[RyderRider]

Sonicreducer....another 200!!!!Yeah! Do you ever have problems with pedal strikes?
Maybe I have something backwards? 220# ride weight. Here is the history. I started with 2pos/1neg spacer.....rode for months trying to get into shape....not worrying about tune.....When I started to climb/descend more I then noticed pedal strikes when climbing...and descending .....had to be real careful of placement. I added more air to 240psi. Better. DVO suggested because of heavy weight I should add a spacer to neg side....so 1pos/2neg. Much better...less strikes and climbed better....like my energy was going forward not sinking. Rode like that for a few months....sat on other bikes and noticed how cloudy they felt.....I liked how the bike felt when I moved spacers from pos to neg.....realized that I couldn't fit more than two spacers in the neg....so I left the pos out...now at 0pos/2neg......felt very cloudy and smooth on the small vibrating trail I rode that day. The climb felt different....not as easy. The next ride was more difficult tech climb/down....did not feel very good on the way up....way more noticeable than on the non tech climb the day before.....I ended up moving the switch to the climb position just to make it feel like I was getting forward momentum. I don't do big jumps or drops....would like to....and never get close to using all my travel. I think I'm only at 14mm sag. I think the high psi is keeping me from using more travel....not needing spacers in the pos...I wonder if there is a half size spacer to fit in the neg side.....I think there is a bit of room.
main=240psi
bladder=200psi
rebound=5 clicks maybe too much?
spacers=0pos/2neg

What size bike and size crank arm. I have a large and it came with 175mm cranks. I swapped them out for 170mm and not I hardly get strikes.

 

[sonicreducer]

Sonicreducer....another 200!!!!Yeah! Do you ever have problems with pedal strikes?
Maybe I have something backwards? 220# ride weight. Here is the history. I started with 2pos/1neg spacer.....rode for months trying to get into shape....not worrying about tune.....When I started to climb/descend more I then noticed pedal strikes when climbing...and descending .....had to be real careful of placement. I added more air to 240psi. Better. DVO suggested because of heavy weight I should add a spacer to neg side....so 1pos/2neg. Much better...less strikes and climbed better....like my energy was going forward not sinking. Rode like that for a few months....sat on other bikes and noticed how cloudy they felt.....I liked how the bike felt when I moved spacers from pos to neg.....realized that I couldn't fit more than two spacers in the neg....so I left the pos out...now at 0pos/2neg......felt very cloudy and smooth on the small vibrating trail I rode that day. The climb felt different....not as easy. The next ride was more difficult tech climb/down....did not feel very good on the way up....way more noticeable than on the non tech climb the day before.....I ended up moving the switch to the climb position just to make it feel like I was getting forward momentum. I don't do big jumps or drops....would like to....and never get close to using all my travel. I think I'm only at 14mm sag. I think the high psi is keeping me from using more travel....not needing spacers in the pos...I wonder if there is a half size spacer to fit in the neg side.....I think there is a bit of room.
main=240psi
bladder=200psi
rebound=5 clicks maybe too much?
spacers=0pos/2neg

Some times I do touch the ground , specially if I ride with the dropper down and sitting , on short transitions.
But nothing major , I had 230 psi main and 200 on bladder but it was too harsh, specially on chunk.
I added some spacer to the positive because I was bottoming out so by adding it , bottoming out is less frequent .
Regarding the climbing I have no complaints bike is a beast ..and if I have l fire road climb I just turn trail mode and up she goes .. very very impressed with this bike to be honest .




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[kamper11]

What size bike and size crank arm. I have a large and it came with 175mm cranks. I swapped them out for 170mm and not I hardly get strikes.

My med came specc'd w 170. lots of pedal strikes but I do prefer at least 30% sag. Switched to 165 and they are rare at best anymore. First ride felt "different" but now its just riding a bike - w fewer strike.s

 

[RyderRider]

My med came specc'd w 170. lots of pedal strikes but I do prefer at least 30% sag. Switched to 165 and they are rare at best anymore. First ride felt "different" but now its just riding a bike - w fewer strike.s

Yeah, my large came with 175mm cranks. I think they could have dropped everything down a size and it would have been a better fit. Now that I switched over to 170mm cranks, I hardly ever get strikes.

