’s not ideal IMO.

The DNM bolt eyes and plastic bushes were thankfully the correct size for the EX pin bolts which are slightly smaller than the MTB standard (another consideration if going for a decent Fox/Rockshox etc). The DNM shock came with steel tube inserts and thin plastic spacing collars as per Marty’s. This hardware needs to be removed for the stock EX pin bolts to fit. One end of the shock was easy – the insert just slid out from the bush with a little pressure (as it should do). The other end was a nightmare – the pin was so tight in the bushing I needed to jerry rig some sockets onto the shock and press the bloody thing out in a vice which ended up taking the bush out with it. Thankfully the bush remained undamaged so I was able to refit it without issue. The stock EX pin bolts actually ended up just the right size with just a tiny bit of clearance – able to fit by hand with just a little pressure.

The 190mm length will knock off about 12mm of available wheel travel. This could be a deal breaker for some users who need/want all of the potential 100mm *EDIT - not 100mm its 95mm - see update* travel. For me, I only ride street and I only need to get enough travel to take out the sort of bumps I am likely to encounter. It remains to be seen whether I would prefer the full 100mm but I will see how it goes. The downside of not using a 190 is that finding a 195 could be extremely tricky, the next common size being 200mm. Using 200mm could present some issue when trying to initially fit it - compressing a 750lb+ spring manually is very, very difficult so you would need to back right off on the preload so the spring is floating then try and crank up preload once on in the restrictive area of the EX linkages. It’s do-able but will be fiddly given you will only be knocking the collar about 1/8 turn each time. Because I was using the low 750lb spring I needed bags of preload – about 10 turns. That would be a lot of knocking at 1/8th of a turn at a time! Using an air shock at 200mm may be a bit easier as with zero pressure in the can you shouldn’t have too much trouble compressing it with your hands 5mm.

I initially tried 5 turns of preload and got sag even under the wheel weight so things weren’t looking good that the 750lb was going to be enough. 7 turns improved things a bit so off it came again (it’s easier to remove it than try to adjust the collar once on) and I went to 10 turns which the most I could get on it by hand. Anything more would need putting it in a vice and using tools to spin the collar. At 10 turns theres still a fair bit of threading on the body though so theres more preload available if needed. At 10 turns I was getting 18mm sag which at around 83mm total travel is 22% - about right so I left it at that.

Jumping up and down on the wheel with all my might whilst static couldn’t get it to bottom out so I think it will be OK for my purposes but until I do an average ride I won’t know for sure. Of note is that the DNM damping rebound adjuster works backwards – most shocks increase damping with a clockwise turn – the DNM works oppositely! And as usual for most cheap shocks, the first 7 or so clicks do nothing then all of a sudden you get increased damping through to virtual lock out within a 4 click span. Thankfully I did manage to get it about right. The action ended up really nice, I also cleaned and re-greased all pivot points whilst I was in there as most were bone dry and those that weren’t had a smattering of manky black lube. The shock swop and relube has definitely reduced stiction, the only remaining being that from the sliders which I can’t do much about. I did give them a test whilst the shock was out and they aren’t actually that bad – and found that the (very poor) allen grub screw ‘adjusters’ were backed right out so any friction is as low as it’s going to get.

Bit of a waffle that one but if anyone has any questions fire away!

I’ll give an update on the ride once I have a few miles on it.. 😊

Edited September 4, 2023 by Planemo

[Planemo]

After further checks and a little more time spent on this I have decided to swop out the 190/50 for a 200/55.

The 190 will ‘work fine’ but there are two issues. The first as I have mentioned above is that you will lose around 12mm of your wheel travel which for most street riders won’t really be a problem.

The second issue, which was the main reason for me swopping, is a problem which we don’t see on MTB’s when we run a shorter shock because on MTB’s there is no slop in the system due to bikes running ballraces at every pivot. On the EX30 as with many other Begode wheels, they run crappy flanged bushings which with the best will in the world don’t provide nearly as much precision when it comes to clearances. So, with a shock that is shorter than the stock 195mm theres an awful lot of bagginess in the linkages at full extension. Whilst this isn’t a problem per se, what it does do is make a lot of clatter every time the wheel is unloaded. Now again, if you’re a street rider (as I am) and rarely go to max extension (ie beyond the 25mm sag you should be running) it’s probably not going to annoy you but for me it just isn’t right and bugged me, even when just picking the wheel up and down.

Now there are very few 195mm aftermarket shocks around, even fewer when talking coil. So the option is to run 200mm which is a common size and most come with 55mm travel which isn’t a problem given we are only using about 35mm. I went for exactly the same DNM shock, 750lb, but in 200mm length.

