Today, Cane Creek announced their latest shock–the DBcoil IL–along with a new lightweight spring called VALT. The DBcoil IL started as an after work project by Cane Creek design engineer Brandon Blakely. He piqued the interest of his coworkers after showing up to a ride with a crude prototype. The design was determined to have merit, so Cane Creek sent out a small run of prototypes for testing. After receiving praise from their testers, Cane Creek decided to put the DBcoil IL into production.
Essentially, the DBcoil IL is a mash-up of Cane Creek’s long-standing DBcoil and their newer DBinline shocks. Take a coil spring, put it on a DBinline, and voila, the DBcoil IL is born. The shock is aimed at short- to mid-travel trail bikes where a coil shock with a reservoir may be overkill or unable to fit in the frame.
It has all the same features as the rest of Cane Creek’s high-end shocks. From Cane Creek:
- Twin-Tube Design. Setting the DBcoil[IL] apart, oil circulates continuously through externally-adjustable shock valves. On the trail, this routing of oil translates into less fade, more control, and greater consistency, making it the most highly-capable inline coil shock on the market.
- Four-Way Independent Adjustment. Like other Double Barrel shocks, the DBcoil[IL] offers an unparalleled range of adjustability through external adjusters that independently control each phase of damping without crossover effects.
- Patented Climb Switch (CS) Technology. When engaged, both low-speed compression and low-speed rebound damping settings are altered simultaneously to achieve improved pedal efficiency and less chassis motion while maximizing traction.
- Base Tunes and the DIALED App. Cane Creek’s online Tune Finder provides riders with frame-specific recommended settings based on bike geometry and rider input. From there, riders are encouraged to fine tune their suspension for personal styles and preferences using Cane Creek’s free mobile Tuning App DIALED.
The VALT springs are considerably lighter than Cane Creek’s standard offering–anywhere from 25-30% depending on the size. Cane Creek is using a higher-end steel for the VALT, which allows them to use less material. Less material, less weight. Should you have a DBCoil already, you can save some weight by putting on one of these in place of the stock spring. It should also fit the majority of coil shocks from other brands as well.
You can purchase the DBcoil IL ($550) and VALT springs ($130) now at your local shop or directly from Cane Creek. They will also be found on select 2017 Ghost bikes. We’ll have our own unit in for testing soon, so stay tuned for our impressions of the new shock!
