Calling all Gran Mal riders

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Calling all Gran Mal riders
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flag wookiefreeride
Posted: Jan 9, 2008 at 15:26 Quote
Hey guys,

I am 6' 2" at 215 lbs with gear. I have been riding my Gran Mal for about 4 months now. Here is the set up...Gran Mal Long frame...Revox 6 way(9.5" x 3") shock with a 450# Ti spring...Zoke 888RC2X. My problem is I am constantly bottoming it out the rear off of small features and the rear wheel is hitting the back of the seat. It is bottoming out on things that dont even really move the suspension on my Dirtbag with a swinger 4 way. I feel like this should not be this way. I have tried every setting possible with the shock. So...my question is what size are you guys and what set up are you running for the rear suspension. What shock, spring type and rate, shock travel setting ect... I can not get a bigger Ti spring due to clearance around the shock and I am running the compression setting and the air assist at the max settings. I am not sure where to go from here. I emailed TBC with the same Questions and I am waiting for their response. I bought the Gran Mal for my big hit bike but it seems, as for mine anyways, that it is not cut out for the tasks. I am way more confident in my Dirtbags ability and it has a much more inferior build in my opinion than the Gran Mal. This should not be. I ride with 3 other Gran Mals and 2 of them have the same problem and they are running the Fox 5.0. So I dont think the problem is as simple as get a Fox. I am open to any suggestions, new shock, new spring, type and rate(steel), what ever. I am almost ready to sell this bike and get a different big hit bike (The Huckster). I own 3 TBC bikes as of now...(Gran Mal, Dirtbag, and a T O P...and I would like to stay with TBC, but I need a big bike for the big stuff. I am just not feeling it with the G M. Thanks for reading and any help is appreciated.
flag chads
Posted: Jan 9, 2008 at 19:37 Quote
Riding with your suspension out of wack is the worst. I would say the most obvious thing is the spring weight. Its much too light for your size. When I purchased my DHX Fox recommended 450lbs for a 180lbs rider...I told em to send it with a 550lbs spring and its just right. For the travel lenght of your frame and the linkage which your running a 550lbs spring would probably fix things really well. There was a company i remember comming across not to long ago that made Ti springs for Fox, Answer and other common brands....I just cant seem to find em. I say just keep looking into a new spring or new shock since I'm 90% sure that your just running too light of a spring.

Edit: The material of the spring will not affect its rate. Only the physical weight of the spring and durability. A Ti spring is lighter and fatigues less than a steel spring.
flag LIFE-IS-FR
Posted: Oct 22, 2008 at 17:56 Quote
are you still having problems with your gran mal?

i had the same problems with mine and when i went to 500lb spring and upped the air pressure in the 6 way to the max safe setting with the bottom resistance all the way in it got alot better. really progressive near the limit of travel but stil supple and now i wouldnt get rid of my gran mal for anything!
flag wookiefreeride
Posted: Oct 22, 2008 at 18:21 Quote
Nope...I seemed to solve the problem. I ditched the Ti spring (I think the spring rate was marked wrong.) I sent the Revox back to Manitou/Hayes. There was a leaky air valve issue. They address the leak, tweeked the high speed compression and re-valved the SPV. Since then I have had no problems with the shock bottoming and the tire hitting the seat tube. Also, when Manitou sent the shock back, it had a 500# steel spring on it. It is not as supple as I want but it rides amazing. The bike is great for downhilling and amazing for Big Hit Freeride. I am in the same boat as you, the Gran Mal will be in my stable until it fails, I damage it to much to ride, or it kills me. It just eats up everything. I am looking to upgrade to a legit Ti spring(Diverse spring or RCS spring) to shed some weight. As it sits now...it is at 44#. Not to bad for an 8.2" DH bike.

