Orbea Rise Cascade Component Link

[alex_o]

That may partially be due to the compression/rebound tuning of the float X. I find that there is a lot of shim (or to simplify it, damping) pre-load on the float X. It's definitely the kind of shock where I find that I am running the rebound and compression pretty much open and adding even a single click deadens the bike a lot.

Were you making any changes to your rebound settings as you were increasing pressure? I'm guessing not because you didn't say anything about that.

Yes, same settings as before, compression fully open and 7 clicks of rebound. On the last ride I went up to 8 clicks from closed and it felt better, but I still miss some liveliness/pop.

 

[alex_o]

Finally happy with the setup! Settled for now at 225psi (from 175psi), 0.4 token (from 0.8) full open compression and 7 clicks of rebound (same as before). It's as livelly and fast as before the link upgrade, but much more stable on the chunk and bigger landings.
Paired with 160mm in the fork I really think this is a great upgrade for people that want to make the Rise a touch more capable bike.

 

[kotto25]

Any reviews of running this link with a coil? I’m currently running a Bomber CR. I assume I would have to go up a spring rate with this link.

 

[ebsocalmtb]

I've got a few rides on mine now. Running a dhx2 long shocked with the cascade link. I upped the spring rate from 515lbs to about 550lbs for my 180lb riding weight. So far so good, the small bump compliance is definitely more supple and the progressiveness is definitely improved and the bottom out events are not as harsh or significant with this setup. I'm nursing an injury right now, so I'm not going as full send as I usually do, so time will tell if I'll need to up the spring rate once again.

 

[ebsocalmtb]

I'm still dialing in my rise with the above listed setup. Overall, it rides much nicer at speed/descending but there are some things to note with regards to overall balance. As I mentioned before, I upped the spring rate by about 40lbs, which is just under 10%. It feels as if that I still need to up the rate a bit from there as I've been able to bottom the bike pretty well on 5-6' drops that have landings that aren't so steep. The bottom out events are much softer then they were previously with my coil shock and the stock link, but they are there and noticeable, which means that I need to either increase the spring rate or start feeding in more compression damping.

In addition, the bike is definitely riding lower in it's travel in general then it was before the link. I can only attribute this to the overall increase in leverage ratio. According to linkeagedesign and cascade, at sag (15-18mm), the stock bike would have a leverage ratio of ~2.6 where now, with the cascade link, it's at ~2.9.

All of this points to needing a general increase in spring rate beyond what I've already added. So, from my experience, I'd expect most people adding this link to need to add somewhere around 12-15% spring rate compared to previous. I also feel like you're going to need to add a proportional amount of compression damping as well. These are not really positives or negatives, just anecdotes for those following along.

What is definitely clear with this link, is the increase in stiffness of the back end of the bike. It is way, way easier for me to snap this bike into a corner or catch berm with the link + pre-load kit from CC. The bike has a directness to it that wasn't there before, and it's very obvious when you're riding hard across an off camber, railing the bike into a berm or landing from a jump where you went way too deep/long and land hard. Previously, I'd find that it would get a bit hard to keep the bike pointed in the right direction (say compared to my santacruz bikes in this situation) but that gap has closed significantly with these improvements.

More info to come as I continue to dial this thing in.

 

[Malicefox]

I'm still dialing in my rise with the above listed setup. Overall, it rides much nicer at speed/descending but there are some things to note with regards to overall balance. As I mentioned before, I upped the spring rate by about 40lbs, which is just under 10%. It feels as if that I still need to up the rate a bit from there as I've been able to bottom the bike pretty well on 5-6' drops that have landings that aren't so steep. The bottom out events are much softer then they were previously with my coil shock and the stock link, but they are there and noticeable, which means that I need to either increase the spring rate or start feeding in more compression damping.

In addition, the bike is definitely riding lower in it's travel in general then it was before the link. I can only attribute this to the overall increase in leverage ratio. According to linkeagedesign and cascade, at sag (15-18mm), the stock bike would have a leverage ratio of ~2.6 where now, with the cascade link, it's at ~2.9.