 

[Road House]

Yeah, my large came with 175mm cranks. I think they could have dropped everything down a size and it would have been a better fit. Now that I switched over to 170mm cranks, I hardly ever get strikes.

The store that orders the build chooses crank length, stem length, etc. When I picked mine up a year ago, the shop guy said they order all the RAF's with 170 cranks (makes perfect sense to me), but then mine came with a 50mm stem (head-scratcher, IMO). I can't imagine that the median RAF rider wants 175 cranks or 50 stems, but I'm certainly glad I only needed to swap stems as opposed to cranks.

 

[tomstir]

What size bike and size crank arm. I have a large and it came with 175mm cranks. I swapped them out for 170mm and not I hardly get strikes.

I am on a medium with 175 cranks. It seems that is one problem.
I just spent hours reading the topaz thread. Lots of info. I know that tuning is very personal and I don't have any experience so it's somewhat frustrating but I do appreciate the help you have been giving me. Sometimes I think I have an understanding of what a change will do....then be completely surprised by the unintended result!!!!

I'm curious why removing one pos spacer made the rear so plush.....but also why it changed the climbing so much. I'm thinking of adding more psi to regain the initial stroke resistance. Does that seem like the right move?

There was a few suggestion about not running any spacers. I initially moved to two neg spacers to help with crank strikes (which it did) and the unknown result was it really made the bike climb better!!!!! Any pressure suggestions if I do go without spacers?

Is there a common way of describing rebound? DVO site had both ways...counting from full closed CW and counting from full open CCW?

 

[Jrose152]

I am on a medium with 175 cranks. It seems that is one problem.
I just spent hours reading the topaz thread. Lots of info. I know that tuning is very personal and I don't have any experience so it's somewhat frustrating but I do appreciate the help you have been giving me. Sometimes I think I have an understanding of what a change will do....then be completely surprised by the unintended result!!!!

I'm curious why removing one pos spacer made the rear so plush.....but also why it changed the climbing so much. I'm thinking of adding more psi to regain the initial stroke resistance. Does that seem like the right move?

There was a few suggestion about not running any spacers. I initially moved to two neg spacers to help with crank strikes (which it did) and the unknown result was it really made the bike climb better!!!!! Any pressure suggestions if I do go without spacers?

Is there a common way of describing rebound? DVO site had both ways...counting from full closed CW and counting from full open CCW?

Link to topaz thread?

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[tomstir]

DVO Topaz

It's hard to say exactly how many bounces, but definitely several smaller oscillations. I will play with this a bit. And as far as the bladder is concerned: isn't the supple behavior one of the Topaz's selling points? Then why go higher in bladder pressure? I will try 180psi. Orbea recommends...

www.mtbr.com

 

[tomstir]

covers all bikes

 

[RyderRider]

The store that orders the build chooses crank length, stem length, etc. When I picked mine up a year ago, the shop guy said they order all the RAF's with 170 cranks (makes perfect sense to me), but then mine came with a 50mm stem (head-scratcher, IMO). I can't imagine that the median RAF rider wants 175 cranks or 50 stems, but I'm certainly glad I only needed to swap stems as opposed to cranks.

I think 2020 was a unique year that saw unprecedented demand and very little supply to meet that demand. This is part of the reason that we saw so many variations of build as May, June, & July 2020 rolled around. I think what you see, was what was available. Otherwise, we'd have been waiting around for bikes to show up because they were missing two or three items on the build spec. Mine came with Race Face Aeffect bars, RF 35mm stem, and 175mm cranks. Some people seemed to luck out and get an Ibis carbon bar upgrade. I'm just glad I was able to find my RAF in June from a shop that had one on order. Otherwise, I'd have been waiting a while and would have probably missed the peak riding season.

