Part one of my suspension update on the ST530S is the rear shock. I initially planned to do just the rear shock for better tuneability, but as you hear me say in the video, the stock coil fork feels mismatched to the new rear shock. It's not a huge surprise and I look forward to seeing how a lighter air fork will make this bike feel!
I paid $70.00 plus tax, so $75.78, for this DNM AOY-36RC shock from eBay. These are also widely available on Ali Express, but I suspect they will keep popping up on eBay. It looks like you can get budget air shocks for this bike from $60-100 depending on the brand. I went with DNM because it is a known brand, albeit less prestigious than others. Their suspension seems pretty widely used on a lot of Chinese motorcycles and electric motorcycles like Surrons and Segways.
There was one minor issue with the shock I receive. The correct measurement for this bike's rear shock is 190mm eye to eye and this shock was 200mm. 10mm doesn't sound like much, but that can significantly alter the handling and geometry of a bike because of how the rear suspension is designed to derive 120mm of wheel travel from under 50mm of shock stroke travel. I haven't done geometry any more advanced than calculating the hypotenuse of a triangle in over 20 years, so pardon my lack of ability to explain further...fortunately, the longer shock did not significantly alter this bike. I measured about 6-7 mm of difference in the bottom bracket height and .5 degree steeper head tube angle.
The slightly longer shock stroke does allow me to run a little more sag which probably brings everything back to where it was with the old shock. The air fork I have ordered is supposed to have a barely longer axle-to-crown length which should also bring the head-tube angle back down a smidge. Stay tuned!
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