Tech Briefing: Enduro Bikes, Steerer Tube Tools, Bike Protection & More - May 2021

 Do you even shred, bro?

 Always someone who says something like this. Every. Single. Time.

You realize there is a thing called personal preference. R&D goes in on bikes to speak to the masses. All bikes usually come with air shocks for obvious reasons. Ease of set up for the masses. Easier to release a more linear set up because you are pairing with an air shock.
Some people enjoy coils and need a leverage rate that can handle it. Some people want a little more out of a smaller bike and a cascade can allow you to push it harder for some.
There’s literally a crap ton of reasons why someone could benefit and enjoy a cascade link. Doesn’t mean they think they are better or smarter than the original engineers and R&D team... it’s just they are simply trying to get something a little bit different out of the bike.

 I'm on a Reign 29er and wish Cascade made a more link for it. As-is, I need to run my rear shock all ate up with spacers to get the platform support I need.

A lot of companies make their tunes linear (good) pretty much to the end of the suspension travel (not good). They do it because for riders who don't jump or hit drops, it makes for a smoother, faster riding bike. But if you hit jumps and drops-especially with less than great landings, end-stroke ramp up/support is critical. Cascade fills that niche for those of us who get sendy on stuff other than flow features.

 @stormracing: It's a good idea, but they should to a bit more measurement and testing for some before releasing. Their Forbidden Druid link just came out, and apparently several popular coil shocks just didn't fit--they rubbed/hit the link during travel (see other forum website for details). Cascade is making it right for those who got one, but it makes me wonder a little about their development process.

 I wish they made a link that'd make my Mondraker more progressive. I bottom out on my coil too often.

 @muumuu: Generally we design to a particular leverage curve first and foremost. Shock compatibly is secondary to that because the actual kinematics change is the most important part. The Druid link is not designed primarily for coil shocks. I'd actually say the best set up with it is a retuned air shock. In the case of certain links (the Druid and carbon Patrol) some shock compatibility is given up. The changes to increase shock compatibility for those end up driving the link dimensions essentially back to stock. We will never do that because then the link would be pointless. Now with the Druid we didn't expect the shock compatibility to be so narrow, but admittedly we don't have the ability to test as many shocks as we would like to right now. We have our hands tied with availability issues as much as you all do. We aren't going to get some of the shocks we want to test clearance with until September. Because the availability for some shocks was so far out and people kept asking about the link, we put it up on our site with the accepted risk that this sort of scenario could pop up and we would have to do returns.

 @CascadeComponents: Thanks!

 Thank God you're here to tell everyone you don't understand linkages.

 @CascadeComponents: I got the Enduro link and have nothing but positives to say about it. So much more traction in chop, almost completely silences trail chatter, and makes my coil feel a bit more like an air shock popping off jumps. It does have a bit more kickback but it's a tiny trade in comparison to the gains made off the newfound plushness of the rear end. I love the add-on, it was money well-spent.