 

[TanMan]

I am on a medium with 175 cranks. It seems that is one problem.
I just spent hours reading the topaz thread. Lots of info. I know that tuning is very personal and I don't have any experience so it's somewhat frustrating but I do appreciate the help you have been giving me. Sometimes I think I have an understanding of what a change will do....then be completely surprised by the unintended result!!!!

I'm curious why removing one pos spacer made the rear so plush.....but also why it changed the climbing so much. I'm thinking of adding more psi to regain the initial stroke resistance. Does that seem like the right move?

There was a few suggestion about not running any spacers. I initially moved to two neg spacers to help with crank strikes (which it did) and the unknown result was it really made the bike climb better!!!!! Any pressure suggestions if I do go without spacers?

Is there a common way of describing rebound? DVO site had both ways...counting from full closed CW and counting from full open CCW?

I never try to remember CW or CCW. Every manufacturer is a little different. Think of rebound as faster or slower. Most knobs will have clear indication this way- this direction to be faster. When your suspension compresses into the travel, how fast do you want it to now return back to starting stroke.

Full open means the shock rebound is set to very fast, almost no damping at all when the shock return to starting point after a compression stroke. Set too fast your bike can produce an unwanted rear end kick or pogo stick effect when on bumpy terrain.

Full closed means damping on the return stroke is at its fullest (most restricted) and will make rebound the slowest. Set too slow and your traction will suffer as the wheel doesn’t have enough time to return to starting stroke to take another hit and will wallow or feel sluggish.


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[tomstir]

thanks Tanman....I guess I overthink it sometimes. When reading the set up manual it said that more psi requires more rebound. That would mean slower as in more closed. I wonder if my fork is too fast......that will have to be my next tune help post!!!!

I ended up adding a bunch of psi to my shock today.....got it to 275 which is about 25% sag I think......did some climbing and it felt great.....maybe a bit better than before. I lowered the psi by 5 a few times during the climb until I got to 260psi. Still felt great on the climb. Got to the top and it was getting dark so that was the last air pressure change. The trail is real rocky and not smooth at all.....I think I lost a bit of plushness but am happy to have the better climb feel. I will try to go back in the next few days and lower pressure more.......maybe go back to 240 and increase 5 at a time would have been better. Any suggestions?
What effect would removing the two neg spacers have? I would be missing that extra volume space and would need more air volume to get to the same pressure? That would make it a bit more plush? Not sure if I'm thinking correctly.

 

[EVgEEk]

Adding another data point for the Topaz. Rider weight is 195 on size large frame. I've been riding with stock spacer settings (1neg, 2pos) for the past couple months and it felt pretty good. My main focus was the fork tuning and now that I have that in a good place I put my attention back on the Topaz. I saw on this forum about removing all neg chamber spacers due to the great anti-squat design of the Ripmo. I was also not bottoming out, so I removed all neg spacers and only left 1 spacer in the positive chamber.

Holy Amaze-Balls!!!!!

It felt fantastic and I don't feel like I lost any pedaling platform. Starting to feel that Magic-Carpet ride experience. Here are the rest of my settings:

PSI: 200 (190, bladder)
30% sag
Rebound: 5 clicks from CW
0 spacers in the negative chamber
1 spacer in the positive chamber

Most of my riding is on trail with short descents in rooty/rocky terrain. Suspension is really starting to feel dialed. I may have to install another positive spacer when I ride in the mountains (North Carolina) on really fast/steep terrain, but right now it's feeling great.

 

[TanMan]

Adding another data point for the Topaz. Rider weight is 195 on size large frame. I've been riding with stock spacer settings (1neg, 2pos) for the past couple months and it felt pretty good. My main focus was the fork tuning and now that I have that in a good place I put my attention back on the Topaz. I saw on this forum about removing all neg chamber spacers due to the great anti-squat design of the Ripmo. I was also not bottoming out, so I removed all neg spacers and only left 1 spacer in the positive chamber.

