[Erlendking]

Hi, I have been using my fox 36 grip2 160 for a while now. I have been through several different setups from as low as 58 psi to where I am now at 77 psi. I have always been struggling to find the sensitivity and damping I would expect from this fork. On fast, rocky descents where I would expect the fork to really come to life it feels really harsh and gives my hands a beating.

For reference I weigh 64kgs or 140 lbs with gear

This was my old setup:
58 psi
1 token
6 Lsc
14hsc
11lsr
8hsr

After tinkering and using a shockwiz:
77 psi
10lsc
12hsc
9lsr
8hsr

All from fully closed

The shockwiz just kept telling me to add air. I like the stiff setup when jumping and such, but it feels harsh on descents. The fork seems to settle into the travel and only respond to bigger impacts and rider inputs but not responding to smaller bumps.
The fork was serviced about a month ago.

I managed to use around 130 mm of travel throughout the entire day of riding, including some bigger drops.

Any tips as to what I can do to improve it? Or is this simply how good it gets? For tomorrow I will try to reduce my psi by 14 putting me close to what fox recommends and try that.

Thanks, Erlend

 

[minimusprime]

Reduce your air spring by 10, back HSC all the way out and speed up rebound. Use the tips discussed on this video to set rebound.

My guess is that your rebound is way, way, way too slow and you're packing down in the midstroke which is not allowing it to recover. Combined with too much HSC for your weight, you've got a fork that's harsh everywhere except for loading into smooth compressions (jumps)

 

[Erlendking]

I will try the following for tomorrow and report back:
-14 psi
-1 hsr (fully open)
-4hsc (fully open)

Thanks

 

[minimusprime]

I will try the following for tomorrow and report back:
-14 psi
-1 hsr (fully open)
-4hsc (fully open)

Thanks

check that video i linked... you essentially dial in rebound by loading the fork 1/4 - 1/3 into the travel and get off it quickly. If the front wheel bounces off the ground then slow down LSR until it barely comes off the ground or not at all (that part is subjective).

Same thing for HSR, but to trigger HSR you need to jump onto the fork with most (if not all) of your weight to get it deep into it's stroke. same theories of wheel jumping off the ground apply.

Rebound is a goldilocks window based on your spring pressure. Since it can only return what the compression ratio of your positive air chamber can generate, there is a position sensitive element to it (unlike compression damping). By extension, HSR could also be labeled deep stroke rebound as the only way to trigger the high speed circuit is to be deep enough in the stroke to generate a high amount of spring force return.

At 140lbs you are very close to the limits of the stock circuits on both compression and rebound. It would not surprise me to find out you have both HSC and HSR almost all the way open by the time you are done.

 

[294037]

Your initial settings are pretty close to what I would recommend, except I would fully open out the lsc. The rebound circuit has a huge range so that is almost definitely not too slow. If you need to change rebound I would leave the hsr where it is and only use lsr, as that still adjusts high and low speed.

Aside from that, your issues are unlikely to be damper based, I would at the minimum get a lower leg service and check the air spring for excess grease to help with friction. Ideally you need the bushings burnished as well, Fox forks are pretty tight from new so this makes a huge improvement to sensitivity

 

[Lone Rager]

The lower the pressure, the further the fork rides into its travel. Further into to travel is closer to the air spring ramp up so will be harsher. Pressure that yields around 15-20% sag standing will give a softer ride.

How does it feel standing over the bike and pushing on the fork? Does it move smoothly and easily or is there some binding or friction?

What tire pressures are you running?

 

[Erlendking]

Fork feels really smooth when cycling by hand. Running 21 psi front and 24 rear. I'm thinking of removing one or two of the volume spacers and instead increasing air pressure slightly in order to achieve more travel more often.

 

[Erlendking]

I will slow down the rebound to what fox recommends for my air pressure, and open lsc fully. If I can find a 32mm wrench I'll remove a token and increase the pressure slightly to achieve around 80-85% travel when hitting the front wheel in the ground. Then see how that feels tomorrow
Thanks

 

[Erlendking]

Did what i stated earlier besides removing the air tokens as I couldn't find a 32mm while on holiday. Still felt more or less the same, harsh, though slightly more controlled.

