Montesa 242 Shocks

[scrivo]

I have a late model Montesa 242. I am currently using the bike in the Denman Twinshock Club trials and having a great time doing OK in 'C' grade. The original shocks are working OK (the bike has had little use) although I have found that one is slightly bent but still allows full travel and neither shock leak oil.

I am looking at replacing them but have no real idea what with. I am considering Falcon, Betor or possibly Hagon shocks. The Falcon WEB site indicates that they can supply either steel or allow bodies and are also available with extra light damping which should, according to them, give the bike a more modern feel.

Can anyone recommend a shock or suggest a direction?

[David Lahey]

The standard "Falcon Trial Classic" shockies have a damping action that is quite a bit lighter than the Betors and Marzocchis fitted to 1980s trials bikes. I have bought only the standard Falcons so far as I reckon they are great for riding twinshocks without using trick techniques. If you want to be able to hop the rear of the 242 on flat ground, then I reckon the Falcons with extra light damping would be the go.
I thought that there were some guys in your club (Mal and Chris) that had modified their modern Betors to have an action as good as Falcons in which case you could save some $$$ compared with buying Falcons. Standard modern Betors have damping more suited to trail riding.
The alloy bodied Falcons are the same inside as the steel bodied but weigh less and are much more expensive.
I've heard that the other shockies that are made especially for trials use are also good, but as far as I know you would have to buy them from the UK, Spain or France rather than from an OZ supplier.

[sharvie]

You may have seen my SWM & TLR at Denman this year. The SWM has steel body Falcon's with the conventional twinshock compression & redound action. The TLR has the alloy body light weight action. My experience is the TLR compression stroke is softer in the initial part, but firms up as it compresses. The rebound stroke is much faster then the conventional Falcon's, makes the bike (feel) lighter.

The bike tends to rebound or bounce off small bumps more easily making it feel like a modern bike, also making it easier to ride in a modern style. I have had to change the forks on my TLR so they compress & rebound at a similar rate as the Falcon's or the bike would feel out of balence front to rear.

If $ has no effect on the descission go with the alloy body, light weight action Falcon's

sharvie