Holy Amaze-Balls!!!!!

It felt fantastic and I don't feel like I lost any pedaling platform. Starting to feel that Magic-Carpet ride experience. Here are the rest of my settings:

PSI: 200 (190, bladder)
30% sag
Rebound: 5 clicks from CW
0 spacers in the negative chamber
1 spacer in the positive chamber

Most of my riding is on trail with short descents in rooty/rocky terrain. Suspension is really starting to feel dialed. I may have to install another positive spacer when I ride in the mountains (North Carolina) on really fast/steep terrain, but right now it's feeling great.

Same setup- 1 pos spacer only. The Amazeball feeling has been my experience as well after Ozibis pointed me in the right direction when I first made the switch.

I’m lighter by 30lbs but the difference translates well into our main chamber PSI and Bladder pressure: I’m at 160 psi and a tad under 180 for Bladder.

The key seems to be getting close to that 30%-33% sag range.


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[EVgEEk]

I know everyone dumps on the Assegai tires for being slow, but wow do they have traction. I rode in some serious slop and got sent sideways while descending twice, and both times was able to save myself from completely eating $#@!. And before everyone yells at me for riding on wet trails, locally it is acceptable to ride this trail wet; most everyone does. It was a ton of fun.

 

[TanMan]

I know everyone dumps on the Assegai tires for being slow, but wow do they have traction. I rode in some serious slop and got sent sideways while descending twice, and both times was able to save myself from completely eating $#@!. And before everyone yells at me for riding on wet trails, locally it is acceptable to ride this trail wet; most everyone does. It was a ton of fun.
View attachment 1917528

We don’t hate the Assegais. We just think it’s heavy and sluggish AF.

All kidding aside, yes agree traction and dare I say durability are top notched. Over 700 miles in and the Assegai I kept on the front still not ready to be replaced yet.


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[turner_nz]

So ive switched the diamond out for a fox 36 grip 2, my brothers selling his scott genius so i swapped a 27.5 36 i had laying round took the 29er 36 so far much more composed than the diamond but definitely not as plush as the diamond up top in its travel but im just over the diamond smashing through its travel at 125psi im only 75kg any more air and its just harsh, anyway early days set up on the 36.... My endgame is mezzer and possibly even a mara...

 

[Jrose152]

I know everyone dumps on the Assegai tires for being slow, but wow do they have traction. I rode in some serious slop and got sent sideways while descending twice, and both times was able to save myself from completely eating $#@!. And before everyone yells at me for riding on wet trails, locally it is acceptable to ride this trail wet; most everyone does. It was a ton of fun.
View attachment 1917528

I still run mine on the front. I put about 110 mi on the one in the rear as well and then just decided to save it for a spare front tire. I run dissector 2.4 EXO Plus on the rear and it has made it a lot more fun to climb with. I ran both when I was riding in the snow a lot though

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[sonicreducer]

So ive switched the diamond out for a fox 36 grip 2, my brothers selling his scott genius so i swapped a 27.5 36 i had laying round took the 29er 36 so far much more composed than the diamond but definitely not as plush as the diamond up top in its travel but im just over the diamond smashing through its travel at 125psi im only 75kg any more air and its just harsh, anyway early days set up on the 36.... My endgame is mezzer and possibly even a mara...

Ok.. I'm not hitting any big huge stuff. But I have 200lbs and with 130 psi I don't ever smash the travel ... On my diamond

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[turner_nz]

Yeah it is strange i must admit some days it feels magic and then other days it doesnt, and she just smashs through its travel no worries, ive bleed the damper put supergliss in the lowers to try get more progression and it did helped but like i say some days its mint other days its meh, im hitting ok jumps 6 - 8 feet distance slowly getting bigger. I do notice if i reset the ott every now and then i find that can help. I might chuck the shockwiz on the diamond see what that says usually go by feel but be interesting to see what it says.