All of this points to needing a general increase in spring rate beyond what I've already added. So, from my experience, I'd expect most people adding this link to need to add somewhere around 12-15% spring rate compared to previous. I also feel like you're going to need to add a proportional amount of compression damping as well. These are not really positives or negatives, just anecdotes for those following along.

What is definitely clear with this link, is the increase in stiffness of the back end of the bike. It is way, way easier for me to snap this bike into a corner or catch berm with the link + pre-load kit from CC. The bike has a directness to it that wasn't there before, and it's very obvious when you're riding hard across an off camber, railing the bike into a berm or landing from a jump where you went way too deep/long and land hard. Previously, I'd find that it would get a bit hard to keep the bike pointed in the right direction (say compared to my santacruz bikes in this situation) but that gap has closed significantly with these improvements.

More info to come as I continue to dial this thing in.

While I haven't noticed the lower ride height, or bottoming out, I def agree with all the other points you have made. I am on a DVO Topaz Gen3, not a coil, so maybe that's why I haven't seen a drop in ride height? I had to up my pressure ~15psi and add 2 negative volume spacers to get the bike to sit at 30% sag. With this, the ride height hasn't changed from stock.

The handling improvement was the most noticeable thing for me. The bike just tracks better and more confidently. Small bump compliance is significantly improved too.

I noticed the rear flex on the stock bike, but it never really bothered me. Now that I have a couple rides on my cascade link and can feel the difference, I'm actually annoyed the stock link was allowed to pass QC from Orbea haha. I've also noticed that jumping the bike is just smoother. Cant really explain it, but it feels more confidence inspiring leaving the ground now.

All around the bike is just more stable, and not having to worry about the link walking itself loose is just fantastic.

 

[Ameiza]

I have my 8.5x2.5 (216x63) dhx2 now installed with a single, 2mm offset bushing and a 2.5mm stroke reducing spacer installed. The final specs are then 214x60.5 with the 27.5 rear wheel. There is no contact of the tire on the seat tube at bottom out with this setup. I'm not sure if I could run the full 63mm stroke of this shock with the cascade link and clear the seat tube. I don't have much reason to want the extra few mm of travel out of the bike as I already have ~160 - 165mm of travel with this setup as is and there is no reason to risk it.

I did get out for a very long ride on the bike this last weekend with the new cascade, long shock and mullet setup. I have to say that I am really, really impressed with the changes that the cascade link has made to the bike. The bike is so much more supple off the top that I can get the bike to sink into it's travel with just a finger press on the saddle. It sags under it's own weight a touch, which is not something that it was doing with the stock link.

Overall, the change in leverage ratio and progression really adds a lot to the bike with the setup I am running. I generally had to run more spring then I wanted to in order to avoid bottoming the bike out on jumps or large drops. I weigh around 82kg and I was running a 500-550 sprindex right at about 520lbs. Most spring rate calculators would tell me that I should have been running around 475lb spring, but even with 520 I was able to bottom the bike pretty hard on larger jumps. I've now upped the spring rate to 550lbs with the cascade link setup and the bike is still more supple at the beginning of the stroke despite the extra spring rate.

The other noticeable improvement with the cascade link is for sure the stiffness of the rear end. The bike is much more direct feeling and far easier to steer with the back end of the bike. It's easier to tell when the back is at the edge of traction and drifting, and it's easier to hold the bike in that state then it was previously. The increased stiffness in the rear end of the frame is noticeable even when just grabbing the top of the rear wheel and flexing it back and forth.

I can't say that I notice a significant (or any) difference in the dynamic geometry of the bike as a result of the cascade link. The bike doesn't seem to be riding in a different spot in it's travel, the bb height seems about the same as before the link install. Overall, it's really just the change in progression, leverage ratio and stiffness that I notice. My bike has the same amount of travel (more or less) before and after this swap... so I don't have much comment on the capability of the bike overall with the additional travel.

Would you mind sharing your shock adjustment settings? I am similar weight and I am just about to get the same setup installed. First time I test a coil on the rise.