[johnsogr]

My sag is 21% at 180mm travel - I don’t want it any firmer!

 

[CaveGiant]

My sag is 21% at 180mm travel - I don’t want it any firmer!

Yeah, I was really happy with it for steep tech last week, but BPW I struggled...
Time to email Dougal

 

[Zed.]

but BPW I struggled...

I ride Bpw regularly so can I ask what trails caused issue?

have just ordered Sc's Rockeater kit for my Dorado pro so reading these posts with interest

Rich.

 

[CaveGiant]

I ride Bpw regularly so can I ask what trails caused issue?

have just ordered Sc's Rockeater kit for my Dorado pro so reading these posts with interest

Rich.

I wouldn't worry about it, last damper I got from Dougal was the best thing to ever touch a bike. I'm presuming this is a me issue.
I just don't understand why he wants the pressures so high.

I used to run 66 Psi, he wants me at 100.

Presumably if I weighed 50% more it feel great.
I've emailed him so will report back.

For the short answer I can get it to feel amazing at low speed anything. Really quite impressed.
It's when the speed picks up it's struggling.

I'd hazard that if I put the rockeater shims in for the pressures I run then it's going to be great.
I just don't understand the recommendation of 100 psi.

 

[shopcat]

My riding weight is 80kg, and with the fork at 180mm I'm running 52 main /94 IRT for 20ish% sag, so pretty close to johnsogr.

I've been very pleased with the factory valving, and I very much appreciate hearing peoples' experiences with the rockeater tunes but I can't see myself dropping $300 on a self install kit. The price is probably in line with what three new pistons should cost, so it's not a knock against the price, it's just high enough that it would be hard to justify for me when I find the stock damping to be fantastic.

It's due a damper bleed so maybe after it gets fresh 2.5 motorex I'll hate it and order a kit.

 

[johnsogr]

My riding weight is 80kg, and with the fork at 180mm I'm running 52 main /94 IRT for 20ish% sag, so pretty close to johnsogr.

I've been very pleased with the factory valving, and I very much appreciate hearing peoples' experiences with the rockeater tunes but I can't see myself dropping $300 on a self install kit. The price is probably in line with what three new pistons should cost, so it's not a knock against the price, it's just high enough that it would be hard to justify for me when I find the stock damping to be fantastic.

It's due a damper bleed so maybe after it gets fresh 2.5 motorex I'll hate it and order a kit.

Believe me I thought that too, but it absolutely can get better

 

[CaveGiant]

I've done a tad more testing and bounced a few ideas off Dougal.

He's suggested an exorcism for my bike, which frankly is not a bad idea taking in to account the amount of issues I've had.

I think a big part of the problem is I've set up the bike for a fork with friction issues with the fork.
I replaced the fork and fitted the new damper from day 1.

If I'd got the bike dialled before swapping the damper it'd be sorting 1 problem at a time.

Basically the rear of the bike rides very low. That worked great with a fork that could not rebound properly. Now I'm running a low friction fork (apart from maybe 1 part)* I need to normalise the bike a bit more first.

A work in progress...

*I'm curious about 1 thing which someone could hopefully double check for me.
With the front wheel off when I compress the legs individually there is almost no friction.
If I push Sideways on the damper leg and compress, still no friction.
If I push on the side of the air spring leg and compress. Lots of friction, it'll stick/slip an inch at a time.
Is this normal or do I need to check my air spring?
Thanks

 

[Zed.]

Is this normal or do I need to check my air spring?

my mrs has just thismorning dispached her (mine that she 'borrowed') Dorado pro forks to J-tech for work so if you'd asked lastnight........

I'll be replacing the front tyre on my Norco this week before friday's Dyfi ride so might manage to assess if my Dorado pro's act similarly to yours

as an aside, the forks my mrs was using injested some lower (upper???) oil into the airspring's negative side and had an interesting 'topout' stick&surge - I appreaciate that usd designs and very low airspring pressures probably don't mix (she was running ~40psi main/neg) as the negative pressure probably drops towards a vaccuum at full compression and could suck oil past the sealhead🧐

Rich.

 

[shopcat]

If I push on the side of the air spring leg and compress. Lots of friction, it'll stick/slip an inch at a time.
Is this normal or do I need to check my air spring?

My fork does not do this on either side, although it just got fresh oil and slickoleum on the seals.

 

[CaveGiant]

My fork does not do this on either side, although it just got fresh oil and slickoleum on the seals.

I've relubed it and it seems to be a little better.
I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

Typical that I want to play with Dougal's new damper and secondary fork problems are getting in the way!

 

[CaveGiant]

my mrs has just thismorning dispached her (mine that she 'borrowed') Dorado pro forks to J-tech for work so if you'd asked lastnight........

