Fork Debate

[Mike Mac]

Hi

 

My 2c is that the factory settings do not always work and can be quite far out. This is more the case where ones riding style/riding terrain may not necesarily be what the shock manufacturer had in mind when they tuned the shock.

 

For example, I fitted a Fox X2 on my bike, which is designed more as a DH shock. Whilst riding mixed terrain, I found the bike was stopping dead when hitting square edged obsticles when at slow speed  (climbing technical terrain for eg). I had to open the shocks compression up completely to avoid this happening. I then had to add spacers to make the compression more progressive.

 

In factory settings the "top end" X2 was *** on anything but steep downhill. Before spending time tuning, I could easily have come to the conclusion that the DPS is better than the X2. But that is not the case as once dialled in, the X2 is nicer in nearly all aspects of riding.

 

The further one goes up the chain of shocks, the more tunable they are. This is for a reason and they need to be tuned to get them working properly.

 

M 

[dasilvarsa]

At your weight both of those forks must feel like sloppy noodles under you.... do yourself a favour and demo a 34, or a Pike.

 

Personally I won't ride anything less than a Lyrik or 36 again, even on a short travel bike. Everything else just feels shyte in comparison.

Sometimes it is Possible to Tune the Damper by using an Oil that is Slightly more Viscous for the Heavier Riders using the 30 and 32 mm Stanchions.

[Rigardt@Scott]

Sometimes it is Possible to Tune the Damper by using an Oil that is Slightly more Viscous for the Heavier Riders using the 30 and 32 mm Stanchions.

 

The damper is not what makes it feel like a noodle. The chasis on a 30/32mm fork is just flexy.... nothing to be done about that. 

[NotSoBigBen]

Honest question, what kind of terrain do you need to be riding for your fork to feel like a 'noodle'?

 

Or am I just such a crap rider I never get to that point ...

[love2fly]

Honest question, what kind of terrain do you need to be riding for your fork to feel like a 'noodle'?

 

Or am I just such a crap rider I never get to that point ...

Ive only ever felt  reasonably heavy flex when having to brake down a steep, rocky descent, even though using mostly rear break. All other riding it hasn't made it's presence known

[Rigardt@Scott]

Honest question, what kind of terrain do you need to be riding for your fork to feel like a 'noodle'?

 

Or am I just such a crap rider I never get to that point ...

 

I guess it's one of those relative depravation scenarios. Ride a 36 and 32 back to back and you will feel it very quickly. I am not saying a 32 is crap by any means, I had a Fit4 version on my Trance 2 - it was good. As a heavy guy that likes "enduro" trails - you feel a thinner fork get overwhelmed pretty quickly though.

 

Anyway, it's a bit of a sidetrack to the original question, so I'll leave it there. 

[MTBeer]

Honest question, what kind of terrain do you need to be riding for your fork to feel like a 'noodle'?

 

Or am I just such a crap rider I never get to that point ...

dude I'm with you. I ride pretty hard down some rocky trails and can barely feel the difference between my previous bikes Fox 32 and new bikes Fox 34.

 

I had to laugh when one oke I know, who walks all the really gnarly trails,  once asked me how I can ride a 32 because its just so flexy.

[Super Sywurm]

dude I'm with you. I ride pretty hard down some rocky trails and can barely feel the difference between my previous bikes Fox 32 and new bikes Fox 34.

 

I had to laugh when one oke I know, who walks all the really gnarly trails, once asked me how I can ride a 32 because its just so flexy.

I think you will need to know how a number of forks feel while riding before you can pinpoint the difference between two specific forks.

 

I have a Reba thats kind of noodlish, but I can't feel it. I don't have the experience to know how it feels.

[DieselnDust]

Honest question, what kind of terrain do you need to be riding for your fork to feel like a 'noodle'?

 

Or am I just such a crap rider I never get to that point ...

 

its much less of an issue today than it was 15years ago but the perception is still there.

Sure there's a noticeable difference between a 35mm/36mm stanchion fork compared to a 30/32/33 mm stanchion fork but there's also a difference in weight, bushing overlap, rim stiffness, tyre size and grip. The only fork that had a huge difference in stiffness over its competition was the Lefty through its design iteration life. Today the access to FEA software to design these forks is now common in the industry and everyone is tweaking their fork design to be stiff enough, as light as possible whilst having sufficient oil to keep the damper working reliably.

[hansolo]

I went from a 130 mm Fox 32 to a 140 mm PIke on my 29er and the difference in fork stiffness was very noticeable, especially on braking bumps etc. I am on the heavier side so this obviously has an influence.

[DieselnDust]

I went from a 130 mm Fox 32 to a 140 mm PIke on my 29er and the difference in fork stiffness was very noticeable, especially on braking bumps etc. I am on the heavier side so this obviously has an influence.

 

 

32mm to 35mm stanchion fork so I'm not surprised you can feel a difference. Low bushing overlap to high bushinng overlap

Much heavier lowers on the Pike too. Two very different forks for different types of riders.