Review: Cane Creek Coil IL Shock
Cane Creek's Coil IL shock underwent a refresh this season, receiving thicker inner damper tubes for increased durability, and a slimmer external profile to further expand the number of frames that it will fit. Even before the update, the shock's relatively low profile has been one of its strong selling points – the lack of an external reservoir allows it to fit on bikes where you wouldn't normally expect to find a coil shock.
The DB Coil IL still uses Cane Creek's signature twin tube layout, where oil travels through the main inner chamber during compression, and then returns through the space between the inner and outer tubes during the rebound phase of the stroke. A nitrogen-charged rubber bladder is situated at the top of the shock, where it expands and contracts to deal with the changing oil pressure.
The DB Coil IL still uses Cane Creek's signature twin tube layout, where oil travels through the main inner chamber during compression, and then returns through the space between the inner and outer tubes during the rebound phase of the stroke. A nitrogen-charged rubber bladder is situated at the top of the shock, where it expands and contracts to deal with the changing oil pressure.
Coil IL Details
• Twin tube damper
• Adjustments: high- and low-speed compression, high- and low-speed rebound, climb switch
• Size: Standard: 190x40, 190x42.5, 190x45, 210x50, 210x52.5, 210x55 / Trunnion: 165x40, 165x42.5, 165x45,185x50, 185x185x52.5, 185x55
• Weight: 310 g (without spring, 185 x 55mm)
• MSRP: $580 without spring
• canecreek.com
• Twin tube damper
• Adjustments: high- and low-speed compression, high- and low-speed rebound, climb switch
• Size: Standard: 190x40, 190x42.5, 190x45, 210x50, 210x52.5, 210x55 / Trunnion: 165x40, 165x42.5, 165x45,185x50, 185x185x52.5, 185x55
• Weight: 310 g (without spring, 185 x 55mm)
• MSRP: $580 without spring
• canecreek.com
The DB Coil's external adjustments include low- and high-speed compression along with low- and high-speed rebound. There's also a lever that can be flipped to quickly add more low speed compression damping, firming up the shock for climbing. The coil spring itself is obviously the main starting point when it comes to achieving the proper setup, and Cane Creek offers two different versions – a linear spring, and a VALT progressive spring, which has increased progression beginning at the halfway point of the stroke due to the more tightly wound coils.
Adjustments
A 2023 Trek Fuel EX served as the test platform for the updated DB Coil IL. With 140mm of travel and a flip chip that allows the bike's progression to be adjusted, it seemed like a prime candidate for this style of shock.
The Coil IL offers a wide range of settings, and with that little allen wrench stuck to the shock there's no reason not to fiddle away until you've found your ideal setup. For my 160 lb weight my final settings (counted from closed) were: LSC 19, LSR: 9, HSR: 2.5 turns; HSC: 2.5 turns. I wasn't maxed out any of the settings, and given what I ended up with the range should work well for a wide spread of rider weights. It would be nice if the high speed compression and rebound adjustments had the same distinct clicks as the low-speed adjustments, but keeping track of the number of revolutions isn't really that hard.
As for spring rate, I found the 475 lb/in spring or the 450 – 550 progressive springs to be the best options for my 160 lb weight. I ended up preferring the progressive spring, since it made the shock a little softer off the top, while still retaining enough bottom out resistance for bigger hits. The progressive spring is handy, but I'd love to see a hydraulic bottom out feature added, or even a more progressive bottom out bumper to minimize any harshness at the end of the stroke.
Performance
Modern air shocks have reached a level where switching to a coil shock isn't the night and day difference it used to be when it comes to initial sensitivity. Still, for riders looking to maximize their bike's level of grip a coil shock is typically the way to go, and on that front the Coil IL delivers. It gave the Fuel EX a more glued to the ground feel on chattery sections of trail, and the back end felt as if it had more freedom to deal with repeated impacts. The Coil IL took the Fuel EX's smashability up a notch, nicely muting rougher sections of trail without taking away too much pep from the bike's handling. In addition, the shock was smooth and quiet through the entire amount of travel, free of any annoyingly loud slurping or squelching sounds.