The one downside with using a coil shock longer than stock is that you can’t preload the spring before fitting because theres no way you will manually compress it 5mm to bolt it onto the wheel. So the only option is to leave it totally unloaded and add preload once fitted. This isn’t trivial. Theres very little room to work in between the linkages but it’s possible with a long flat headed screwdriver and a hammer to knock the adjusting collar round. It’s a faff and takes a long time but it’s do-able. The one upside is that once done it shouldn’t need touching until you want to remove it again. As a side note, this is where using a 200mm air shock would be handy as you can just let the air out and with that done you would be able to compress it 5mm with a bit of effort. But I wanted coil, so that was that.

The other benefit of 200 over 190 is that I now get my full wheel travel back. Interestingly, it isn’t 100mm as advertised, it’s 95mm to the rubber O ring bump stops. That said, with the full travel a 200 gives,  I required less preload - 7 turns instead of 10. This is rather handy given the aforementioned faff of turning the collar once installed. With a 190mm fitted theres about 83mm wheel travel. 20% of 83mm gives 18mm sag, 25% of 95mm gives 23.75mm. I decided to run with 22% on the reduced travel of the 190 but now I have full travel I went for 25%. It is this difference in sag that required 3 turns less preload on the 200 which was nice.

For me, theres no way I could see me needing a spring poundage any higher. I have static jumped with all my might on this 750lb spring and I’ve still got about 15mm travel before bottom out. But...if you are someone that gets air or does big drops you may need the 1000lb but for my street riding it wouldn’t do anything for me except make the ride considerably stiffer than it needs to be.

So now theres no clanking or slop at full extension because the system is always loaded and now relies solely on the bump stops at full extension which is kinda how the system is designed to be (unlike an MTB).

Oh and for info, a pic showing the wheel at full compression – you will see how little clearance there is on the EX….and that’s without any tyre squish….venture off-road at your own risk. Admittedly the Grizzla bumpers add a little depth but they do provide a little less ‘edge’ than stock….so pick your poison.

 

Edited September 4, 2023 by Planemo

[Cyph]

Thanks for creating this. Helped me greatly. I had the most trouble getting the shock to align since it’s slightly longer. The trick for me was to fully loosen the preload which allowed me to put it on then tighten the preload from the top where the seat sits (remove the  metal piece that the seat screw to).

Edited November 14, 2023 by Cyph

[Planemo]

No problem, glad it helped. And yes, you have to back off the collar 5mm (and have a floppy spring!) to account for the shock being 5mm too long eye to eye. Only once fitted can you start applying any preload. But its much, much nicer than the 190mm version which allowed horrible slack in the system when unloaded.

I have kinda got the knack of adjusting the collar from the back of the wheel now without removing anything, using a long, big flat headed screwdriver and some gentle hammer tapping. Lubing the shock threads helps enormously btw, and it won't promote the collar moving once set, that ain't going anywhere with the poundage put on it!

Mines been great, only thing I could gripe about is that out of the 12(?) or so clicks of rebound, only the last 3 or 4 actually do anything. Not a problem as I think I am about 2 away from fully on and it rides well but the finicky adjustment is about what you'd expect from a cheap Chinese shock.

[alcatraz]

I have zero experience but in reading this very interesting thread I had an idea that might help to install that shock that's a bit too long. 

Could the shock perhaps be compressed before installing it. Either the spring itself with a spring compressor perhaps, or the whole shock with a clamp of some sort. You said it was only a few millimeters too long.

[Cyph]

7 hours ago, alcatraz said:

I have zero experience but in reading this very interesting thread I had an idea that might help to install that shock that's a bit too long. 

Could the shock perhaps be compressed before installing it. Either the spring itself with a spring compressor perhaps, or the whole shock with a clamp of some sort. You said it was only a few millimeters too long.

That’s what I did when I said to fully unload the preload. That’s the only way to compress the shock to fit it in without a spring compressor.

[Planemo]

7 hours ago, alcatraz said:

Could the shock perhaps be compressed before installing it. Either the spring itself with a spring compressor perhaps, or the whole shock with a clamp of some sort. You said it was only a few millimeters too long.

It's a sound idea, but in reality it would be very difficult due to the shock being a bit buried in the confines of the linkages which run very close to the spring itself. Potentially you could remove the seat and rear bracket to access the front and the rear is relatively accessible but its a bit of a faff just to get a shock off/on which is unlikely to need touching once the preload is set.

Just another little thing I'll add to the thread - I managed to come up with a super simple idea to enable tyre changes, which normally requires decompression of the shock to do as it's the only way to gain full access to the motor bolts without taking the pedal hangers off. I cut a 25mm length of 10mm round steel bar which I can insert into the gap made between the slider and the hanger if I load the wheel with my weight by hanging over the seat on my chest. My sag is set to about 26mm so I can just slip in the 'stopper' with some needle nose pliers to prevent full extension. 25mm compression gives just enough room to access all motor bolts and saves a fair bit of time having to unwind/wind the spring collar on the coil shock.

[Planemo]

15 minutes ago, Cyph said:

That’s what I did when I said to fully unload the preload. That’s the only way to compress the shock to fit it in without a spring compressor.

I think you mis-understood alcatraz, he was suggesting using a spring compressor