Suspension Personality: Ibis, Mondraker, Nukeproof & Yeti

We get a lot of questions on why we choose the brands that we do as well as how the overall brand personalities stack up. Let’s look at how the Ibis, Mondraker, Nukeproof and Yeti bikes tend to behave and what type of riders will find a preference in their designs.

Let’s quickly examine some of the aspects that make certain MTB and eMTB designs special.

Modern MTB geo has found a more or less common ground across different types of bikes based on their designed terrain making actual suspension performance the characteristic to separate real gems from the “almost there” rigs.

Every bike’s linkage design plays a huge role in a variety of important factors for next level performance.

The class leading designs from Ibis, Mondraker, Nukeproof and Yeti feature factors that allow their bikes to stand apart. How each gets there is a little different – but these bikes are above the average in the following:

Trail Personality ABCs. Does it ride? Accurate. Behaved. Confident.

Bikes that are going to be fun for the widest range of riders are going to take all of the above into consideration.

We look for bikes that have a good balance of nimbleness and speed capacity while staying where you put them so to speak.

Are the bikes capable of climbing in typical terrain you’d expect for a riding style?

Do the bikes feel lively at consumer speeds? Are they confident transitioning into advanced or even pro race speed ranges, ie handling doesn’t become nervous?

Not all bike brands master this – for instance, prior to the Switch Infinity bikes (sometime in around say 2018?) Yeti bikes were really just absolute race machines. Everyone at Yeti was fast and every bike they built had that mentality. Some of the older Yeti’s were tough bikes for newer riders who didn’t have that aggressive capacity.

However, with the launch of Switch Infinity Yeti’s design team really addressed and produced bikes that are fun for a much wider range or rider skillsets. (Ibis was always very good at this aspect of bike design BTW)

How does each bike address the model’s “speed limit”? Obviously we’re not talking about an actual number on a limit – but some bikes have “soft” and others “hard” speed capacities. A bike with a “soft” speed limit will give a rider plenty of input that hey, we’re getting up to where your riding confidence level might have you start to whoa it back a bit. Bikes with a “hard” speed limit tend to feel amazing, until the moment they absolutely do not feel amazing and tend to spit riders out.

Whether you’re a weekend warrior, an ardent rider or a pro racer the “soft” speed limit makes for a more confident riding experience – which is one of the most important factors of design.

Rider Input: Active, Neutral or Passive?

How active are you on the bike? Do you like riding with a lot of body English? Attacking every corner and bit of terrain? That’s an Active riding style level of input.

Maybe you’re learning or progressing in a certain type of terrain and are looking for a bit more help from the bike? Maybe you physically struggle to ride actively due to back, neck, whatever type of physical ailment? A neutral riding style doesn’t mean you never move around – but maybe you’re more confident riding “in” the bike and want a bike that compliments this? Or even helps out with the occasional out of position scenario? Neutral.

So that leaves PASSIVE. How to describe that? Well, ever been on a big like notably too big for the terrain? No matter what you do the bike is simply going to do its’ own thing? Well, some brands miss on their designs and even an appropriate travel level bike can have a PASSIVE performance in the right type of terrain. Think of trying to do cornering drills on a bicycle built for two. You can want and lean all you want, but it’s gonna do it’s thing…

(We’ll touch more on how each of our brands: Ibis, Mondraker, Nukeproof and Yeti stack up to rider input below)

Tuning Range

Do the mechanics of the design lend themselves to the tuning capacity of the terrain or riding style appropriate dampers and springs (whether air specific, coil specific or setup for either).

Designers work to balance the mechanical advantage or disadvantage from the wheel, through the linkage all the way to the spring’s resistance. On multi pivot bikes that means a compromise of how your overall leverage ratios are balanced in order to produce a big that’s comfortable in the appropriate size of terrain and ground speeds.

(At BikeCo.com we do a lot of Pro Tune suspension work on brands that we don’t stock. Often it involves addressing performance deficiencies due to leverage ratios or leverage ratios outside of very specific weight and ground speed interface. But that’s a different story for a different day)

Ibis Suspension

Ibis’ DW suspension is extremely popular for new riders and experts alike.

Ibis bikes are very predictable and confident. The DW Suspension tends to be comfortable in bigger terrain than the amount of travel might suggest.

Ibis bikes are forgiving to rider position and disposition. An active rider will get even more performance out of the design – but a neutral rider, even an out of position rider on an Ibis benefits from the DW’s confident trail personality.