Thanks for responding to my thread. If you have any questions or just want to shoot the sh!t with another Gran Mal rider...just hit me up. By the way...I ride with 4 other Gran Mals, so I can give advice or feedback on some different setups.
flag LIFE-IS-FR
Posted: Oct 22, 2008 at 18:47 Quote
yeah thats whats up! my swinger 6way is kinda messed up now though and i want to send it in to get serviced cuz it is driving me crazy it wont hold pressure again. but i am in love with the bike lol i think im gona go with a new 888 (the white lowers with pink graphics) or the fox 40. i am getting my bike painted black this week and the graphics are gonna be deep pink or crimson red. i got transition to send me template of all the graphics so its all good. their customer service is amazing too. i wish there were more transition riders around here though. they all ride specialized or iron horse
flag LIFE-IS-FR
Posted: Oct 22, 2008 at 19:58 Quote
ohhhh shit i didnt even notice that you lived in va!
flag kovacs2121
Posted: Feb 5, 2009 at 12:22 Quote
i love my gran mal bt my suspensions a bit wacked too. iv got a swinger 6-way which is alright... i think i just need to mess around with the cmpression.

but i was thinking about going to a dhx 5.0 air and a fox 40.

Any input on this?
flag wookiefreeride
Posted: Feb 5, 2009 at 12:40 Quote
I have the same set up as when I started this thread. Since then, I have had the Revox rebuilt by the Tech at Hayes. They did an awesome jod. I have had 0 issues since they rebuilt it. I have also perchased am FOX 5.0 to run in it. I went for the FOX to shed a little weight. Manitou springs are heavy. I am in the process of getting the 5.0 PUSHED before I install it in the frame. I have the 2007 Zoke 888 rc2x on the front and will run that untill I can get my hands on a 2010 Boxxer.

Kovacs...

PM me if you have any question on setting up you bike. I have my Dirtbag and my Gran Mal set up pretty spot on. Both are running Manitou shocks.
flag choreducker
Posted: Feb 5, 2009 at 12:45 Quote
wookiefreeride wrote:
Hey guys,

I am 6' 2" at 215 lbs with gear. I have been riding my Gran Mal for about 4 months now. Here is the set up...Gran Mal Long frame...Revox 6 way(9.5" x 3") shock with a 450# Ti spring...Zoke 888RC2X. My problem is I am constantly bottoming it out the rear off of small features and the rear wheel is hitting the back of the seat. It is bottoming out on things that dont even really move the suspension on my Dirtbag with a swinger 4 way. I feel like this should not be this way. I have tried every setting possible with the shock. So...my question is what size are you guys and what set up are you running for the rear suspension. What shock, spring type and rate, shock travel setting ect... I can not get a bigger Ti spring due to clearance around the shock and I am running the compression setting and the air assist at the max settings. I am not sure where to go from here. I emailed TBC with the same Questions and I am waiting for their response. I bought the Gran Mal for my big hit bike but it seems, as for mine anyways, that it is not cut out for the tasks. I am way more confident in my Dirtbags ability and it has a much more inferior build in my opinion than the Gran Mal. This should not be. I ride with 3 other Gran Mals and 2 of them have the same problem and they are running the Fox 5.0. So I dont think the problem is as simple as get a Fox. I am open to any suggestions, new shock, new spring, type and rate(steel), what ever. I am almost ready to sell this bike and get a different big hit bike (The Huckster). I own 3 TBC bikes as of now...(Gran Mal, Dirtbag, and a T O P...and I would like to stay with TBC, but I need a big bike for the big stuff. I am just not feeling it with the G M. Thanks for reading and any help is appreciated.

Have you contacted TBC? They may have some setup suggestions? http://www.transitionbikes.com/Home.cfm?CFID=867381&CFTOKEN=72624327
Send off an email to them, great guys.
flag wookiefreeride
Posted: Feb 5, 2009 at 12:53 Quote
I spoke with TBC when I was experiencing the issues. The were as helpful as they could be. It was a suspension issue not and Frame issue. The bike feels amazing now. It has seen Big Hit Freeride, shuttle days, and several resort trips. Could not be happier other than the weight, which I am working on that. I should have it down to 43 pounds by the time summer is here.
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