[sfr4dr]

For those of you who went from a Fox 36 to 38 - do you actually notice a performance increase when pointing downhill? I'm trying to decide if the added weight of F38 is worth it compared to the 36. Also everything I read the F38 is PITA to set up, and harsh feeling. Thoughts?

I haven’t ridden one but unless you’re sending it huge and need the added lateral stiffness, I think your money and added weight is better put towards a Smashpot coil in your current 36.

 

[gaper80]

I haven’t ridden one but unless you’re sending it huge and need the added lateral stiffness, I think your money and added weight is better put towards a Smashpot coil in your current 36.

Right on. That is kind of where I'm at. At first I was thinking Zeb, but a Fox bro deal came up - so now I'm trying to decide if I could out ride a 36. Probably not.

 

[sfr4dr]

Right on. That is kind of where I'm at. At first I was thinking Zeb, but a Fox bro deal came up - so now I'm trying to decide if I could out ride a 36. Probably not.

Just go back a year or two when most EWS pros were on the 36 or Lyrik and think, “could I out ride them?” Haha. You can ride damn hard and fast on those forks.

 

[Didzy2009]

For those of you who went from a Fox 36 to 38 - do you actually notice a performance increase when pointing downhill? I'm trying to decide if the added weight of F38 is worth it compared to the 36. Also everything I read the F38 is PITA to set up, and harsh feeling. Thoughts?

interested in this also - im tempted to go zeb over the 38 though - but at 175lbs not sure its worth it?

 

[foggnm]

For those of you who went from a Fox 36 to 38 - do you actually notice a performance increase when pointing downhill? I'm trying to decide if the added weight of F38 is worth it compared to the 36. Also everything I read the F38 is PITA to set up, and harsh feeling. Thoughts?

I'd have a hard time believing the grip2 damper as being harsh...it has very good small bump sensitivity. Your question has nothing to do with sentinels, but I'll just say for me unless my bike was dedicated to park use I wouldn't choose the 38/Zeb even though they are awesome forks. Even on my new Spire frame I'm putting 36mm stanchioned fork on it (RXF 36). Putting aside the issue of weight, I like my fork to be capable but not cumbersome. And I've never felt a 36 held me back or slowed me down or let me down in any way.

 

[MUSTCLIME]

Fox makes some of the best racing forks in the world IMO. If all you rides are races, get a fox.

 

[cottinge]

For those of you who went from a Fox 36 to 38 - do you actually notice a performance increase when pointing downhill? I'm trying to decide if the added weight of F38 is worth it compared to the 36. Also everything I read the F38 is PITA to set up, and harsh feeling. Thoughts?

I switched from a 36 to a 38 on my Sentinel v2. To be honest, I never felt that the 36 was lacking in any department. I made the "mistake" of jumping on a buddy's 38mm forked bike and decided to make the jump to a Fox 38 (still 160mm). Main rationale here was the lateral stiffness for me. Weighing 225lbs and riding rougher trails, I will say that there is a noticeable difference when holding lines through chunky corners. The 36 wasn't suddenly a noodle, but that extra lateral stiffness was worth it to me. Fore and aft is less noticeable and I wouldn't be able to pick out the heavier fork in a blind test.

I'd say that the 38 is mildly more temperamental to set up as there seems to be a narrower range of "getting dialed" for air pressure vs. the 36. The damper was no more difficult to set up for me, although settings didn't translate from the 36 to the 38. Regarding the 38 being harsh, mine was at first. After pulling it apart, cleaning out excess grease (there was quite a bit) and regreasing, it is silky smooth.

 

[MUSTCLIME]

Never ridden a fox fork that was not harsh off the top.

 

[johnsogr]

Best fork I’ve had is RS Yari ($500) with Avalanche Hybrid coil (~$750), burnished bushings, and EverFlow air piston (~$130). Takes time to get it all together, but price is close to Fox Factory stuff. It also pairs great with the Avy Bomber CR on my Sentinel - love this setup!


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[ehfour]

Boys I missed it in this thread- did anyone weigh the new Aluminum sentinel? are the weights on Transitions sites on of off?

 

[foggnm]

Never ridden a fox fork that was not harsh off the top.

I could see that with the FIT damper forks, they don't have the same small bump compliance as a charger 2.1 damper or grip2 damper. Though they do great when pushed hard. If you've ridden a grip2 and it was harsh... something wasn't set up right. Also with forks like the 38/Zeb you might not feel how "good" they ride until pushed hard. My Zeb felt incredible at the bike park or in the fast steep stuff but the Lyrik was much more supple over regular lower speed riding.

 

[MUSTCLIME]

Yea, I have a 36 with grip2….. spent more than a month trying to get the fork “right”. I guess you need a shock wiz to get fox forks to work right….. much fail IMO.