I'll be replacing the front tyre on my Norco this week before friday's Dyfi ride so might manage to assess if my Dorado pro's act similarly to yours

as an aside, the forks my mrs was using injested some lower (upper???) oil into the airspring's negative side and had an interesting 'topout' stick&surge - I appreaciate that usd designs and very low airspring pressures probably don't mix (she was running ~40psi main/neg) as the negative pressure probably drops towards a vaccuum at full compression and could suck oil past the sealhead🧐

Rich.

J Tech are one of my favourites.
Joel just condemned my old Dorado, so I'm trying the new one now. A few teething issues, but it'll get there.

 

[shopcat]

I've relubed it and it seems to be a little better.
I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

Typical that I want to play with Dougal's new damper and secondary fork problems are getting in the way!

Have you done the yearly/full service? I have the hayes service kit bag of o rings and glide rings on a shelf but I'm not sure how often people are actually needing to swap them out.

 

[CaveGiant]

Have you done the yearly/full service? I have the hayes service kit bag of o rings and glide rings on a shelf but I'm not sure how often people are actually needing to swap them out.

The fork is a couple of weeks old, hopefully doesn't need a service yet =)

 

[Zed.]

Joel just condemned my old Dorado

interesting, what happened to them for this action

Rich.

 

[CaveGiant]

interesting, what happened to them for this action

Rich.

Manufacturing defect.
It turns out the reason I'd had trouble setting it up was the banana shaped carbon!

 

[boostinmini]

Hey

Not sure if you guys know this or not but on the 37mm dorados I've been dealing with excessive friction. I had to resize the bushings quite a bit and individually each leg was zero friction, But things seem to change really quick when you started tightening the axle pinches.

This was with a fork fully stripped down, no seals, no internals and a dummy hub bolted in.

I found if you tighten the axle center as normal first and then cycle it or hold it down compressed a bit and then tighten the right side hex pinch first and then cycle a few more times and then tighten the round left disc side pinch. I could very consistently have basically no excessive friction after tightening the pinches.

This be a small problem with my fork or maybe a bigger problem but it was a significant increase in performance doing this procedure and as far as I can see nowhere actually mentions to tighten the hex first.

 

[CaveGiant]

Hey

Not sure if you guys know this or not but on the 37mm dorados I've been dealing with excessive friction. I had to resize the bushings quite a bit and individually each leg was zero friction, But things seem to change really quick when you started tightening the axle pinches.

This was with a fork fully stripped down, no seals, no internals and a dummy hub bolted in.

I found if you tighten the axle center as normal first and then cycle it or hold it down compressed a bit and then tighten the right side hex pinch first and then cycle a few more times and then tighten the round left disc side pinch. I could very consistently have basically no excessive friction after tightening the pinches.

This be a small problem with my fork or maybe a bigger problem but it was a significant increase in performance doing this procedure and as far as I can see nowhere actually mentions to tighten the hex first.

That's similar to the issue I had.
Do your method, but with no hub.
Measure the space between the dropouts accurately.
What do you get?

 

[kapolczer]

Hey

Not sure if you guys know this or not but on the 37mm dorados I've been dealing with excessive friction. I had to resize the bushings quite a bit and individually each leg was zero friction, But things seem to change really quick when you started tightening the axle pinches.

This was with a fork fully stripped down, no seals, no internals and a dummy hub bolted in.

I found if you tighten the axle center as normal first and then cycle it or hold it down compressed a bit and then tighten the right side hex pinch first and then cycle a few more times and then tighten the round left disc side pinch. I could very consistently have basically no excessive friction after tightening the pinches.

This be a small problem with my fork or maybe a bigger problem but it was a significant increase in performance doing this procedure and as far as I can see nowhere actually mentions to tighten the hex first.

Dougal has noted they tightened up bushing tolerances on the 37mm model to improve stiffness. And I think it’s Rulezman/Paul Aston who note that you should let all the air out of the fork, compress it and then tighten the pinch bolts to get ideal chassis alignment, and that this should be done on occasion to ensure alignment is maintained. Good to hear you found doing a similar process produced consistent results.

 

[boostinmini]

That's similar to the issue I had.
Do your method, but with no hub.
Measure the space between the dropouts accurately.
What do you get?

Not sure if it matters since it's a floating axle... The axle is what tightens the hub

 

[CaveGiant]

Not sure if it matters since it's a floating axle... The axle is what tightens the hub

The axle floats from 109+-1
Mine was put of spec. 108.7+-1
This figure moved around depending on how the fork was assembled.
It was highlighted when I swapped the worn bearings on my primary wheelset. Friction went through the roof!
With fresh bearings it's exactly 110.

Manitou warranty was excellent and swapped out for a whole new fork, hence why mine is a few weeks old. Just wish I'd noticed earlier. 0.3mm out doesn't sound like a big deal, but it was.
Doesn't hurt to check.

The other way is just hold the hub in place in one dropout. Then rotate the other leg in. It should line up perfectly flat.
It's a weird choice that the floating axle only compensates for a narrow not a fat hub.