Cane Creek’s New DB Kitsuma Rear Shock
Announcing the Cane Creek DB Kitsuma Shock DB Kitsuma — Pro-tune at Your Fingertips
Cane Creek is proud to announce the DB Kitsuma, a highly adjustable rear shock built for maximum performance in a design that is incredibly intuitive and easy to use. Grounded in the DNA of the original Double Barrel line of shocks, DB Kitsuma improves on its predecessors in almost every way. It caters to all varieties of riding styles, body types, and bicycle frame designs without the need for any internal valving adjustments, changes or compromises.
The way the rider interfaces with the shock has also been completely reimagined. No need to crane your neck under your bike while fumbling with tiny allen wrenches to make adjustments. DB Kitsuma sports completely tool-free adjusters that are ergonomically designed to be easily accessible and adjustable trail-side – giving riders the power of a pro-tune at their fingertips.
“The whole idea behind the DB Kitsuma shock was to take a complex and high-tech piece of componentry and make it very intuitive and easy to use for the rider,” said Jeff Laforge, Cane Creek Design Engineer. “From our time meeting and riding with riders and dealers at events across the country it became clear that most riders’ suspension settings are not optimal – in many cases the suspension may be hindering riders. One of the reasons is that dialing in suspension is largely a trial and error process on the trail which is hampered by access and the need for tools. Thus, we set out to make it easy for riders to get the most out of their shock by making adjustments easier and less intimidating.”
Gone are the days of counting clicks backward and forward to know where you are and make adjustments. The entire range of DB Kitsuma’s low-speed compression and rebound circuits are controlled within a single rotation, while the high-speed circuits are controlled within two rotations, allowing the rider to easily reference where they are within their adjustments at a glance. The rider has full control and a true sense for how their bike will perform in a variety of real-world scenarios thanks to DB Kitsuma’s large multi indexed adjusters.
Additionally, labels on the adjusters have been simplified to “soft” and “firm” for compression and “slow” and “fast” for rebound to better illustrate how the adjustment affects ride feel and to give riders confidence to make trail-side adjustments.
Finally, DB Kitsuma simplifies the tuning process by increasing the range of adjustment while reducing the number of external positions in each circuit – making each position more meaningful and discernable on the trail. All these improvements add up to a high-performance tuning experience that is incredibly intuitive and accessible right on the trail
DB Kitsuma also boasts a wider range of damping adjustment on the compression circuit and increased range of rebound control over any other major shock on the market today. The rebound range has also been shifted downward for more rebound damping to accommodate the higher spring rates needed for more modern bikes. These changes combine to allow the DB Kitsuma to provide peak performance on a wider range of bikes.
Simple yet effective – DB Kitsuma is equipped with a three-position climb switch that moves the shock between three distinct modes, drastically affecting the shock’s feel and character. The new three-position climb switch retains Double Barrel’s “Descend” mode and it’s patented “CS” mode which provides a stable, yet responsive platform engineered to maximize traction and pedal efficiency while climbing over technical terrain and singletrack. DB Kitsuma also adds a new “Firm” mode. By utilizing a design that closes off the common bleed port, this third position excels at pedaling over long stretches of pavement or gravel roads on your way to the trail.
In addition to improvements in accessibility and tuning range, DB Kitsuma has seen a series of significant improvements over previous Double Barrel shocks. These include an improved oil piston that’s been ported and polished to increase responsiveness, a new monoblock design oil seal head for improved alignment and durability, progressive bottom-out bumper for a more gradual bottom out and longer shaft bushings, larger shaft quad rings and uncut back-up rings on the air pistons to improve performance and reliability.
Redesigned with the geometry of modern bikes in mind, DB Kitsuma’s new valve body and tapered air-can cuts 16mm of length off the external reservoir and reduces the air can’s outer diameter at the end-eye. All-in-all, this adds up to a new low-profile design which allows DB Kitsuma to fit more bikes free of frame-clearance issues.
Like all Cane Creek Suspension, DB Kitsuma is designed, developed and hand-built by riders in Western North Carolina. Informed by the endless climbs and technical descents of the Pisgah National Forest the DB Kitsuma was born from the experience of the hardcore riders who call Cane Creek home. This shock was developed completely in-house by Cane Creek’s engineering team and rigorously tested on some of North America’s most legendary trails.
“At Cane Creek, we will only develop a product if we believe it truly adds something to cycling. With DB Kitsuma, we know we’ve done that,” said Brent Graves, president and CEO of Cane Creek. “From the fact that you no longer need to fumble with tools to tune your shock, to the increased damping and rebound range allowing for more bikes and more types of riders, to the various small improvements that add up to significant gains in performance – it all comes together to make what we think is a big step forward in mountain bike suspension.”
The name DB Kitsuma honors both the heritage of the original Double Barrel (DB) shock and the legendary Kitsuma trail that lies just a short drive northeast of Cane Creek’s Headquarters. With a grueling climb that combines a mix of road and technical singletrack followed by a grin-inducing two-mile ridgeline decent, the Kitsuma trail highlights some of the best riding that Western North Carolina has to offer and showcases the versatility and performance of the new DB Kitsuma shock.
The DB Kitsuma is available in both coil and air in metric lengths ranging from 185mm to 250mm with a retail price of $699.99 for air and $669.99 for coil (without a spring). They are available immediately through Cane Creek retailers, distributors or factory-direct in North America through www.canecreek.com.
Specs
- Weight
- Air (210mm) – 585g
- Coil (210mm w/o spring) – 417g
- Adjuster Positions
- Low Speed – 11 Positions / Single rotation
- High Speed – 14 Positions / Two rotations
- Max Air Pressure
- 300psi
- Shaft Diameter
- Air and Coil – 9.5mm
- Damper Oil
- Motorex 4wt
- Climb Switch
- Three Position – Descend, Climb, Firm
- Eye to Eye Sizes
- Eyelet – 210, 230, 250
- Trunnion – 185, 205, 225
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