Levo 2019 Forks

[fat&grey]

Now getting used to the bike and I love it.

However.... now I’m stating to push it more I hate the forks (Revs). I can’t afford (all the money went on the bike) to replace them so is there a way to make them feel plusher. When I hit some thing they feel and sound like a cheap spring only fork.
Thanks

 

[davarello]

See if you can get a ShockWiz and find out what's going on. My LBS rents them out. I found with my Revelations the recommended air pressure was way too high with too much rebound damping. Took out some tokens, lowered the pressure and sped up rebound and it's much better, but I'll still be doing the ShockWiz soon to get it more dialled. Long term I may get an MRP Ribbon to give the bike a revamp if needed.

 

[fat&grey]

Ok cheers, I’ll look into it.

 

[scipy]

Hi fit&colorful,

I'm guessing you're on a FSR Comp with a Revelation Charger RC. If you wouldn't mind going into a little bit more detail as to what happens with the fork in which stage, I'm sure we could save you some of the hassle OR in the very best scenario get you more familiar with what each of the adjustment does and affects so you don't waste a lot of time if/once you get a ShockWiz going. I've got a ShockWiz myself for "renting purposes" and after letting a friend try it to set up his bike as a trial-run-i.e.-information-gathering-market-research I kinda gave up because people who haven't a clue what suspension settings do and how will not really be helped by ShockWiz because they don't really grasp the concepts, it becomes frustrating and they just judge it as crap.

So, you say you'd like it a) more plushy and b) less springy or pogo-stick-y. If anything I say below sounds like I'm talking down to you, it's cause I don't know your background or level of knowledge + for anyone reading later, might as well delve into some detail.

a) from what the internet says, 150 mm Revelation comes with 0 volume reducing tokens installed. This means that if you don't want to be blowing through the travel, you might be running slightly higher pressure in the airspring and it might be just too stiff of a spring rate for you. If you'd like it to be more plushy, that of course means removing some of the pressure. However, that'd lead to less support, more sag and/or blowing through the travel when you hit some bigger stuff. This is where a reduction in volume would come in handy as it'd make the airspring curve more progressive. You could run lower psi (let's say by 5-8 depending on how much you weigh and where your pressure currently is) which would get you more initial plushness and the fork would just get progressively stiffer the deeper you go into travel. Volume reducing tokens are really cheap and easy to come by, just ask your LBS to give you some or buy them for a few bucks/quid/eur.

Another thing that would increase the plushness would be a modification such as Vorsprung Luftkappe, but unfortunately it doesn't exist for the 32 mm Revelation, only for the Pike/Lyrik/Yari and the FOX 34/36. I've modified several FOX 36's and a Lyrik with this and for heavier riders there are literally no down sides. Less stiction, lower breakaway force, more plushy, more progressive, just all around winning.

b) If the fork feels springy and not damped at all, then you have the opposite of what davarello described. If I understood you correctly, if you're just standing on the bike and cycle the fork into compression and let it come back up, it goes down too fast and up too fast, acting like a spring or a pogo stick? This would mean it is under-damped in both directions. If you're having a lot of bobbing while pedaling or other slow-piston-speed activities such as body weight transfers under braking or accelerating, then you might want to try to add some compression damping. Internet says that the Revelation Charger should have 5 clicks of low speed compression damping adjustment. So, if it's going down too fast during slower movements (not big hits!), then you might want to try and turn it 1 or 2 clicks towards "hard/closed". Rebound on the other hand controls the speed of return to the extended position i.e. bringing the wheel back into contact with the trail. If it's too fast, it can feel unstable and pogo-y, if it's too slow you can experience packing in (when the fork hits something and compresses, then can't return quickly enough before the next hit, so it remains in compression and gets compressed further .. it packs in). Basically, if you just stand your feet on the ground with the frame between your legs and try to compress the fork down and then unload it suddenly by completely removing your hands and weight off the bars, the front wheel should not jump of the ground. If it does, you have too little rebound damping and should turn the adjuster clockwise (towards the turtle) a few clicks until this stops happening. This is a general rule of thumb and rebound damping depends on the pressure you have in the airspring and your weight + how you'd like the bike to feel. For example, racers usually run their rebound on the slightly slower side of critical damping, while "stylish" riders who aren't chasing times and want a playful and springy bike usually run it on the slightly faster side. But we're talking about very small 1-2 click differences here. If you are running your rebound almost completely open, that's a world of difference. Basically, try to close it completely, cycle the fork, try to open it completely, cycle the fork. This should give everyone a basic feeling of what it does. If there's no change - bladder on the damper might be pierced or some other problem and your damper isn't working correctly.

Other than this, there are no "cheap" options. It's always either a re-valving of the damper shim stack or a new damper or a new fork.

 

[khorn]

Just a heads up, the fork is actually a 35 mm fork and shares the same body as a Pike. Internals can easily and relatively cheap be upgraded to Pike and it’s a world of difference small bump sensitivity vice. I did it myself on my Levo and very satisfied with the results.

Karsten

 

[Kiwi in Wales]

If @fat&grey has the 2019 base model Turbo Levo £4000 RRP without the dropper he will have a 32mm RockShox Sector RL

If he has the Turbo Levo Comp (next model up) £5000 RRP he will have a 35mm RockShox Revelation Charger RC

 

[fat&grey]

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. I think the bike is a Turbo Levo Comp as it was 5k. I’m a bit out of touch with the tech on these but will catch up. Scipy thanks for that extensive reply I’ll try a few of those things one evening this week. Thanks