[Mollydog1976]

You guys have helped me a ton before so I beg for answers again.

I bought a 2004 MX Comp for a friend (a girl too, not girl-friend though which is frustrating the hell out of me. And here I am thinking that if i upgrade her bike and set it up for her that she will think I am a stud and date me. Bad idea beacause I am a Marz Marathon man and thought the MX would be darn near the same thing. But it's different enough that I thought I would ask. Plus I acutally would like to look competent for her but if I can't figure this out, then I am going to look like a big ass. And a dateless big ass at that. So you guys gotta help me.)

Anyway, now that I have made a fool of myself (at least not to her...yet). I thought the fork was a dual air in both legs (it has an air valve on top of each leg) but all the pressure is out and it is way stiff yet. So it must have coils in it. I run my Marathon S without 1 coil and pump up the air preload to get the sag and travel right. I am pretty sure I can do the same on the MX, but which coil do I pull out (does it matter, could you pull out both and run it as an air only fork?) and can the air chambers take the added pressure? She weighs about 140 (DO NOT tell her I told you that BTW). Like I said, my Marathon S works great like this. Looking for some confirmation.

Thanks for the help. And yes, I realize a susp fork isn't the way to a girl's heart, but she at least has to go out with me once before I pony up any jewelry. Wow, am I desperate.

 

[Call_me_Clyde]

Interesting dilemma

Did you try cross-posting to Dear Abby or on the e-Harmony.com website?

I'm pretty sure that fork has one side coil and one side air, so no coil to take out, my friend. It's something to do with the air preload on the coil side, or the negative air on the other side. That's my best guess at least. No owners manual to refer to?

Bob

 

[farmboybunk]

My wife has the same fork (well it's an 05, but the only difference is the 05 has the 04 marathon crown). Did you buy the fork new or used? The only thing I can come up with is that it has to much oil in one or both sides. The first time i set it up for my wife it was way to soft and linear (she weighs 120 lbs). So i add a little more oil to both sides and a couple more pumps of air.
So i had the exact opposite problem with the same fork, with a lighter ride. Go figure....If you have let all the air out, then it has to be that it has to much oil, well thats my guess .
If you feel confident, open up the fork by removing both top caps (I think it takes a 21mm socket) and compress the fork all the way down to bottom out and measure the oil height. It should be 50mm below the bottom of the threads of the top caps. If it has to much oil, take some out tell it's at 50mm. Once you have the oil hright right, it should take between 35-40 psi of air in the non-ETA side.
Buena suerte
Bunk