Got forks 150HR service, also the new Battery firmware

[kcarbon]

Hi All,
was looking forward to improved ride quality, but that never happened. I mention before when I first got me Comp carbon. forks ride was very stiff, did not get much travel, even on a rough down hill run. bike came with a nice rear shock ride, but a very harsh front end ride. had 110psi air spring pressure I'm 75kg.
well found the return was set at fastest, I slowed it to slowest. I also had LBS take 10psi at a time out & was test riding it on rough down hill. I got it down to 30psi & was able to go down rough hill's without needing to brake. still I did not think was a really good ride . but it was better than the start. LBS said after the 150hour service they will re set everything & should improve. I took it for a 25km ride and it feels harsher again, not as harsh as when I got new, but not as smooth as I had it before the service. found rebound had been turned up to be faster, so I have turned that back to slowest rebound. will see how that feel's. no idea on what air spring psi they set. but it seems to me they don't know much.
so will just ride it till I can find someone who knows how to set the ride up so I like it.
also note have a new chain!! thats 3,200km on first chain.firmware update of battery I've only done 25km on cycleway lot of hill's, still have to work out best setting, seemed to use more battery power as I road compleat 25km in eco & that felt like higher % than before. so have turned eco down to 5% & other end 25% turned trail down too, but left turbo at 100% will take for a ride.
Also note I'm not the only one that prefers the 27.5 X 3.0" over the Butcher 27.5 X 2.8"
at LBS the owner has a 2018 expert & put the same tyres as I run on.
I might get a ride on that bike to test out the Ohlins forks ( I have Ohlins on my Motor Bike )
well thats my take, but as have said doubt any two riders like same set up.
also had the Levo on my ute ready to go home from LBS & a chap came over & said that it was a nice bike, I thanked him. he was asking lot of questions & mentioned he had tested the 2018 Expert and was about to buy an E MTB. I said great!! think was testing a few makes too.

 

[Dax]

Would suggest you buy a shock pump and tweak your fork pressure yourself.

Set the pressure with the correct sag, probably 25-30%, then adjust while you ride until it feels right. Set the lock out/platform/ctd lever to open (if you have it) and any other adjusters to somewhere in the middle while you get the air pressure right.

Forks will soften up with use, but setup is key. If they are still mega stiff, it could be an issue with the fork, I have had forks from Fox that came with no oil from the factory! Looking on the specialized site, you may have a Revelation RC? Take a look at this review, it comments on the small bump sensitivity and how lighter riders may need to leave the compression wide open: http://www.mbr.co.uk/reviews/forks/rockshox-revelation-fork-review

Once your forks are run in and you've played with setup, there's always the option of custom tuning them to suit your weight and style, and upgrading the internals to higher spec.

 

[Doomanic]

You may also need to adjust your expectations. Air forks on an MTB will never feel as good as coil forks on a motorcycle. Even good coil MTB forks will struggle.

Have you watched the many YouTube vids on how to set up suspension?

 

[kcarbon]

Thanks Dax & Doomanic!! yes I think I'll have to tune it myself, I was also thinking would be hard to get a MTB forks like a MC , as need them light.
I slowed down the rebound helped a bit, I think I'll leave it till I do a rough down hill in the dirt, might improve with more force on front end, so will wait.

on another note I like the new firmware & MC Infinity tune. can set it to do what you want, I think if the rider prefers the old race setting. they could get same effect by setting the primary % low and the engine % higher.
when I went on my first ride since update battery firmware, I had same primary % as engine % in each level. took it on cycleway 22km used 21% battery
re set eco primary to 5% engine eco 25% was able to ride the full ride that has a jew good hills to climb. I used the gears & did whole ride both directions in eco/ 22km used 10% of battery power. I noticed if you start to peddle fast after slowing down the motor excellerates, I kept thinking it has gone to trail or turbo from feel I was getting, so I hit the down button to double check.
I won't be able to get out on a good ride for next week as too busy. but will be seeing just how far I can go on one full charge.

 

[villho]

WTH... 75 kg and 110 psi in the fork? (Or was that in the shock?) I ride with 87 kg and I have some 70-72 psi in the fork.