Ibis riders can rider “in” the bike with a nice balance between feet and hand weight input. Riding “off the back” in steeps is comfortable on the Ibis design and won’t compromise too much in terms of quick direction changes if riders shift a touch of weight onto the front for that split second of bite.

They hold lines well, they’ll go where riders tell them to, and if you find yourself suddenly above your skillset it’s a bike that’s going to have a lot in the tank to get you out of trouble.

Overall the Ibis designs have a good balance for average to heavier than average tuning. Lighter riders will note that many of the smaller frame sizes feature shocks with a lighter tune from the factory to help accommodate them.

BikeCo Pro Tune suspension is popular on the Ibis, as well as the other brands we carry, as it takes the unbeatable FOX damper range and narrows the performance window for a specific rider size, style, skillset and ground speed.

Ibis have a very soft speed limit and their performance is logical from just cruising down trail to really aggressively trying to find every bit of speed that trail will allow.

Mondraker Zero Suspension

A uniquely balanced design providing excellent confidence at speed for bikes notably nimble climbing or earlier in the speed range. An amazing balance of performance – seldom achieved at this level.

Mondraker’s suspension lends itself to active riders. Now that doesn’t mean you have to be flinging yourself all over the bike – and it is well behaved in a neutral riding position. But, if you ride mindful of terrain pumping the trail and turns, driving that front wheel into the direction change for a split second this bike will reward you with free acceleration.

A comfortable bike to ride “through your feet” (my preferred riding style at this point) the Mondraker’s are balanced, playful and fun in a wide range of terrain per model.

The Mondraker is a very precise bike capable of quick direction changes as well as holding a line through its speed range.

Overall the suspension design remains fairly neutral for all size riders. That said, my personal FOXY was spec’d with Ohlins suspension that I was too heavy to get into a compression range (so I went to a FOX 38 and Float X2 and never looked back).

Pro Tune suspension on the Mondraker is very similar to Ibis, Nukeproof and Yeti: the main goal tends to be to improve the personal adjustment range by narrowing the FOX suspension setup range for a specific rider. Every Click Counts!

The Mondraker parallels Yeti’s disposition: with a confident feel continues to invite more and more speed without becoming nervous. The bikes will communicate to a rider as they’re closing in on traction loss – I haven’t had a situation where my Mondraker simply spit me out so to speak. (And you should hear the tires groan in some corners! Just like my SB130 for all those years…)

A last note, much like the Yeti, Mondrakers are comfortable bikes at the extremes: two wheel drifts, snapping into a corner – these are bikes that if you’re capable of pushing them this hard they behave well all the way to the limits.

Nukeproof Suspension

Nukeproof’s suspension has a confident and competent on trail feel. Like the Ibis suspension Nukeproof bikes perform well for active and neutral riding styles.

Again, like Ibis, Nukeproof bikes are confident helping riders through terrain providing some leeway when you occasionally get over your head with the bike capable of bringing you back.

Active riding styles will find even more performance and speed – but the Nukeproof lineup is comfortable in direction change and holding lines without needing exceptional levels of rider input. The bikes follow directions well holding good traction at a variety of speeds with the capacity to hold a line.

Nukeproof bikes can be ridden confidently both in the bike as well as through your feet. Depending on your specific riding position your fork setup will differ, and to a lesser extent your rear shock’s compression settings as well.

Our custom Pro Tune packages for Nukeproof for the average to moderately heavier rider is pretty linear with lighter and notably heavier (myself included here) having some added variables.

Another parallel with Ibis, during custom tuning some Nukeproof riders find that Pro Tunes with increased compression tuning provide some additional “pop” to the bikes which produces a livelier feel that benefits active riders pumping the trail.

Nukeproof bikes are very confident and stable providing a very soft speed limit as you approach your speed capacity limits. Few scenarios create a nervous reaction from these bikes when ridden in their designed terrain capacities.

Yeti Switch Infinity Suspension

Designed with Yeti’s commitment to speed but without creating a numb bike at low to medium speed ranges, the modern Yeti is a poppy that offers a lot of free energy to active riders pumping the trails.

I have years of experience on the Switch Infinity with my previous personal bike a Lunch Ride SB130. This is a bike that is confident at speed all the way past its traction capacity without becoming edgy or nervous. Few bikes drift, and come back from a drift, like a Yeti will!

A combination of geo and suspension design allow the Switch Infinity bikes to be ridden both in the cockpit as well as through your feet – occasionally leaning up on the fork for super quick direction changes or to pump the trail for free speed.

