En esta entrada voy a analizar a la Kavenz VHP-16 2022, un modelo de Enduro con 160mm de recorrido, ruedas de 29'' y un sistema tipo FSR + Roldana Idler con el punto de giro principal colocado "a media altura"... A nivel de diseño este es uno de los modelos mas sencillos dentro de esta categoría, pero detrás de este diseño tan simple se esconde uno de los mejores sistemas de suspensión del mercado, un sistema muy bien optimizado y que ofrece muchas opciones desde el punto de vista de la geometría. Kavenz es una marca muy pequeña y en estos casos nunca se sabe que puede pasar al largo plazo, pero en mi opinión este modelo es un gran acierto y creo que puede convertirse en un éxito de ventas...
Como podéis ver en la tabla de excel y en las gráficas anteriores el sistema de la Kavenz VHP-16 tiene una Eficacia de Pedaleo muy alta, con unos porcentajes de Anti-squat en torno al 130%-140% en todos los desarrollos. En este caso las gráficas de Anti-squat de cada desarrollo se cruzan en un punto bastante cercano a la zona de Sag y por lo tanto el sistema tiene un funcionamiento muy similar en todos los desarrollos. El Pedal-kickback (27º) se sitúa en un nivel relativamente alto en los desarrollos mas cortos, pero baja muchísimo en el resto y acaba completamente anulado en los desarrollos mas largos. El Brake-squat mientras tanto se sitúa en un nivel intermedio, no llega a un nivel tan bajo como el de la Cannondale o la GT, pero un 83% es una cifra bastante correcta y muy habitual en la mayoría de sistemas tipo VPP con una transmisión convencional.
En la gráfica del Leverage Ratio vemos como el sistema es del tipo Progresivo (2.9-2.2), unas cifras muy buenas para un modelo de Enduro y que van a funcionar muy bien con la mayoría de los amortiguadores del mercado. La mayoría de la gente cree que para poder utilizar un amortiguador de muelle el sistema tiene que tener una gran progresividad, pero en realidad hay otros factores que también influyen un poco... Una buena efectividad de pedaleo para no depender del bloqueo, un cuadro que no sea excesivamente caro para que el precio final no se dispare y sobre todo un par de opciones por parte del fabricante para poder montarlo directamente de serie. Tener un buen LR es la mas importante, pero el resto también ayuda mucho y en este caso se cumplen todos los requisitos, por lo que al final la mayoría de la gente va a animarse a montar el Fox DHX2 o el EXT Storia de 205x65mm, dos opciones muy buenas y con las que se va a conseguir un funcionamiento espectacular.
Un saludo.
8 comentarios:
Hi Antonio,
I own a Kavenz for 1 Year and I am pretty happy with the handling of the mullet setting.
But I am not so happy with the Performance of the rear end. It feel rougher and not that compose that other frames that I compare Nomad4 / Madonna v2.2 / enduro.
I try a lot of springs and settings and other shocks (also custom tune for my weight and the linkage design of the frame) but the HSC feels overdampt.
The leveratio curve see not that special to me.
Have you any ideas why it feels so different?
Thank a lot.
best regarts Miguel
You are not giving me too much information about your weight or how do you ride, but let's see what could be going on...
First thing I would say is that the LR on the Kavenz is completely normal for an Enduro Bike, 2.9-2.2 is a very nice LR and in theory it should be perfect for 90% of the people. The Raaw Madona V2.2 with the 60mm Rocker is pretty much the same with a LR of 2.95-2.3 so it's really hard to explain why do you like one better than the other. The only explanation is that the tune on the Raaw Madonna was perfect for you and that you have had really bad luck with your shocks on the Kavenz.
The SC Nomad and the Enduro on the other hand are very different... LR is a lot more progressive in both cases and the biggest difference is that the LR around sag is a lot higher... That tells me that you are probably skinny and that's why most bikes feel a bit rought and overdamped to you.
