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Talas setup for a light weight, I'm finally happy!

1474 Views 6 Replies 5 Participants Last post by PiroChu, Jul 23, 2004

BanzaiRider

Discussion Starter · Jul 22, 2004

Well I think I got it now. At the beginning of the season I bought a Fox Talas fork based on all the raves about this fork. Well I was not very happy with it. After reading the forums, I realized that there were others like me that we not too happy and the common point seemed to be the weight of the rider. I am about 155lbs with gear.

So I finally decided to open it up and play with the oil. Went from the original oil to 2.5wt oil and put in a little less than the recommended 155cc.

Well now I'm happy. The fork is finally plush and using almost all it's travel. The travel is very linear, it does not bob excessively or blow through it's travel when braking like my old Marzo Atom but it is quite sensitive to small bumps.

So bottom line I'm happy. This fork is pretty expensive but it's now behaving up to my expectations. So if you happen to have a Talas, you are light weight and don't find your fork plush, change the oil, it might be the solution for you also. Too bad Fox doesn't mention it in the owners manual.

Cheers.

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006_007

· #2 · Jul 22, 2004

Nice work Mario, glad to hear you were able to sort the fork out for yourself. I heard from JimC that your plans have changed regarding the west coast. I guess you can still come out for more playtime in Whistler.

Reading another one of your posts regarding the manitou swinger 3 way, if you decide to sell it let me know as I am potentially interested in purchasing.

TJ

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BanzaiRider

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jul 22, 2004

Hum, Swinger not for sale!!

Hey, nice to ear from you. I will certainly visit from time to time for sure. Already thinking about going next summer... maybe we can setup a ride together, with the old guy as well, hahaha (hope he doesn't read this!)

The Swinger will not be for sale any time soon. When I buy a coil I will still keep the Swinger as a backup and also as a light option for pure XC days... However, I have a Fox Talas RL Propedal 7.875x2, used it only 2 times and I should probably sell it cause it's collecting dust... I felt the platform to stiff for me.

Cheers.

006_007 said:
Nice work Mario, glad to hear you were able to sort the fork out for yourself. I heard from JimC that your plans have changed regarding the west coast. I guess you can still come out for more playtime in Whistler.

Reading another one of your posts regarding the manitou swinger 3 way, if you decide to sell it let me know as I am potentially interested in purchasing.

TJ

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KRob

· #4 · Jul 22, 2004

BanzaiRider said:
Well I think I got it now. At the beginning of the season I bought a Fox Talas fork based on all the raves about this fork. Well I was not very happy with it. After reading the forums, I realized that there were others like me that we not too happy and the common point seemed to be the weight of the rider. I am about 155lbs with gear.

So I finally decided to open it up and play with the oil. Went from the original oil to 2.5wt oil and put in a little less than the recommended 155cc.

Well now I'm happy. The fork is finally plush and using almost all it's travel. The travel is very linear, it does not bob excessively or blow through it's travel when braking like my old Marzo Atom but it is quite sensitive to small bumps.

So bottom line I'm happy. This fork is pretty expensive but it's now behaving up to my expectations. So if you happen to have a Talas, you are light weight and don't find your fork plush, change the oil, it might be the solution for you also. Too bad Fox doesn't mention it in the owners manual.

Cheers.

Hey Banzai, I'm 165# (175ish with gear depending on how much water I'm carrying). Do I qualify as light? I haven't been overly impressed with the small bump sensitivity of my '04 TALAS and was interested in your post. What other adjustments did you try before the oil change? Did you try any other oil weights, like 5w? Any new problems with the lighter oil like seeping seals? Is the TALAS appreciably harder to tear down than a Fox 100R with the extra knobs and travel adjustment internal stuff? Thanks.

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BanzaiRider

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jul 23, 2004

It's my first Fox so...

can't really say if it's more difficult than the Float but I would say it's probably very similar because they are both Fox air forks...