Custom tuning for the Switch Infinity is variable depending on rider size and ground speed. A common Pro Tune consideration for average to heavy riders is to shift the compression settings to allow more support in the mid to mid-late shock stroke for better cornering (it allows the bike to stay taller in the travel forcing the energy through the corner instead of into the damper).

While I never found the Yeti a bike that was uneasy or nervous to ride I do feel that when I would start to get over my head I was best suited to emphasis an active riding style taking some control back from the bike rather than sitting in and letting it monster truck through things like an Ibis or Nukeproof might.

Some customers will have Yeti suspension tuned to increase the plushness and monster truck capacity as well as over-forking the bikes (Yeti tests its bikes to 20mm over fork travel spec per model) to increase the bike’s capacity for a rider who might get over their head occasionally…

Like the Mondraker Zero the Yeti Switch Infinity suspension allows active riders to push past where they likely thought their limits would be. An active riding style with a bit of a stiff front end (to keep you floating over and not burying in – whether through compression or compression and air) and these bikes are magic.

The Switch Infinity bike was the first in a LONG time that I could hear my tires working all the way to their edge of capacity before I felt like the bike had found anywhere near it’s capacity.

Ready for a bike capable of taking you to the next level?

Ya, ya you are. The proven personalities of our lineup, paired with BikeCo’s capacity to build a perfect spec for you, get you on a good starting suspension / cockpit / tire setup and provide absolutely unmatched after sales tuning advice through our team of experts is the reason so many MTB and eMTB riders buy from BikeCo.com

Questions? Chat, email or call our team to go over what you’re looking for and where you’re looking to go in your personal riding journey.

Interactive Geometry Comparison

Bottom bracket height, chainstay, reach, stack, headtube angle, fork offset as well as wheelbase have been provided for easy comparison across models, sizes and brands.

If you have any questions on sizing or specific geo contact our expert sales staff today!

Mega 290 Suspension Details

Nukeproof Mega 290 Linkage

The Mega 290 features multi-link suspension. Spring support is transferred through a rocker (or bell crank, or pivot – whatever you like) link to the seatstays which applies the support against the input from the rear wheel.

This creates several angles of interest which mechanically control what percentage of the spring rate is transferred to the wheel.

At each pivot point the spring support is transferred along the linkage the angle of that input dictates the percentage of the spring rate that is resisting the input. Quick example: a spring with a 300 lb output  at a 90 degree applied angle will apply 300 lbs. As the angle changes the percentage changes based on the sin of the new angle. Sin of 90 = 1, sin of 80 (10 degrees more acute) = .9848, sin of 100 (10 degrees more obtuse) is also .9848.

The leverage ratio of these pivots also factors in – but for this let’s look at the Mega 290’s concept and not completely reverse engineer the design.

At full extension the Mega’s rear suspension sits with the shock to crank link near 92 degrees ( close to 1 to 1 spring rate applied) and the seatstay link to bell crank linkage is slightly obtuse around 106 degrees.

As the suspension sits into sag (illustrated at 30%) the shock to bell crank link becomes increasingly obtuse while the seatstay linkage angle becomes slightly acute.
Spring to linkage 105, linkage to seatstay 88.

Shown at full compression the shock to link is notably obtuse – approximately 145 degrees and the seatstay to link more acute – about 48 degrees.

In this section of linkage it produces a falling rate, or regressive mechanical advantage.

To take it a step further you can see how two other angles of interest are used to tune suspension feel and performance on the Mega 290: the Seatstay to Chainstay pivot angle and the Chainstay to ‘vertical’ from Ground Angle. (it could be argued that these combined angles are 1 functional angle to the wheel input – you can think of it either way in this case in my opinion)

This combined angle at extension measures about 120 degrees, 113 at sag and 105 when compressed.

Since these angles are closing towards 90 a rising mechanical advantage is occurring as the suspension is compressed.

In the image above you see the factors classically graphed.

The blue line represents the spring to link and link to seatstay combined angles which provide a slight rising rate from extension to sag and then a gradual falling rate to compression.

In green is graphed the lower combined (or singular depending on your thought) angle from the wheel vertical into the seatstay. This mechanically rises from extension through compression.

Below is a reinterpreted version of this graph that might be easier to grasp the rising / falling concept (inverted from previous)

Blue shows mixed Rising to Falling mechanics while the green illustrates overall rising mechanics.

Now, looking solely at the input angles (disregarding the lever differences) if we combine all of the above angles the differences between the upper assembly and lower assembly produce a mechanical advantage that rises through approximately 70% of the stroke before slightly lower towards full compression.

