Well I’ve ridden several rear air shocks and this one was, by far, the stiffest of all of them. It’s a Fox Float RL, and I checked the air spring pressure, which was actually quite low, maybe around 25psi. I pushed down on the back end after I had both wheels to mount, and it was still a bit hard to compress. I’ve done the same thing with other bikes I’ve had where the shock was set to a similar pressure, and not had nearly the same resistance.
To answer your other inquiry, no I’ve not had it serviced. To be honest, I don’t plan to. I’m on a rather limited budget and would rather not bother, spending that money in other areas. The shock doesn’t leak, and it still works pretty well. I just pumped it up less than I would other shocks I’ve tried and it does feel fairly smooth. And yes, on the new shock front, I’ve a Cane Creek DBInline on my big hit bike and it feels worlds apart from this one. So I do plan on upgrading to another one of those.
Thanks for your insights, and I’m glad that your maintenance schedule serves you well. I don’t need to service my equipment very often. Usually because down here in Florida, the weather doesn’t permit me to get out to go riding. I’m restricted to weekends, and much of the time, especially this year, it’s raining almost everyday so my local trails are either underwater, or so wet that they’d otherwise be damaged if I tried to go.
As for riding it, I’d be happy to let you try it out to see what another rider thinks of the feel. I think other than the slightly stiff rear shock, the thing feels amazing as a whole. I can’t wait until I can actually get a chance to take it to a trail to really give it a go. 😀