 

[Kaparzo]

Chasing some harshness in the rear end on a new to me Sentinel and wondering about the trunnion mount bearings...read those can be a contributing issue. They seem to spin fine when I remove the shock and take a look but curious if they're slightly tweaked and not sitting well if that would contribute

Also considering upping my spring rate to be closer to 25% sag, is that typical of riders on this bike? I'm running a tuned Bomber CR (425 spring at 30%) that should be mint to the bike.

Just not quite getting the ride I know I should and trying to figure out if it's a setup or hardware issue.

 

[WA_Rider]

Chasing some harshness in the rear end on a new to me Sentinel and wondering about the trunnion mount bearings...read those can be a contributing issue. They seem to spin fine when I remove the shock and take a look but curious if they're slightly tweaked and not sitting well if that would contribute

Also considering upping my spring rate to be closer to 25% sag, is that typical of riders on this bike? I'm running a tuned Bomber CR (425 spring at 30%) that should be mint to the bike.

Just not quite getting the ride I know I should and trying to figure out if it's a setup or hardware issue.

When setting up my Sentinel, I found the need to slow down the rebound much more than on other bikes to feel right - not sure if this translates to harshness, but it's free to try. I am running about 30% sag (coil) and it feels great.

 

[Kaparzo]

When setting up my Sentinel, I found the need to slow down the rebound much more than on other bikes to feel right - not sure if this translates to harshness, but it's free to try. I am running about 30% sag (coil) and it feels great.

Interesting...I don't have enough time on it yet and I couldn't quite decide if that feeling was the shock packing down and not rebounding fast enough or if it was jacking itself too quickly. Thanks, will have to keep playing.

 

[foggnm]

Agree with WA_Rider running slower rebound on my Sentinel (now sold) and Spire. Harsh can mean different things but I think generally increasing spring rate is not the solution to harshness. You increase spring rate (and thus decrease sag)for more support, more pop, better pedaling. In general I've found Transition's suspension to be very supple to where I've wanted more LSC than usual. I do find it might not have the best square edge performance compared to less progressive frames I've owned. I'd be more inclined to mess with the rebound and LSC settings first then maybe try a softer spring rather than a stiffer spring. Try moving your rebound several clicks either open or closed and if that improves or worsens the problem...you have something to work with.

 

[gaper80]

Agree with WA_Rider running slower rebound on my Sentinel (now sold) and Spire. Harsh can mean different things but I think generally increasing spring rate is not the solution to harshness. You increase spring rate (and thus decrease sag)for more support, more pop, better pedaling. In general I've found Transition's suspension to be very supple to where I've wanted more LSC than usual. I do find it might not have the best square edge performance compared to less progressive frames I've owned. I'd be more inclined to mess with the rebound and LSC settings first then maybe try a softer spring rather than a stiffer spring. Try moving your rebound several clicks either open or closed and if that improves or worsens the problem...you have something to work with.

You moved on from the Sentinel after owning it for 2 months?? Too much overlap with the Spire?

 

[sfr4dr]

Agree with WA_Rider running slower rebound on my Sentinel (now sold) and Spire. Harsh can mean different things but I think generally increasing spring rate is not the solution to harshness. You increase spring rate (and thus decrease sag)for more support, more pop, better pedaling. In general I've found Transition's suspension to be very supple to where I've wanted more LSC than usual. I do find it might not have the best square edge performance compared to less progressive frames I've owned. I'd be more inclined to mess with the rebound and LSC settings first then maybe try a softer spring rather than a stiffer spring. Try moving your rebound several clicks either open or closed and if that improves or worsens the problem...you have something to work with.

Interesting you felt they're not as supple with square edge hits as some others. I figured the initial stroke would move very easily being horst link running on full bearings.

 

[Kaparzo]

Agree with WA_Rider running slower rebound on my Sentinel (now sold) and Spire. Harsh can mean different things but I think generally increasing spring rate is not the solution to harshness. You increase spring rate (and thus decrease sag)for more support, more pop, better pedaling. In general I've found Transition's suspension to be very supple to where I've wanted more LSC than usual. I do find it might not have the best square edge performance compared to less progressive frames I've owned. I'd be more inclined to mess with the rebound and LSC settings first then maybe try a softer spring rather than a stiffer spring. Try moving your rebound several clicks either open or closed and if that improves or worsens the problem...you have something to work with.

Yeah, I generally agree, though I've read some posts on this thread that say they ended up with a higher spring rate than normal and run a little less sag so that was my curiosity. Also, even if the shock is technically at the "correct" sag, if the spring isn't supporting the rider/bike speed/terrain, I imagine it can lead to the shock/dampers being "overwhelmed" and a feeling of "harshness." (?)

I did start at 400lbs, then 425 (which was moderately better) and will try 450. 400 was tipping over 30% sag, so I'm doubtful going to 375 is the answer. But I also agree I need to try bracketing LSC and rebound further at any given spring rate.

 

[johnsogr]

Thought I’d add some pictures to the thread:

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