Let’s invert the graph for a more intuitive view of the concept.

Inverting the graph (so rising is up, and falling is down) when you review the arc you’ll see that from Extension to Sag (first 30% of travel)  through to about 60% of travel is rising notably quicker then the arc shifts to flatten and decline slightly.

This helps increase the Mega’s planted feel deep through the stroke.

Of course with the Float X2 riders have a lot of tuning capacity in the compression and volume tuning as well.

Let’s take a quick look at the arc difference between the more enduro Mega and the more trail oriented Reactor’s mechanical advantage rates.

Let’s reinterpret the graph a bit logging 30% sag as the reference so we can better illustrate the comparative arcs plotted together.

Both the 130mm travel Reactor and the 160mm travel Mega have falling rates of mechanical angular advantage in droop travel (from sag to completely extended). In fact the combined angles are extremely close.

Sag: Reactor ~ 304 and Mega ~306

At Extension the numbers are similar as well: Reactor ~ 315 and Mega ~318.

When compressed the variance is greater with the Reactor ~ 289 and the Mega ~298.

When we review the arcs a lot of the suspension’s personality and its interaction with the damper can be seen.

Note on the Mega with it’s longer travel, longer shock and longer pivot lengths the mechanical advantage rate is rising until approximately 70% of the stroke or so. Then it starts to dip back down.

Compare this to the smaller travel and “poppier” riding 130mm Reactor. Droop travel shows near parallel advantage and rise when charted. However as the bike sits deeper than sag the mechanical advantage illustrates two major personality differences.

First, it continues to rise for the entity of its length and second it rises at a greater rate per mm of travel.

This generates a more, I’ll say lively response from the fully compressed shock. Which, balanced with the lower travel, since you’d be using “full” travel in smaller terrain than on the larger bike makes sense.

Now to tune this Nukeproof has provided the best shocks on the market.

The larger travel Mega also features the more robust Float X2 shock with high an low speed compression as well as volume spacing. This gives riders range to tune “against” the mechanical drop near the end of the stroke for mom pop or support deeper into the travel.

On the 130mm Reactor the FOX Float X is spec’d with low speed compression as well as volume tuning options. For riders looking for the ultimate “plush” air suspension setup on the Reactor chat with our team about a BikeCo Pro Tune on the Float X. Using proprietary oil weights, unbeatable bleed techniques as well as (well – let’s say 7 secret herbs and spices right?) our team can fine tune the suspension’s performance for your size, riding style, terrain, ground speeds and setup.

I highly recommend the BikeCo Pro Tune on the X2 as well as the improved bleed and oil flow create a notably more consistent feel through travel and heat ranges.

What does this all mean?

Well this design lends itself to air shock tuning as overall the model suggests an accommodation at deep in the travel.

Air springs by nature are progressive, the Mega 290’s design produces a linkage that feels more plush through the travel while still providing mechanical support in conditions that utilize more shock stroke (high speed corners, chunk, etc).

As the air spring is compressed and increasing its PSI the linkage is tuning out some of that increase to keep the bike feeling planted and able to use the travel.

On the Mega 290 the FOX Factory X2 gives riders the widest tuning range utilizing the low and high speed rebound, low and high speed compression controls as well as volume spacing.

Depending on how linear of a feel is desired riders can add volume spacers (to increase the air spring’s ramp rate) or increase clicks on the compression to use the damper’s hydraulics to slow the shaft speed in certain scenarios.

Looking a little deeper you’ll see the instant center intersections illustrated extending from the linkage to seatstay and chainstay. Now there are A LOT of concepts around about the perfect fit for this and this isn’t a suspension thesis. What I will say is that having the instant center arcing near the bottom bracket, where the majority of your weight is loaded downhill TENDS (if the rest of the design is doing what it should!) to produce bikes that are easy to “drive” from your feet during direction changes, or planting them back down, etc.

The Nukeproof Mega is wheel behaved for an Enduro MTB level of travel. The Mega is designed with suspension linkage that rides neutral in most conditions and doesn’t suffer from knife edge setup concerns. That means with the FOX Float X2 riders have a wide range of settings available to fine tune what they are really looking for out of the Mega.

Those looking for poppy support in and out of corners can utilize the compression settings as well as volume spacers. This extra support is particularly notable in higher speeds and with larger riders.

Riders looking for a more linear feel will run less volume spacers and compression.

Since the X2 has great adjustability riders can even modify air pressure, typically in the 3-5% range at max, and adjust compression and volume to generate their desired performance.

