Crestline RS 181.2 thread – builds, reviews, technical info

[Rizzle]

@Greg Watts. Can you compile a report of the issues some of us Crestline folks are having with assist modes on the MS2 then tag in an Avinox support person on this website to look into it?

Also, sorry to bother the sentient humans in this thread with AI slop. No offense,bot.

@Greg Watts? battery charging?

 

[mrtrinh]

So after the first ride, which was at Aliso Woods in So Cal, (one of my usual spots) I got 28 achievements on Strava and 11 PR’s. Of the 11 pr’s, 6 were top 10 all time and 1 was KOM. All of the DH runs were good, but the trails are blown out, so not ideal for PR’s like good hero dirt after a rain. But I was within about 5 seconds of my pr’s on those trails. And that’s just the first ride, with only 1 click added to my HSC on the shock, so lots of room for improvement. One thing bugging me is the headset feels loose and has some slop in it even though it’s definitely tightened down with the star nut. I might swap it out for a CC Hellbender 70 which I already have brand new. The motor is definitely a hot rod and I love it!

View attachment 182970

Nice, aliso is local to me too. Was actually out there today on my 181.1. Still need to rap my 181.2. What Trail did you Kom?

 

[garoto]

Bike looks so good, and with the Onyx hubs I know it sounds good too!

I also run the Time pedals for decades now, they just work forever regardless of mud and lack of maintenance.

How do you like the Shredda's do these get you up some hairy loose techy climbs that other tires would normally slip away on? I have a few super steep bits on my trails that seem to need something like the Shredda to make it up.

Oh yeah, I just ordered the new Tacky Chan radials for a bit more grip too!

The chan will for sure be the next replacement. I took the shreddas off for magic marys. Too many loose leaves on my local trails. Not sure when I'll get to run them. Might do the front shredda on the rear soon just to make use of them.

 

[Greg Watts]

@Greg Watts? battery charging?

On the assist modes issue: the official mode order on the M2S is Off → Auto → Eco → Trail → Turbo, so Trail sitting above Eco in terms of support is the expected behaviour. @polymathic's report that Trail feels weaker than Eco is genuinely odd and not the intended mapping.

The good news is that each mode can be tweaked via the Avinox app, allowing riders to adjust parameters like assist level, max torque, and start assist - and changes sync in real time.

So if someone's Trail mode genuinely feels below Eco, the first port of call is checking whether factory defaults got scrambled and resetting or manually adjusting the per-mode parameters in the app.

As for Boost: Boost mode offers up to 30 seconds of 150Nm and 1,300W maximum output on the M2S. If people aren't seeing it, that's worth flagging to Crestline directly - it's a hardware-level feature of the motor, not something that should disappear with firmware.

@Rizzle, I can pull together what's been reported in this thread, but tagging an Avinox support rep isn't something I can do - I don't have staff accounts for any brands. Your best bet for escalation is DJI/Avinox support directly, or Crestline's customer support channel. On "AI slop": fair enough, I'm a tool. A well-calibrated one, but a tool nonetheless. No offence taken.

On battery charging - you'll need to be more specific. What's the actual question?

 

[garoto]

I got an email back from Troydon today letting me know that my Forge Frameset will ship with the 700Wh battery. In my order, I'd asked for the 800 because of the uncertainty of what was coming. I followed up after the Avinox announcement and asked if I could get the 700. I can't wait to get this bike on the trails!

Im led to believe i might have a 700 installed as well ️

 

[AZEMTB]

So after the first ride, which was at Aliso Woods in So Cal, (one of my usual spots) I got 28 achievements on Strava and 11 PR’s. Of the 11 pr’s, 6 were top 10 all time and 1 was KOM. All of the DH runs were good, but the trails are blown out, so not ideal for PR’s like good hero dirt after a rain. But I was within about 5 seconds of my pr’s on those trails. And that’s just the first ride, with only 1 click added to my HSC on the shock, so lots of room for improvement. One thing bugging me is the headset feels loose and has some slop in it even though it’s definitely tightened down with the star nut. I might swap it out for a CC Hellbender 70 which I already have brand new. The motor is definitely a hot rod and I love it!

View attachment 182970

Nice build...Rulezman stem? Bike size? your height? Bar height? sorry for all the questions just trying to figure out how many spacers before I cut the steering stem...LOL

Have you tried the albert radials yet?

 

[Onetime]

Nice, aliso is local to me too. Was actually out there today on my 181.1. Still need to rap my 181.2. What Trail did you Kom?

Coyote West. What’s your name on Strava? Maybe I’ll see you there sometime.

 

[Onetime]

Nice build...Rulezman stem? Bike size? your height? Bar height? sorry for all the questions just trying to figure out how many spacers before I cut the steering stem...LOL

Have you tried the albert radials yet?