I did run into an issue early on in testing – the shock had a noticeable top out 'thwunk' that could be felt when jumping. After contacting Cane Creek they sent out a replacement, and it remained trouble-free for the remainder of testing.
The climb switch is easy to use, at least in the orientation it ends up on the Fuel EX, and it does create a firmer platform that's nice to have on smoother climbs. It's not a full lockout, which I prefer – that means if you forget to open it up before a descent you won't get rattled to pieces.
Progressive vs Linear Springs
The Fuel EX's two shock positions change the bike's leverage ratio change from 16% to 21%, allowing me to see how the progressive spring would work on a bike with a more linear leverage curve compared to one that was more progressive.
The progressive spring does work as claimed – there was enough end-stroke ramp up to prevent too many bottom outs from occurring, even in the lower progression frame setting. The point at where the ramp up begins with the progressive spring is noticeable when bouncing around a parking lot, but it's much less defined out on the trail. I actually ended up preferring that lower setting with the progressive spring due to the slightly more supportive feel off the top that's caused by the lower leverage ratio.
I'd love to see a slightly taller bottom out bumper to mute any end-stroke impacts.
The hydraulic bottom out control on the RockShox Super Deluxe coil is a handy feature..
How Does It Compare?
The Coil IL sort of exists in its own corner of the coil shock market due to its inline configuration and wide range of available sizes, all the way down to a 165 x 40 trunnion mounted option. For comparison, the smallest Fox DHX2 that's readily available is 210 x 50mm. RockShox's size range isn't far off from Cane Creek's, though; there's a 165 x 45mm SuperDeluxe Coil.
At $580, the Coil IL price puts it between the $679 Fox DHX2 and the $540 RockShox SuperDeluxe Coil.
Compared to the SuperDeluxe coil, the IL weighs approximately 100 grams less depending on the shock size and spring weight. It also has adjustable high-speed rebound, which the SuperDeluxe lacks. However, the area where the SuperDeluxe pulls ahead is its hydraulic bottom out – that feature is especially handy to have on a shorter travel bike.
Pros
+ Effective adjustments in a small package
+ Quiet, consistent performance
Cons
- No hydraulic bottom out control
Pinkbike's Take
 | I'm a big fan of experimenting with possibly out there, possible amazing bike setup configurations. Putting a coil shock on a short travel trail bike is one of those configurations, and Cane Creek's Coil IL is an excellent way to make it happen. |
Author Info:
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Nope. Having to replace the shock is not a solution. For your average customer this means weeks (maybe months) of down time.
I bought a brand new super deluxe coil last December, and one the first ride, the lockout lever just fell off. I figured they could just send me a new lever, no problem. Nope, had to send in the whole shock. Warranty process took 2 months.
I will never buy another aftermarket RS product.
Not yet, I'm going to need deeper pockets for that, haha.
I've had my Rockshox stuff fixed in less than a week pretty consistently.
I’m on my second CC DB IL, it works flawlessly as did my first one, been riding my current IL on a Zerode Taniwha and a Lenz Fatillac.
Personally i _never_ had a defective rockshox or fox product, and none of my friends either over the past 10 years. But even so, it's not a great sample tbh. A better sample are bikeshop near bike parks. I like to ask them how many issues they got in the season and what the "bad stuff is"
- Hayes/Manitou
- E*13
- OneUp
Haven't had a warranty claim on my Mezzer, but when I called them asking for lower seals etc they directed me to SmithTech who they had replace my lowers to a newer version free of charge. In and out of the mail in 5 days flat.
Had a cassette get bent with E*13 (bought it during COVID peak and couldn't find a SRAM cassette for a reasonable price) and 45 minutes after submitting the warranty form on their website there was a new one in the mail - no questions asked.
My OneUp dropper was acting up and it only took a few back/forth emails with them to get the problem sorted and a new part sent out.
Compared to waiting MONTHS for a Reverb to be fixed, being given the run-around multiple times at a few different shops with a Fox Factory 38 that had a misaligned steerer. Waiting weeks for a warranty part for a failed Shimano Saint caliper. I'm sticking to aftermarket parts where I can just email/call the actual manufacturer and get it sorted rather than wait for the shop intermediary.