Too Much? Too Soon? Well, when you buy from BikeCo.com you don’t have to be a suspension setup expert. We are. And we take the initial deliver as well as setup adjustments as clients acclimatize to their bikes very seriously. Our team will help you with initial setup tips and be in touch to talk you through fine tuning and changes as your ground speeds increase! Learn more about the advantage of buying from The Bike Company in Lake Forest CA below.

Mega 290 Factory Build Frequent Swaps

Below are some common swaps for the Nukeproof Mega 290 Factory Complete

Mega 290 Factory Build Frequent Swaps

Common swaps:

Brakes: Magura and TRP are the most common changes here. Magura has more modulation while the Shimano come on a bit stronger. Riders who like Modulation may gravitate to the revised Hope 4 options which bring notably more power to the Hope lineup. TRP brakes are gaining traction for riders who like the Shimano feel but may want a touch more modulation from the longer brake lever.

Wheels: Onyx silent hubs, Chris King hubs, and Industry Nine are at home on a build at this level. We work with a range of carbon rims to allow you to fine tune rim width and stiffness as well. Wheels are a BIG part of a bike’s personality so chat with our team to get it right the first time!

Cockpit: If you have a cockpit you like let’s get it on the bike. Or upgrade to a carbon bar or 35mm combination to find tune your build.

Seating: Like cockpit, if you have a saddle or seatpost you love its a common change across all the builds.

SRAM Wireless Shifting: Upgrade to wireless shifting at time of purchase.

Reactor 290 Suspension Details

Nukeproof Reactor 290 Linkage

The Reactor 290 features multi-link suspension. Spring support is transferred through a rocker (or bell crank, or pivot – whatever you like) link to the seatstays which applies the support against the input from the rear wheel.

This creates several angles of interest which mechanically control what percentage of the spring rate is transferred to the wheel.

At each pivot point the spring support is transferred along the linkage the angle of that input dictates the percentage of the spring rate that is resisting the input. Quick example: a spring with a 300 lb output  at a 90 degree applied angle will apply 300 lbs. As the angle changes the percentage changes based on the sin of the new angle. Sin of 90 = 1, sin of 80 (10 degrees more acute) = .9848, sin of 100 (10 degrees more obtuse) is also .9848.

The leverage ratio of these pivots also factors in – but for this let’s look at the Reactor 290’s concept and not completely reverse engineer the design.

This suspension model was build with the flip chip setup with the pivot in the more “forward” position (which would produce the slacker headtube and taller bottom bracket configuration).

At full extension the Reactors’s rear suspension sits with the shock to crank link about 75 degrees and the seatstay link to bell crank linkage is obtuse around 116 degrees.

As the suspension sits into sag (illustrated at 30%) the shock to bell crank link becomes increasingly obtuse (angle increases) while the seatstay linkage angle becomes more acute (angle is decreasing).
Spring to linkage 87, linkage to seatstay 98.

Shown at compression the shock to link sits at approximately 117 degrees and the seatstay to link more acute – sitting about 62 degrees.

When you combine these angles you find extension at 191, sag at 185 and compressed at 179. This means as the suspension is compressing the upper linkage is generating a slightly rising mechanical advantage (the spring is applying at closer and closer to 1:1 as the sine is adjusted).

Going a step further let’s look at the lower pivot point and how it helps interpret the spring and ground force balance.

The illustrations show a combination of 90 degrees to the ground to the chainstay pivot and then the angle between the chainstay and seatstay. For ease we’re going to combine them.

At Extension its about 124 degrees, at Sag closer to 119 and Compressed around 110 degrees. Since these factors are closing towards 90 degrees (or 1:1) the mechanical advantage is also rising on the lower pivot assembly.

Above you see the factors classically graphed.

The blue line represents the spring to link and link to seatstay combined angles. Note that unlike the larger travel Mega the arc continues down through its stroke. This means the the mechanical advantage is continuing to rise during compression.

The green graph shows the angular change for the lower pivot between the ground vertical and seat stay. Like the upper arc it continues a steady decline.

Below is a reinterpreted version of this graph that might be easier to grasp the rising / falling concept (inverted from previous)

Both the arcs illustrate rising mechanics with a relatively small diameter arch compared to longer travel Nukeproof bikes we’ve mapped.

Combining all the angles (disregarding the lever differences) it makes sense to see increasing mechanical advantage (since both linkage points are increasing).

Let’s invert the graph for a more intuitive view of the concept.