Thanks, I listed a full build spec 2 or 3 pages back. But yes, it’s a Rulezman stem, RH2, I’m 5’7 and that is a 40mm rise Renthal Fat Bar lite carbon bar. No, I haven’t tried Albert’s. I would give em a try, but they’re not available in 2.8, (my preferred size). I’ve been running 2.8 DHRII’s for a long time now because I really like them. They roll fast, soak up the small trail chatter and have plenty of grip and they’re not too heavy.

 

[phof]

Air or coil shock?or both

I only have direct experience with the vivid air, but vivid coil looks like rebound knob doesn't stick out as far.

 

[Petrex]

No this isn’t the right connector. The connector on the m2s uses the z405. But I can’t find it anywhere.

The official SRAM AXS cable for M2S is unobtainium ! People have been buying the Bosch cable and splicing to an Avinox front light adapter cable that can mostly be found in Germany (~€20)- There is a big thread on it somewhere on here !
From around about here !

R

Post in thread 'Avinox SRAM AXS Motor power Cable (M1/M2 Variants)'

Apr 11, 2026

Re Hugo Micro A, that's the connector used on Avinox? Seen adverts for that with no ref to Amflow or Avinox

They seem expensive at £109. Anyone know where it's cheaper or 2nd hand?

It appears that it depends which Avinox motor you have, I think the Higo A connector is for the original M1 motor.

I think the new M2 and M2S require the Z405 connector. SRAM cable 00.3018.418.001.

Please wait for confirmation before buying though as I'm not 100% sure. I'm sure one of the other helpful forum members will confirm in due course.

• Roughshod

 

[John_likes_bikes]

Air or coil shock?or both

With a coil you can rotate the shaft 90 degrees to make the rebound pointing down, then there's plenty of clearance in both settings.. You may be able to do that with an air too when the can is removed. I haven't had one apart for a while.

 

[Mike54]

With a coil you can rotate the shaft 90 degrees to make the rebound pointing down, then there's plenty of clearance in both settings.. You may be able to do that with an air too when the can is removed. I haven't had one apart for a while.

Also,i think rebound knob is removable on the new coil shock

 

[aleksbez]

With the amount of ride time you get with a detuned system I just don't see hot swapping the much for most people as well, unless your style is Turbo all day

The official SRAM AXS cable for M2S is unobtainium ! People have been been buying the Bosch cable and splicing to an Avinox front light adapter cable that can mostly be found in Germany (~€20)- There is a big thread on it somewhere on here !
From around about here !

R

Post in thread 'Avinox SRAM AXS Motor power Cable (M1/M2 Variants)'

Apr 11, 2026

Re Hugo Micro A, that's the connector used on Avinox? Seen adverts for that with no ref to Amflow or Avinox

They seem expensive at £109. Anyone know where it's cheaper or 2nd hand?

It appears that it depends which Avinox motor you have, I think the Higo A connector is for the original M1 motor.

I think the new M2 and M2S require the Z405 connector. SRAM cable 00.3018.418.001.

Please wait for confirmation before buying though as I'm not 100% sure. I'm sure one of the other helpful forum members will confirm in due course.

• Roughshod

Yup! I’m doing the exact same thing. I bought a DJI light cable from Germany (2 to be safe) and I’m going to splice them together using insulted butt connectors.

I’ve actually been in touch with Troydon about this issue recently and he’s fully aware of it now. He’s proposing an adapter type of a solution (micro A to z405). So we’ll see how that goes.

In the meantime I’m running an AXS battery until the cables arrive from Germany and then I’ll splice em’.

Just to confirm, it’s red to red and black to black (yellow and green unused), correct?

 

[Petrex]

Yup! I’m doing the exact same thing. I bought a DJI light cable from Germany (2 to be safe) and I’m going to splice them together using insulted butt connectors.

I’ve actually been in touch with Troydon about this issue recently and he’s fully aware of it now. He’s proposing an adapter type of a solution (micro A to z405). So we’ll see how that goes.

In the meantime I’m running an AXS battery until the cables arrive from Germany and then I’ll splice em’.

Just to confirm, it’s red to red and black to black (yellow and green unused), correct?

That's what I heard ! But no physical knowledge as it were. I think someone is/has been testing it !?

According to reports, 2 wires (Red, black) carry power +12V, while the other 2 are Canbus. You can simply meter the wires to check which have the 12V supply .

Micro A to Z405 adapter might be an answer, if you can find the M1 cable which is only slightly more available it seems !

 

[jej737]

Anyone changed there dropouts? Currently running in 29 setup but want to try mullet. I have dropouts but can’t find any info on torque specs.

 

[polymathic]

I’m going to splice them together using insulted butt connectors.

You made my day! Funniest typos in a long time.