I started by playing with the air and rebound (mine is the R, I don't have the RLC). Well at 45-50lbs it had too much sag and was blowing through it's travel easily. At about 55-60lbs the sag was fine but not plush on small bumps and not using all the travel. So after thinking it over for a while, I decided to plunge inside!

I did not try 5wt oil because I wanted a drastic change without having to mess around opening it up 2-3 times. So I dumped the original 7.5wt from the damper side and put in about 145cc of 2.5wt Finish Line oil. I think the specs say you are supposed to put in 155cc but I figured I had two problems. Not plush on small stuff = oil weight. Not using full travel = too much oil. Don't take my word on this, I'm no fork expert.

Bottom line, now I'm happy. I put in about 55lbs of air, get about 20-25% sag, use most of the travel and man is it performing nicely, plush on small bumps, not much bob while climbing, plush on big hits.

I would say if you are not happy with how yours performs. Open it up and change something. There is so many people that are happy with this fork that I figure it's impossible that they are all just raving about a specific company, Fox. There has to be some truth behind it and now I know that there is. I'm not saying it's the greatest fork in the world. All I'm saying is that I was expecting a certain performance for the price I was paying, I think that I'm getting return on my investment.

I'm no expert and it was the first time I ever opened an air fork. Followed the instructions, felt pretty easy, nothing very complicated, maybe an hour, probably less the next time I do it.

Hope this helps.

KRob said:
Hey Banzai, I'm 165# (175ish with gear depending on how much water I'm carrying). Do I qualify as light? I haven't been overly impressed with the small bump sensitivity of my '04 TALAS and was interested in your post. What other adjustments did you try before the oil change? Did you try any other oil weights, like 5w? Any new problems with the lighter oil like seeping seals? Is the TALAS appreciably harder to tear down than a Fox 100R with the extra knobs and travel adjustment internal stuff? Thanks.

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FXRob

· #6 · Jul 23, 2004

I had a Talas and found it too harsh also. I also put 2.5wt oil in it and it did make a big difference. However I found that it blew through the travel too quickly and had way too much brake dive. Just ended up selling it for a Z1 FR SL. Darren at PUSH is in the process of testing his Talas with some mods to overcome this harshness among other things.

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PiroChu

· #7 · Jul 23, 2004 (Edited)

I'm 150lbs/body + 15lbs/gear

Banzai,
Congrats on making your TALAS all work out for you. I've been happy with my TALAS RL so far, without changing the oil. I guess I just got "lucky" (whatever that may mean?). I also come from '01 Marzocchi Atom 80 (coil), with which I had to change the oil height a few times until I got a full travel. Anyway, I know it's "apples to oranges" comparing these 2 forks, but I'm really enjoying my Fox fork (though I'm quite intrigued about those Z1's as well).

KRob,
I'm 150lbs. According to Fox's chart, that puts me to 65psi (for 145~155lbs), which is what I tried first. I thought it was very plush and bump-sensitive (especially coming from my other fork?), I was already happy then. But I *did* think that it went thru the travel just a tiny bit too quickly (especially on bigger stuff). Well, I forgot that my gear weighs extra 15lbs (duh!), so I took that into account and put 70psi (for 155~170lbs). That was perfect for me - still just as plush & sensitive as when it was 65psi, but with a bit better travel-thru. Now I got greedy and put 5psi more at 75psi, just to see. After all, a MBA review of Intense Tazer w/ Float noted 100psi for a 150lbs rider (for racing, though). Boy, a bad mistake - it suddenly felt like a totally different fork, in a really bad way - too stiff/harsh for me (scary!). So, I went back down to my 'magic' 70psi, and I'm all happy again.

Either that, or I'm not keen/sensitive enough to feel what you guys are experiencing...?

Well, I'm having so much fun with my TALAS, so it must be working fine for me...

Anyway, I'm no fork "guru" here, so this is just my own rambling here...
- PiroChu

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