Most suspension write-ups read like a spec sheet. This isn't that. This is what's actually on my bike, why it ended up there, and how it rides — specifically for riding in the greater Asheville area, covering grandfather and ranger districts of Pisgah. We’re fortunate to have a wide variety of trails including plenty of chunky, rooty, steep and (at times) unforgiving trail features.
The Frame
I built this bike up from a bare aluminum Transition Sentinel frame, purchased from Find your Line Bike shop in west asheville. The Sentinel is a proper trail bike that is edging in on the enduro category. Most of the parts came off an old Trek Slash, which was a great bike in its own right but just got beat to hell and the accumulation of dents in the downtube was starting to resemble the surface of the moon.
Up Front: Fox 36 with Vorsprung Secus
The fork is a Fox Factory 36, from the slash. To get the fork setup for the Sentinel, I needed a new CSU to achieve the recommended 44mm offset. While we were waiting for the parts to arrive, Shawn over at Find Your Line had one of his forks apart and paired my lowers and internals with his personal CSU and a Vorsprung Secus. This was my first experience with the Vorsprung Secus, and I noticed that it changed the character meaningfully once my CSU came in and the fork was assembled without the Secus. I was lucky enough to score the Secus and had it reinstalled to complete the front end.
The 170mm air spring maxes out the travel on this fork for this frame. you're getting everything the fork can give. More importantly, the Secus changes the air spring feel in a way that's hard to describe without riding it back-to-back. Initial bump sensitivity is more refined. It's more supple through the small stuff while still being supportive when you're actually in the travel. Without the Secus it can feel just a bit less predictable over chatter. With it, the fork just works.
The rear shock started life as a RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate that I picked up from an old pal in Boone, as the shock from my Slash was not compatible with the new frame. What's on the bike now is a fully rebuilt and revalved unit running a 550 lb coil spring — with a Vorsprung custom tune.
Coil shocks have a fundamentally different feel than air. The progression curve is more linear, the small-bump sensitivity at the beginning of the stroke is better, and they don't have the negative air chamber issues that air shocks can run into as they heat up along sustained descents. The tradeoff is weight and the inability to tune spring rate without swapping hardware. 550 lb is where Shawn landed it for my weight and riding style, and it's working. The only downside to this shock setup is that it feels great at speed, but if I’ve been off the bike for a bit and am riding slower, it can feel a little harsh and not quite as responsive.
Why Local Tuning Matters
Both the fork and shock were completely gone through by Shawn at Find Your Line Bikes in Asheville. He's a Vorsprung dealer and the person I trust to touch suspension.
The reason local tuning is worth talking about isn't just that Shawn is good at his job — it's that he’s an absolute ripper on a bike, and actually knows all the local trail systems really well. He knows what Pisgah chunk actually feels like and what your suspension needs to do to handle it. Not only that - Shawn is a friend who knows my riding style and trail preferences. This is a personalized tailored approach that you just cant get from a mail-order tune from someone who's never ridden these trails and is just working from a spec sheet. Shawn's working from context.
That makes a real difference in how the bike feels. Not just in theory — in how it actually tracks through roots on Lower Sidehill or absorbs the repeated hits on long descents like in the grandfather district.
The Rest of the Build
SRAM GX Eagle for the drivetrain — reliable, no complaints. I’ve heard it said that to go fast, you need good brakes! I understand that not everyone loves Hope Tech Brakes, but I’ve had a good relationship with my Hope Tech V3 E4’s, which have a good lever feel, and of course allow for stopping the bike without drama. My personal take is that Hope brakes are really user friendly in terms of maintenance and setup, and my only occasional issue has been with parts availability here in the states. Been on a set of Peaty's mushroom thick grips because they're comfortable over long days and I’ve got a set of somewhat meaty paws on me.
I'm also running handguards. Broke my fifth metacarpal a few years ago catching a sapling out of a corner at speed. I wouldn’t have thought twice about plowing through this little sapling on the moto with full wraps, but it completely snapped my bone upon impact. As an adult who owns a small business, breaking one's hand is the kind of injury that evolves one's perspective on risk, and handguards are a cheap insurance policy.
Where It's At
The mixed fork and shock setup gets asked about at trailheads. Most people are running matched air systems from Fox, Cane Creek or Rockshocks. The coil rear with the Secus-equipped air fork is a bespoke combination that works great for me, on these trails. The coil handles the sustained chunk in Pisgah, the Secus gives the front end enough sensitivity to match.
I've already changed a few things since putting this together — that's just how bikes go. But the suspension foundation is right, and that's what actually matters out there. Everything else is maintenance.