FXRob said:
Many have complained about the lack of plushness on the 36 Talas. No the Vanilla does not have travel adjust. It isn't so tall that you really need it on an RFX though.....only on really really steep stuff have I wished I could crank it down.
I think those that have complained of the Talas had the earlier versions that A. bottomed really hard off drops and for bigger guys and B. Had 10-20mm of travel loss (hello, 1st gen 66 sl and totem 2 steps??).
I'd recommend getting an '07 if you consider getting a Talas 36 as they've apparently addressed those issues, plus have 160mm of travel now. Also, I'd get RC2 version so you can set it up for trail riding and dial in the high speed comp. for doing bigger stuff. I've only got 25 or 30 days on mine so far, but it's held up great even on big hucks I usually reserve for the dh bike. I'm not saying it's as plush as a coil/oil setup (nor would I say that about a 66 SL), but it's pretty damn plush and a really versatile fork.
FWIW, I've got two buddies with the Van 36 RC2 with no issues. As FXRob said, it's only 545mm A2C at 160mm which is pretty reasonable for a RFX so the lack of travel adjust might not be as big of a deal.
Cheers,
EBX
FYI....this was on
NSMB a while ago. I'm sure it was spoon fed to them from Fox, but it acknowledges the bottoming issues and how they addressed it with the '07's.
"Bottom-out control. If there was any critique of 2006 36s and 40s it was that they were hungry for full travel. They'd just gobble it up every time they got a chance. Near the end of their travel a small piston would ride into a cylinder, which theoretically increased oil pressure and controlled bottom-outs. But the fit between the piston and cylinder was too loose, and those high oil pressures never happened. Weak sauce.
The new bottom-out control rocks the strong sauce. First, the cylinder is cone-shaped. Second, the piston has an "interference fit," which means it actually touches the inside of the cone. Third, the cone has four sets of holes along its height. When the piston first hits the cone, oil flows through all four ports. Then it squeezes oil through three ports, then two, then just one. The oil pressure builds up gradually, and it builds big.
The old bottom setup generated 80 pounds of bottom-out resistance. The new one generates 600 pounds. HUGE DIFFERENCE! The resistance starts around 1 1/4 inches from the bottom of the stroke and builds smoothly from there. And one more adjustment: The little piston can be moved up or down to engage the cone sooner or later. "