 

[aleksbez]

That's what I heard ! But no physical knowledge as it were. I think someone is/has been testing it !?

Micro A to Z405 adapter might be an answer, if you can find the M1 cable which is only slightly more available it seems !

So I believe what happened is that the new motors prototype was designed with the older cable (micro A) and so naturally the frames were designed around this. I was even told that there’s zero clearance issues and that the cable routes easily.

At some point DJI decided to switch the connector prior to release to micro m/z405, which has a larger diameter. That’s why everyone is having difficulty routing the cable. Some people got lucky I guess through sheer will power.

In any case I think it’s going to be a while before we see SRAM release these. So either you get lucky routing it or you go with a splicing solution. Or maybe an adapter comes out soon.

 

[mrtrinh]

Anyone changed there dropouts? Currently running in 29 setup but want to try mullet. I have dropouts but can’t find any info on torque specs.

12-15nm per crestline website.

 

[jej737]

12-15nm per crestline website.

completely looked past that, duh, thanks.

 

[Petrex]

So I believe what happened is that the new motors prototype was designed with the older cable (micro A) and so naturally the frames were designed around this. I was even told that there’s zero clearance issues and that the cable routes easily.

At some point DJI decided to switch the connector prior to release to micro m/z405, which has a larger diameter. That’s why everyone is having difficulty routing the cable. Some people got lucky I guess through sheer will power.

In any case I think it’s going to be a while before we see SRAM release these. So either you get lucky routing it or you go with a splicing solution. Or maybe an adapter comes out soon.

4.8mm micro-A vs 5.5mm Z405

 

[BikingBad]

completely looked past that, duh, thanks.

I’m running MX 445mm. I also have 435 & 450 MX dropouts for sale if anyone is interested.

 

[digitale]

Anyone have their rh4 ridewrapped yet? Aside from the shuttle guard spot, my ridewrap guy mentioned things don't seem to be fitting great on the front triangle. He's going to send an email out to ridewrap see what the deal is.

 

[Wah]

Anyone have their rh4 ridewrapped yet? Aside from the shuttle guard spot, my ridewrap guy mentioned things don't seem to be fitting great on the front triangle. He's going to send an email out to ridewrap see what the deal is.

Didn’t have a problem. Maybe you got the wrong size?

 

[Suns_PSD]

I’m running MX 445mm. I also have 435 & 450 MX dropouts for sale if anyone is interested.

Would be cool if you shared what size bike you have if it's a 29 or a mullet and what you found trying the different change stays.

 

[sanosan34]

Anyone have their rh4 ridewrapped yet? Aside from the shuttle guard spot, my ridewrap guy mentioned things don't seem to be fitting great on the front triangle. He's going to send an email out to ridewrap see what the deal is.

Make sure he didn’t use the 181.1 wrap, it’s a little different from 181.2

 

[digitale]

Make sure he didn’t use the 181.1 wrap, it’s a little different from 181.2

Yeah it's def for 181.2. made sure. He mentioned a few pieces seemed too short.

 

[Mario Antony]

Hard to tell at this stage as I haven't gotten the suspension dialed and I feel like the crestline is meant to ride a bit more off that back of the bike which I'm not used to. it is definitely more flickable, the rear is really easy to break loose. I have noticed it pops more which is nice. I had my Strive On pretty dialed and had a 625w battery with custom mounts /no cable routing guides to get the weight right down and I had custom tuned suspension which made a huge difference. For now I am just on a stock setup and haven't got it feeling fully comfortable as the front is diving a bit etc. Saying that today I thought it would be pretty close in times and I was about 20 seconds off my best time which was a surprise. I am hoping that will change once things are dialed. The main difference though is how quiet it is. That part is really nice. Motor is quiet on the way up and is quiet on the way down.

Hi. Do you have photos of the Battery mod on the Strive ON?
You basically placed the plug port near the motor, shortening all cables?
Thanks

 

[BikingBad]

Would be cool if you shared what size bike you have if it's a 29 or a mullet and what you found trying the different change stays.

RH3, MX.
As expected, 435 made bike feel more poppy which I wanted but stability on steep DH suffered noticeably. 445 felt more balanced, sweet spot between poppy and planted. No plan to try 450, new in bag.

 

[Speed_GeauxT]

RH3, MX.
As expected, 435 made bike feel more poppy which I wanted but stability on steep DH suffered noticeably. 445 felt more balanced, sweet spot between poppy and planted. No plan to try 450, new in bag.

My Rail 29 has a 436mm & my 181.2 came with a 440mm that i’ll try mullet for the first time. Can’t imagine 4mm will be noticeable wish I knew the %incline on whats steep in your area so I could compare my trails but so far I haven't notice any instability on my Rail on anything can’t wait for that first dirt

 

[Onetime]

My VitalMTB bike check.

My Plaid