Above we’ll show the combined angles reinterpreted to help with more “logical” rising and falling comparison.

The Reactor’s 130mm design’s increasing mechanical angular advantage helps produce a vibrant, poppy bike. Looking at the arc from the Sag point the suspension is designed to allow good small bump compliance while the increasing advantage helps the shock provide support deeper in the travel.

Let’s compare the Reactor and the larger travel Mega’s combined angle advantage for an example of how different travel bikes feature various accommodations for tuning.

Let’s reinterpret the graph a bit logging 30% sag as the reference so we can better illustrate the comparative arcs plotted together.

What does this all mean?

Back to the Nukeproof Reactor specifics!

The Reactor’s suspension is designed to balance a plush pedaling platform with increasing support deeper in the shock’s stroke for more “pop” (or returned energy to the bike). This means as you pump the trail the Reactor will help you actively accelerate as the suspension absorbs and reapplies is energies.

Looking a little deeper you’ll see the instant center intersections illustrated extending from the linkage to seatstay and chainstay. Now there are A LOT of concepts around about the perfect fit for this and this isn’t a suspension thesis. What I will say is that having the instant center arcing near the bottom bracket, where the majority of your weight is loaded downhill TENDS (if the rest of the design is doing what it should!) to produce bikes that are easy to “drive” from your feet during direction changes, or planting them back down, etc.

The Instant Center on the Reactor varies from near the chainstay pivot at full extension to forward and slightly lower than the center of the bottom bracket at compression.

On the Mega the instant center travels from ahead of the bottom bracket and slightly above the chainstay pivot much further forward and down comparatively.

Both bikes ride as expected for their class – so I’m going to leave that data uninterpreted at the moment – but figured readers might enjoy a little more data that our suspension team takes into account.

Overall the Reactor’s suspension is what you’d expect on an aggressive trail bike. The Float X damper gives riders more tuning capacity than the lighter DPS option would as well as a bit more heat capacity.

The design and shock spec lends itself to heavier from down-country through into enduro trails. Lighter than average riders will find the Reactor comfortable and confident in larger terrain for the class, but might consider Pro Tune or damper options if spec’ing a down-country or trail endurance type bike.

Too Much? Too Soon? Well, when you buy from BikeCo.com you don’t have to be a suspension setup expert. We are. And we take the initial deliver as well as setup adjustments as clients acclimatize to their bikes very seriously. Our team will help you with initial setup tips and be in touch to talk you through fine tuning and changes as your ground speeds increase! Learn more about the advantage of buying from The Bike Company in Lake Forest CA below.

Both the 130mm travel Reactor and the 160mm travel Mega have falling rates of mechanical angular advantage in droop travel (from sag to completely extended). In fact the combined angles are extremely close.

Sag: Reactor ~ 304 and Mega ~306

At Extension the numbers are similar as well: Reactor ~ 315 and Mega ~318.

When compressed the variance is greater with the Reactor ~ 289 and the Mega ~298.

When we review the arcs a lot of the suspension’s personality and its interaction with the damper can be seen.

Note on the Mega with it’s longer travel, longer shock and longer pivot lengths the mechanical advantage rate is rising until approximately 70% of the stroke or so. Then it starts to dip back down.

Compare this to the smaller travel and “poppier” riding 130mm Reactor. Droop travel shows near parallel advantage and rise when charted. However as the bike sits deeper than sag the mechanical advantage illustrates two major personality differences.

First, it continues to rise for the entity of its length and second it rises at a greater rate per mm of travel.

This generates a more, I’ll say lively response from the fully compressed shock. Which, balanced with the lower travel, since you’d be using “full” travel in smaller terrain than on the larger bike makes sense.

Now to tune this Nukeproof has provided the best shocks on the market.

The larger travel Mega also features the more robust Float X2 shock with high an low speed compression as well as volume spacing. This gives riders range to tune “against” the mechanical drop near the end of the stroke for mom pop or support deeper into the travel.

On the 130mm Reactor the FOX Float X is spec’d with low speed compression as well as volume tuning options. For riders looking for the ultimate “plush” air suspension setup on the Reactor chat with our team about a BikeCo Pro Tune on the Float X. Using proprietary oil weights, unbeatable bleed techniques as well as (well – let’s say 7 secret herbs and spices right?) our team can fine tune the suspension’s performance for your size, riding style, terrain, ground speeds and setup.

I highly recommend the BikeCo Pro Tune on the X2 as well as the improved bleed and oil flow create a notably more consistent feel through travel and heat ranges.