LR around the sag point is around 3.1 on the Nomad MK4, 3.1 on the Enduro and 2.65 on the Kavenz. That's a huge difference. Most people would say the LR on those too is too high and that it can a problem for heavy riders, but you loved it, so that's a good piece of information.
Kavenz is a small brand and maybe you can talk to them about building a 60mm rocker arm, it would make the LR higher around sag and more progressive, in the pictures it's really hard to tell if there is room or not to put the shock closer to the seat tube, but you can talk to them and they will tell you if it's possible or not, maybe a Fox Float x2 could work because the skinny part is near the rocker arm. With a 57.5 Rocker arm the LR could be almost the same as the Enduro and the Nomad, but the limiting factor is the space around the rocker arm fixing point and I don't know where is the limit.
Talk to them and ask for a new rocker arm and if they don't want to do it, ask for a CAD File and do it yourself. There are a lot of companies that do CNC parts, and it's not that expensive, doing only one rocker is more expensive than doing a big batch, but it's not crazy at all, at least from a cyclist point of view XD.
If the rocker arm is not an option you can try with a different shock and I would do a few experiments running a lot of Sag, that could be another way to make the bike feel plusher.
Best regards,
Tony.
Antonio Thank a lot for your help
Nice to have someone with this big knowledge about Suspension.
I weight with gear 74kg an ride since 14 years in the Area near the Italian/Austrian alps.sometimes some amateur races and some BikePark riding.
The shocks I mainly tried is a custom tune Storia for the frame.
I have also different set ups in HSC/LSC and LSR ,also I try different spring rates 325,350,375,400 an a bunch of different coil and air shocks from a raaw Madonna v2.2like an x2 , ttx22m, dpx2 an a Formular mod and a dvo topaz. The mod with the 375lbs spring has working best for me.
If I look at the custom tune from fox for the Kavenz the compression and rebound stack look pretty unusually to me.
It is a cl002 for compression and a ecr010 stack for rebound.
I think you can go as low as 350 lbs and get around 32% sag without problems but if you want to be safe, you can get a progressive spring. MRP progessive coils start at 300lbs and are a really good option. Cane Creek has one too, but they start at 400lbs.
When it comes to shocks I think compression tunes are only a part of the equation and even if your bike has a low compresion tune it doesn't mean that it's going to be very smooth. The problem is the lockout. It depends a lot on how the lockout works because sometimes, HSC works on top of the Lockout threshold damping force and if the shock has a strong lockout, the open position is not going to be smooth, even if the HSC is super low...
Most high end coil shocks come with a lockout and if your bikes pedal really well, the can do more harm than good. The funny thing is that now I can recomend you two different shocks... Push Eleven Six as a very expensive option (It has two independent dampers and one of them can be crazy smooth...) or something extremely basic like a Marzochi Bomber CR... It doesn't have a lockout so maybe it's crazy smooth.
Last idea is to improve a bit your wheels. Wide rims help a lot if you want to get lower pressure, and if you don't have an electronic pressure gauge, get one!!! One or two PSI can make a difference and the only way to explore the limits is to get a Topeak Smartgauge or something similar. With a good set of wheels the suspension has an easier job and the bike is going to feel better.
Best regards,
Tony.
Contact Avalanche Suspension, sure they can set yogur shock o one of their shocks will suit your needs.
Hi Antonio, can you do the new torque cf 29? thanks cheers
I was going to do the new Sender CFR, but I can do both at the same time.
I have to finish all the High Pivot first and then I'm going to check a few DH Bikes...
Best regards,
Tony.
Hi Antonio, I hope you are well!
Can you please do a comparison between the Kavenz VHP16 (V7 MX) and the Nicolai Saturn 16 MX with 65mm shock stroke? I am not sure about the AS at the Nicolai and which one has the better leverage ration, I would like to run both with the EXT storia lok v3.
Thanks in advance! Ciao, Arthur
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