Its also worth mentioning the top out issue can be down to too much spring preload, i've been told it's best not to run much preload on these, which if you have the right spring rate is fine and helps it be super supple, i can start to compress my shock with just my pinky pushing on the seat.
After a while, I put a Cane Creek IL coil on (not knowing the kinematic is something like 9% progressive lol) and promptly blow up 3 (and even snap the damper shaft) of these shocks in about a year. It was definitely a yoke driven clevis issue more than a shock issue in my opinion. Simply the shaft wasn't meant for that sort of side loading/leverage.
To Cane Creeks credit, every blowup was quickly handled and had me back on the trail quickly despite been in Australia, what impressed me most is their engineers actually reached out to me and wanted to know the cause of the failures, rather than just fob it off as "another blown shock"
After the 3rd shock, they gave me an Double Barrel Air free of charge, that shock was fantastic on that bike.
Then one day, I get an email from the same engineer saying they had developed a "yoke approved" design and If I would be interested. Sadly I had moved on from the Evo in that time but I was blown away at the thoughtfullness and effort these guys went to remedy the situation and make me a happy customer.
TLDR; Cane Creek customer support is outstanding, would buy again when the time arises.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Stumpjumper, so much so that I keep tabs on parts that my buddies uses on their bikes. So I'm well aware of the issues from the new bikes from 2019 til now. The linkage updates, with the current ones that are beefed up etc, one of my bud has a ccdb coil on his and it broke within a month with oil leaking, they updated the shaft for him that lasted a few months before it failed again, they updated that one for him as well.
And I love canecreek stuff as well, I have an inline and a ccdb air installed on 2 of my bikes.
So I have nothing against either brands. I'm just calling it as I see it. I also have a 2022 stumpy evo Ltd at home and that's specced with the mrp hazard, so far so good. If it breaks, I'll update.
Great write up.
Air will always be the default OEM setup because the retailer can setup the stock suspension to work for almost anyone by simply changing PSI. Shops will never agree to stock dozens of springs for every bike they stock just ot accomodate test rides.
For the other 95% of riders, coil is ideal. Set it and forget it. It's 90% right 90% of the time. The other 10% of the time the terrain is so gnarly that even complex air squishers likely wouldn't do much better.
Coil takes time and money to setup because you may need to swap springs more than once to find the right feel. Once you find the best spring weight, you should not have to touch it again. The Cane Creek gives you comprehensive rebound and damping adjustments and even has a climb mode. My butt has been very happy since putting an IL on my bike.
I had the old one for a full season and agreed it was just fine.
They are friendly, fair and SUPER fast.
The one time they didn't, they were very apologetic.
The only mechanical criticism on DB IL Coil shock, is the LSR & LSC don't have a blocker to prevent going past the max number of clicks.
Their instructions for tuning are confusing to me
e.g. Turn the -lsr -3 clicks...so I'm standing there wondering if that's a double negative and it means turn it positive. And their YouTube video is even worse. But the shock is f'n awesome once it's dialed.
I just bought a sale gen 1 and also have "topout" sensation over jumps. It doesn't seem to effect performance otherwise but it is annoying and slightly dangerous in the air.
They told me to add HSC.. which didn't quite work. I'm in the process of contact them again but this review and comments are interesting.
I have one on a 120 bike and it’s freaking incredible how it rides
Its a design flaw. A service fixes it. mine lasts about a year before it comes back That isn't a lot of ridding either. Assuming its an bladder issue
first version didn't either..
Kinda defeats the purpose of a offering a "lighter coil shock" product that is limited to shorter travel bikes.
There have been quite a few non-reservoir shocks both air and coil in 230 x 65 and larger lengths / stroke over the years.
RS offers a coil in larger sizes currently.
I've owned a few myself.
A bad reputation sticks......for a long time, Until CC shocks prove to be bulletproof (or close to it) with a proven track record of several years, they'll struggle to gain market share.
I hope the current crop of CC shocks prove to be tough, because their performance (when they work) is hella compelling.
Not if I also want a water bottle.