Which fork and damper do you have? I ask, because you get only so far, if you have Motion Control damper in it. Update to Charger 2 is some 200 euros (parts only) and it transforms the fork. Then it’s a matter of setting the correct sag together with bottom-out control with the tokens. Rebound is in the ballpark, when you stand next to your bike, push the fork down as far as you can, release it quickly and see, if the wheel leaves the ground: you need to find the adjustment, when the wheel just stays on the ground. Rest of of it you can adjust on the trail based on the feeling.

 

[outerlimits]

If you set your rebound too slow the fork can pack down in its travel and give a harsh ride.
Also at your weight, I would leave the compression fully open.
110psi is too much,.. this is maybe why you feel the need to slow the rebound down heaps. I would think at 75kg you would probs need about 90psi. Best to set it by sag to say 30%

 

[levity]

Hi All,
was looking forward to improved ride quality, but that never happened. I mention before when I first got me Comp carbon. forks ride was very stiff, did not get much travel, even on a rough down hill run. bike came with a nice rear shock ride, but a very harsh front end ride. had 110psi air spring pressure I'm 75kg.
well found the return was set at fastest, I slowed it to slowest. I also had LBS take 10psi at a time out & was test riding it on rough down hill. I got it down to 30psi & was able to go down rough hill's without needing to brake. still I did not think was a really good ride . but it was better than the start. LBS said after the 150hour service they will re set everything & should improve. I took it for a 25km ride and it feels harsher again, not as harsh as when I got new, but not as smooth as I had it before the service. found rebound had been turned up to be faster, so I have turned that back to slowest rebound. will see how that feel's. no idea on what air spring psi they set. but it seems to me they don't know much.
so will just ride it till I can find someone who knows how to set the ride up so I like it...

Hmmm, mrs levity and I also have 2018 Comp Carbon bikes with the Revelation fork (basically a Pike with a simple Motion Control damper), and we've been able to set them up to work pretty well without the expense of a Charger damper. Here are some suggestions to things you might consider trying:

Air spring - I'm about the same weight as you, 73kg, and run 60-70 psi in the fork depending on conditions: 70 psi for desert sand to prevent fork dive, 65psi for general riding, and 60psi to be forgiving in slow rocky conditions. I'd recommend starting in the 65-70psi range, riding it off a curb or drop of 6-12", pushing down hard on the bars, and seeing how much travel you get. You should be able to get at least 130-140m. Shouldn't bottom out as you want a "safety margin" for big hits.

Damper side oil - We both changed from stock 5W to 2.5W (me) and Redline "Like Water" for her (53kg) It was too harsh with 5W, and lighter oil really improved high speed damping and smoothed out bumps. It's easy to do, and it provides a check of the oil level in case it was incorrectly set at the factory. You'll need to reset rebound if you do this because of faster oil flow. The method villho described above will get you close, but you may want to slow it down a bit further - just watch how quickly it comes back up after pushing down hard. Ultimately, you'll have to decide how it behaves on the trail.

Tokens on the air spring side - depends on how aggressively you ride and how you weight front/rear. I've gone back and forth between none and one, and have settled on none. I usually ride with the low speed damper dial fully open, and with 65Psi and 2.5W damper oil I typically get 120-130mm travel, and ~140+mm on larger hits. If I want more damping I just use the adjuster dial. I don't ride hard enough to bottom it out, but if you're more aggressive you may want a token to make compression more progressive.

Have fun experimenting, and good luck!

 

[kcarbon]

Hmmm, mrs levity and I also have 2018 Comp Carbon bikes with the Revelation fork (basically a Pike with a simple Motion Control damper), and we've been able to set them up to work pretty well without the expense of a Charger damper. Here are some suggestions to things you might consider trying:

Air spring - I'm about the same weight as you, 73kg, and run 60-70 psi in the fork depending on conditions: 70 psi for desert sand to prevent fork dive, 65psi for general riding, and 60psi to be forgiving in slow rocky conditions. I'd recommend starting in the 65-70psi range, riding it off a curb or drop of 6-12", pushing down hard on the bars, and seeing how much travel you get. You should be able to get at least 130-140m. Shouldn't bottom out as you want a "safety margin" for big hits.