 

[Duffman1976]

Once you find a 32mm socket remove the air spring and check out how much grease is in the negative air chamber. For some reason a lot of fox forks come packed with grease which makes the initial stroke feel harsh. Especially on high speed small chattery bits.

 

[BmanInTheD]

I'm your weight and I hate to say it but I gave up on my Fox 36 Grip 2 and put on an MRP coil with a light spring. WAY better suppleness. Heck, I ended up replacing ALL my Fox forks with MRP Ribbons/Ribbon SL's as they're all much plusher IMO. Still have a 32 SC, though.

 

[Sanchofula]

Start from zero: Remove all volume spacers, zero out compression and damping, focus on air pressure and travel usage, put the Shock Wiz away for now.

It's a good fork, the problem is not the fork, the problem is the set up.

Changing to a coil is a lateral move, air coil is progressive, steel coil is linear, just different, neither is good or bad.

Run what you brung, just need a reboot.

 

[Dougal]

At your weight you'll need a revalve.

Or put on 20kg.

 

[burkawitz206]

On fast, rocky descents where I would expect the fork to really come to life it feels really harsh and gives my hands a beating.

For reference I weigh 64kgs or 140 lbs with gear

After tinkering and using a shockwiz:
77 psi

I managed to use around 130 mm of travel throughout the entire day of riding, including some bigger drops.

Thanks, Erlend

This isn't a complete answer to your problem, but for comparison I run the 2018 RC2 version of that fork but I weigh ~175 in gear, run 80psi, and use full travel on the biggest stuff that I have the balls to hit. If you are leaving 30mm of travel on the table after a hard ride and hitting what you consider bigger drops I suspect a big part of your problem is too much air.

I would recommend starting over by pulling out whatever volume reducers you have in there, wind off the HSC/LSC, and drop psi to nearer to the manufacturer recommended for your weight and accompanying rebound damping based on your preference. Go ride and adjust from there based on how it feels.

 

[Sanchofula]

This isn't a complete answer to your problem, but for comparison I run the 2018 RC2 version of that fork but I weigh ~175 in gear, run 80psi, and use full travel on the biggest stuff that I have the balls to hit. If you are leaving 30mm of travel on the table after a hard ride and hitting what you consider bigger drops I suspect a big part of your problem is too much air.

I would recommend starting over by pulling out whatever volume reducers you have in there, wind off the HSC/LSC, and drop psi to nearer to the manufacturer recommended for your weight and accompanying rebound damping based on your preference. Go ride and adjust from there based on how it feels.

Hey, that's what I said

A pattern is forming ...

 

[yeti0200]

At your weight you'll need a revalve.

Or put on 20kg.

Can you elaborate on this?

What would be a good place to start out of curiosity? Remove 1 of the large diameter shims from the compression valving?

 

[Dougal]

Can you elaborate on this?

What would be a good place to start out of curiosity? Remove 1 of the large diameter shims from the compression valving?

Yes. But you'll probably like 2 removed better.

 

[yeti0200]

Ok, thanks! If you remove one or two large diameter shims should you also put in one or two small diameter (10mm) shim at the back end of the stack so your adjuster doesn't end up with a different amount of clicks?

I'm a light rider too, and may try this in the future, where can fox shims/valves be purchased?

 

[Dougal]

Ok, thanks! If you remove one or two large diameter shims should you also put in one or two small diameter (10mm) shim at the back end of the stack so your adjuster doesn't end up with a different amount of clicks?

I'm a light rider too, and may try this in the future, where can fox shims/valves be purchased?

That compression adjuster is filled with clicks that do nothing anyway. As long as you've got the adjustment you need and shims aren't loose, it doesn't matter.

 

[trumphair]

What did Shockwiz show for your dynamic sag? From my experience the recommendations it's giving you sound unusual given the amount of travel used. Maybe calibration is off?

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