[Mudguard]

I would love a Dorado. But they are like rockinghorse shjt in nz second hand and im not paying $3600 nzd or a new set.

Don't get a quote Öhlins' DH fork then. Makes the Dorado a bargain

 

[plummet]

Don't get a quote Öhlins' DH fork then. Makes the Dorado a bargain

Lets face it. All of the new top of the line dh forks are hovering around the $4k mark.
I wont be buying any of them.

 

[11053]

Moistly, you are stuck working with what you have on hand.
I wouldn’t bother with tuning/revalving etc for a very part time ride.
You definitely can optimize the balance between damper and air spring.
You’ll need to faff with rebound and pay attention to end of stroke/full travel events- as the lack of compression will put you deep in to travel very quickly.
Try a range of psi and more rebound and a lower leg service/air spring service to set a baseline- you’ll then know if you are in a usable damper range or outside of it.

 

[plummet]

Moistly, you are stuck working with what you have on hand.
I wouldn’t bother with tuning/revalving etc for a very part time ride.
You definitely can optimize the balance between damper and air spring.
You’ll need to faff with rebound and pay attention to end of stroke/full travel events- as the lack of compression will put you deep in to travel very quickly.
Try a range of psi and more rebound and a lower leg service/air spring service to set a baseline- you’ll then know if you are in a usable damper range or outside of it.

Yeah, i think ill make it work with fine tuning. Get to that trade off between small bump and big hit capability. Don't get me wrong. Its not terrible. Just not optimal which is got to be expected for a low end damper.

 

[Mudguard]

If only there was a resource where people had similar issues could write and answer...

https://www.mtbr.com/threads/fox-40-29-grip-1-damper-upgrade-improvement.1190035/?post_id=15348115#post-15348115

 

[T3mppu]

The grip damper in your Fox 40 can't be tuned financially sensibly. Shockcraft is the only place I know that you could ask for a proper custom tune that were going to fix your problems. Grip X or Grip X2 are your best bet.

The grip damper needs a flat piston, LsC bleed channel and needle modified (too short/bad shape).
I don't know who does those, maybe Dougal.

But the DIY way is cheap if you either have the tools or contacts.

There is a thread somewhere here with pictures where someone shortened the shaft of basevalve to ease on needle modified.

And then there is a nice open source documentation available David J. Haruch Fox 36 Damper Mods
The writer use some actual machining (lathe), but it is not completely necessary.

 

[FriedrichGuenther]

@T3mppu With those adjustments, the Grip has externally adjustable LSC, HSC controlled via shim stack and no harsh midvalve, I take it?

 

[T3mppu]

@T3mppu With those adjustments, the Grip has externally adjustable LSC, HSC controlled via shim stack and no harsh midvalve, I take it?

Almost.
Shim stack controls full range of damping, then LsC is a bybass bleed to affect the LsC part.
i.e. the stack has to have LsC in it to get proper LsC adjuster range.

For example rockshox Charger2.1 RC does not have good LsC on the stack -> no proper support can be achieved via LsC adjuster, even on the closed position


That modification does not affect midvalve directly, but having proper damping on the basevalve (slowing shaft speeds) can help with the midvalve.
The damper is all about balance, same with shimm stack vs LsC adjuster.

In grip damper the LsC adjuster adjust shimm stack preload against the ring shaped ridge on basevalve piston, when normally LsC adjusts freebleed.
Then the basevalve is heavily preloaded when adding LsC via adjuster and that brings great harshness.

 

[plummet]

The grip damper needs a flat piston, LsC bleed channel and needle modified (too short/bad shape).
I don't know who does those, maybe Dougal.

But the DIY way is cheap if you either have the tools or contacts.

There is a thread somewhere here with pictures where someone shortened the shaft of basevalve to ease on needle modified.

And then there is a nice open source documentation available David J. Haruch Fox 36 Damper Mods
The writer use some actual machining (lathe), but it is not completely necessary.

I'll be honest, I'm tight on time and lack the passion for fiddling with shim stacks and suspension internals. The most complex i'll likely go before handing over to someone else or selling/buying a different fork would be trying a thicker visco oil.
The rubber meets the road this weekend with national DH race. I'll do some more bracketing and tweaking or pressures and see if i can get a workable set up. I've done more tweaking in the last day and the parking lot test is promising. Now i Need to through it into work to see what happens.

 

[teK--]

This is incorrect. Both are correct terms to describe attenuation. While the latter shares a meaning with "wetting", it also has attenuation listed as a definition, so you sir, are in fact wrong.

Sure, both words can be used to describe the effect using the english language, however is it the commonly accepted technical term in that context?

I.e. none of the major suspension companies are going to be releasing their own brand of attenuators, dampeners, or diminishers. Although a Fox Mitigator sounds kinda cool.

 

[aerius]

More shims and a Dremel tool. Hammer is optional.

 

[plummet]

Got it working well enough. Now I'll ride it like I stole it.

 

[Nat]

Got it working well enough. Now I'll ride it like I stole it.

Did you do some tweakening on it?

 

[plummet]

Did you do some tweakening on it?

Two Volume spacing and bracketing.

Full compression on and more rebound than I normally would set up with.

I could possibly to with one more volume spacer. But it's working well enough.

 

[Mudguard]

Two Volume spacing and bracketing.

Full compression on and more rebound than I normally would set up with.

I could possibly to with one more volume spacer. But it's working well enough.

I'm trying to dial it in. But I think the compression dampening is too weak. I'm at 4 volume spacers full compression and am still blowing through too much travel.

I've set the sag and small bump to how I like it. If I ad more air pressure small bump performance starts to suffer.

So added air and removed volume spacers?

 

[plummet]

So added air and removed volume spacers?

Oops,4 volume spacers, more air pressure, more rebound, full compression. It's not trail riding speeds plush but is feeling good a dh racing speed.

 

[plummet]

Well 7 months and 5 dh races later the fork is ok at best. I have it dialed enough to put down a decent run at a decent pace. But i cant get it to to the suppleness than i want and have the big hit capability the want at the same time. So i have the fork a bit stiffer than i would like to be able to take the bigger hits and taking abit small bump performance on the chin.

I think i might dive into an grip x2 damper rabbit hole to get the fork dialed more. I've been looking out for dh forks on run out deals and good quality second better spec forks, but nothing has cropped up in 6 months so it looks like damper upgrade is it.

 

[Mudguard]

Rockeater Tune for Fox 40 GRIP2VVC 2021-2024

Rockeater Tune for Fox 40 GRIP2VVC dampers and forks from 2021-2024This is a preconfigured set of modifications and internal tuning which is targeted at 70-80 kg riders who like to ride rough stuff fast without getting beatenThey have enough range to also work great for riders from 60-90 kgBut...

www.shockcraft.co.nz

Does GRIP tuning.

 

[FriedrichGuenther]

Does GRIP tuning.

No longer. Only Grip 2 VVC. Hence getting a Grip 2 VVC and having it tuned then is way more expensive than getting a new Grip X2.

 

[Mudguard]

No longer. Only Grip 2 VVC. Hence getting a Grip 2 VVC and having it tuned then is way more expensive than getting a new Grip X2.

I had a quick look before to see if anyone actually sells the GRIP X2 here. I couldn't find anyone.