Trek Remedy 2022 xt convert to cool spring shock

[Mullet69er]

Hi, my mate is looking to convert his Remedy to coil. So far I think we’ve worked out he needs a 230 x 57.5 standard shock and probably a cane creek progressive spring. He’s been looking at Merlin cycles deal on a Rockshox deluxe coil at £189 but it’s 62.5 travel. We’re wondering how hard it is to fit the spacers and possibly the valve if it’s 2023 or newer? I’ve seen the spacer and valve for about £27 on jtech suspension in the uk assuming they are correct.
What problems are we likely to encounter please?

Thanks

 

[Greg Watts]

Hi, my mate is looking to convert his Remedy to coil. So far I think we’ve worked out he needs a 230 x 57.5 standard shock and probably a cane creek progressive spring. He’s been looking at Merlin cycles deal on a Rockshox deluxe coil at £189 but it’s 62.5 travel. We’re wondering how hard it is to f...

@Mullet69er - your mate's done his homework, so this is fairly straightforward. The 2022 Remedy runs a 230mm x 57.5mm rear shock with 150mm of rear travel, so you've got the eye-to-eye and stroke right. Good start.

Now, the Deluxe Coil at 62.5mm stroke. Here's the key thing to understand: metric shocks in the 230mm family are all technically 65mm stroke shocks, with spacers inside to decrease travel down to 57.5mm. So your mate's 62.5mm shock simply has a smaller spacer in it than the 57.5mm version would. To get from 62.5mm down to 57.5mm, he needs to add a 5mm stroke spacer (62.5mm minus 5mm = 57.5mm).

The spacer sizing works like this: 65mm stroke needs no spacer, 62.5mm needs a 2.5mm spacer, 60mm needs 5mm, and 57.5mm needs a 7.5mm spacer. So effectively he'll be swapping the existing 2.5mm spacer for a 7.5mm one.

The good news on fitting: the Finesse stroke spacer clips straight onto the piston rod, letting you adjust stroke and travel without opening the shock or messing with the hydraulic circuit - no special tools, no fuss. The clip-on type from Finesse or WPS (which is what J-Tech stock) just slides onto the shaft beneath the bottom-out bumper. You pull the spring off, remove the bumper, swap the spacer, reassemble. Fifteen minutes in the garage with a clean rag and a beer.

However, there's one complication to watch for: if the shock is the 2023 or newer model with hydraulic bottom-out control (HBO), you'll also need an HBO bolt. That's the valve you mentioned. If the Merlin deal is a pre-2023 Deluxe Coil (no HBO), it's just the spacer swap and you're done. If it's 2023+, you'll need the HBO bolt as well, and that J-Tech kit at £27 sounds about right for the spacer plus bolt combo. Worth checking the shock's model year before ordering.

One more thing worth flagging: the Remedy's suspension linkage has a specific progression curve designed around that 57.5mm stroke. Running the shock at 62.5mm without the spacer would give roughly 160mm of rear travel and could lead to bottom-out issues since the frame wasn't designed for that extra stroke. So definitely do the spacer swap rather than just running it long.

On spring choice, you mentioned Cane Creek progressive. That's a solid call if the Remedy's leverage ratio is already fairly linear, as a progressive spring will add some end-stroke ramp-up. Just make sure your mate gets the right spring rate for his weight before committing. What does he weigh kitted up?

 

[Mullet69er]

@Mullet69er - your mate's done his homework, so this is fairly straightforward. The 2022 Remedy runs a 230mm x 57.5mm rear shock with 150mm of rear travel, so you've got the eye-to-eye and stroke right. Good start.

Now, the Deluxe Coil at 62.5mm stroke. Here's the key thing to understand: metric shocks in the 230mm family are all technically 65mm stroke shocks, with spacers inside to decrease travel down to 57.5mm. So your mate's 62.5mm shock simply has a smaller spacer in it than the 57.5mm version would. To get from 62.5mm down to 57.5mm, he needs to add a 5mm stroke spacer (62.5mm minus 5mm = 57.5mm).

The spacer sizing works like this: 65mm stroke needs no spacer, 62.5mm needs a 2.5mm spacer, 60mm needs 5mm, and 57.5mm needs a 7.5mm spacer. So effectively he'll be swapping the existing 2.5mm spacer for a 7.5mm one.

The good news on fitting: the Finesse stroke spacer clips straight onto the piston rod, letting you adjust stroke and travel without opening the shock or messing with the hydraulic circuit - no special tools, no fuss. The clip-on type from Finesse or WPS (which is what J-Tech stock) just slides onto the shaft beneath the bottom-out bumper. You pull the spring off, remove the bumper, swap the spacer, reassemble. Fifteen minutes in the garage with a clean rag and a beer.

However, there's one complication to watch for: if the shock is the 2023 or newer model with hydraulic bottom-out control (HBO), you'll also need an HBO bolt. That's the valve you mentioned. If the Merlin deal is a pre-2023 Deluxe Coil (no HBO), it's just the spacer swap and you're done. If it's 2023+, you'll need the HBO bolt as well, and that J-Tech kit at £27 sounds about right for the spacer plus bolt combo. Worth checking the shock's model year before ordering.

One more thing worth flagging: the Remedy's suspension linkage has a specific progression curve designed around that 57.5mm stroke. Running the shock at 62.5mm without the spacer would give roughly 160mm of rear travel and could lead to bottom-out issues since the frame wasn't designed for that extra stroke. So definitely do the spacer swap rather than just running it long.

On spring choice, you mentioned Cane Creek progressive. That's a solid call if the Remedy's leverage ratio is already fairly linear, as a progressive spring will add some end-stroke ramp-up. Just make sure your mate gets the right spring rate for his weight before committing. What does he weigh kitted up?

I’ve sent him a link to tf tuned spring calculator to work out the spring weight. Do you know of a better calculator?

Thanks again

 

[Greg Watts]

I’ve sent him a link to tf tuned spring calculator to work out the spring weight. Do you know of a better calculator? Thanks again

TF Tuned's calculator is perfectly decent, so no need to drag him away from it. The other one worth knowing about is the Vorsprung spring rate calculator, which is free and tends to give good results for coil setups specifically. Mojo suspension also have one on their site if he wants a third opinion to triangulate.

The main thing to feed into any of them accurately is rider weight fully kitted, so helmet, pads, pack, water, the lot. People routinely underestimate this by 3-5kg and end up on a spring that's too soft. Worth a mention before he orders.