Damper side oil - We both changed from stock 5W to 2.5W (me) and Redline "Like Water" for her (53kg) It was too harsh with 5W, and lighter oil really improved high speed damping and smoothed out bumps. It's easy to do, and it provides a check of the oil level in case it was incorrectly set at the factory. You'll need to reset rebound if you do this because of faster oil flow. The method villho described above will get you close, but you may want to slow it down a bit further - just watch how quickly it comes back up after pushing down hard. Ultimately, you'll have to decide how it behaves on the trail.

Tokens on the air spring side - depends on how aggressively you ride and how you weight front/rear. I've gone back and forth between none and one, and have settled on none. I usually ride with the low speed damper dial fully open, and with 65Psi and 2.5W damper oil I typically get 120-130mm travel, and ~140+mm on larger hits. If I want more damping I just use the adjuster dial. I don't ride hard enough to bottom it out, but if you're more aggressive you may want a token to make compression more progressive.

Have fun experimenting, and good luck!

Levity, thank you so much, do you know how much 2.5W oil is needed?
Redline has become very hard to buy in Australia as had a change in distributor. I used to use Redline engine & gear box oil in MC.
very good oil!!

 

[levity]

re Revelation fork oil: 150-160cc gives the recommended oil height of 100-106mm (see link below).
Easy, peasy - just dump out the old, and pour in the new. I used a Motion Pro fork oil level tool to suck it out and adjust the height, but you can just use a syringe and some tubing.

Specs (2019, but looks similar to 2018) -

https://sram-cdn-pull-zone-gsdesign...ir_coil_token_specification_english_rev_a.pdf

Service info (2019, but looks similar to 2018) -

https://sram-cdn-pull-zone-gsdesign...manual_2019_pike_revelation_english_rev_b.pdf

 

[Mountie]

Hi All,
was looking forward to improved ride quality, but that never happened. I mention before when I first got me Comp carbon. forks ride was very stiff, did not get much travel, even on a rough down hill run. bike came with a nice rear shock ride, but a very harsh front end ride. had 110psi air spring pressure I'm 75kg.
well found the return was set at fastest, I slowed it to slowest. I also had LBS take 10psi at a time out & was test riding it on rough down hill. I got it down to 30psi & was able to go down rough hill's without needing to brake. still I did not think was a really good ride . but it was better than the start. LBS said after the 150hour service they will re set everything & should improve. I took it for a 25km ride and it feels harsher again, not as harsh as when I got new, but not as smooth as I had it before the service. found rebound had been turned up to be faster, so I have turned that back to slowest rebound. will see how that feel's. no idea on what air spring psi they set. but it seems to me they don't know much.
so will just ride it till I can find someone who knows how to set the ride up so I like it.
also note have a new chain!! thats 3,200km on first chain.firmware update of battery I've only done 25km on cycleway lot of hill's, still have to work out best setting, seemed to use more battery power as I road compleat 25km in eco & that felt like higher % than before. so have turned eco down to 5% & other end 25% turned trail down too, but left turbo at 100% will take for a ride.
Also note I'm not the only one that prefers the 27.5 X 3.0" over the Butcher 27.5 X 2.8"
at LBS the owner has a 2018 expert & put the same tyres as I run on.
I might get a ride on that bike to test out the Ohlins forks ( I have Ohlins on my Motor Bike )
well thats my take, but as have said doubt any two riders like same set up.
also had the Levo on my ute ready to go home from LBS & a chap came over & said that it was a nice bike, I thanked him. he was asking lot of questions & mentioned he had tested the 2018 Expert and was about to buy an E MTB. I said great!! think was testing a few makes too.

Hello here’s something to try. Turn your compression damping down to make the ride a little plusher.

 

[outerlimits]

Maybe you got them locked out if at 30psi they were still harsh.
Blue knob at the top of the fork. Turn that anti clockwise all the way.

 

[villho]

One other thing reg. forks in their stock form: red lubrication grease used by RockShox on air spring side is quite sticky. I had a fatbike with RS Bluto on it and the sticky stock grease caused the balancing port between the pos. and neg. sides to stuck (I was riding it in Finnish winter). This meant that pressures did not balance out well and the ride was really harsh and I also lost some travel. Cleaning everything up and re-building with SlickHoney helped. I did the same for my Revelation when I installed the longer 160 mm air spring.

Changing the oil to lighter is a good idea. I think the stock oil is too thick for MoCo damper.