[Blatant]

Frustrating headset (??) issue. I have a tiny amount of slop in the front that I cannot dial out. Stock GX bike with a Lyrik and FSA headset. It’s EXACTLY like headset slop/not enough preload. if you hold the front brake (or put the front wheel against the wall) and rock the bike, you can feel it. And it makes noise when riding.

Generally, you can solve for this by swapping spacers to get proper preload. Not working. I’ve disassembled twice to inspect and grease. I cannot visually find a problem, but it’s there. Thoughts?

 

[TLN]

What kind of spring rate I need for 240lbs rider (before gear) with regular link? I got Sprindex 500-550lbs spring. Do I need 540-600 or I'm good?

 

[Didzy2009]

I’m on the stock rock shox air, last gen I believe.
Btw you guys have issues with oil on the stancions with your rock shox shock? Nothing crazy but somewhat consistent if riding hard, our mechanic said it was normal but haven’t noticed that on other bikes.

Yeah same here on the new SD 2023 one, was alarmed at first but told its normal and its been brilliantly consistent, i opened up the can and its still wet so assume its just doing its thing

 

[Didzy2009]

Here's my story with the DHX2 on the Sentinel. I weigh very close to what @Didzy2009 weighs, maybe a kilo less. When I was building my bike up, the shop I was working with spent some time trying to find info on what spring I'd want—online calculators were saying in the neighborhood of 350, 375. Then my guy at the shop decided to call Transition and see what they thought. The guy on the line is like we haven't developed a rate chart for that bike yet, but somewhere in that range sounds about right, and then says he's going to start a group chat about it while on the phone with us. Lars, one of the designers of the bike, chimes in to the group chat and says "put him on a 400." So, that felt pretty authoritative to me—cool, let's do 400.

Measuring sag on the DHX2 is kind of a pain in the ass—probably the best way to do it is to measure the mounting bolts center to center unweighted and at rider sag. I had my wife assist with this, and averaging out a few readings, we came up with ~17mm. That should be about 27%. I've been super happy with it—it's supple AF off the top, but still gives me something to push against. I like support over plushness and this gives me that for sure.

Anyway, more anecdata to consider. Sounds like y'all are riding and experimenting which is the right way through this stuff.

yeah sounds right for a Fox dhx2 i have seen before the springs run a bit lighter than others (every single spring ive owned isnt what it says it is and vary so much from brand to brand, ie fox sls springs at 350 are about 300 in RS springs....which makes it even more frustrating lol)

i guess going off feel is a good thing too, assuming its not blowing through the travel/bottoming out and feeling a mushy mess - for me at 400lb spring on the RS its definitely good, dont get me wrong, it still is as supple as any airshock ive used, but i think the springs still a bit too hard off the top for me at the moment, im sure i can get it a bit nicer with the 350 whilst still remaining good with bottom out support (HBO)

 

[Didzy2009]

I'm on a 400lb spring at 160lbs too -- this is with a cascade link -- and although the static sag is around 20% i think it rides great and feels basically the same as my x2 at >30% in practice... not sure exactly what to make of that, but I wouldn't go any lower (already have the HBO cranked up to prevent bottomouts on bigger hits)

this is good to hear in a way bud - the cascade link requires a higher spring in use, so by the sounds of it youd be on a 300/350 RS srping with a stock link....im also confused by the sag thing if im honest, they still feel good at 20-22% but that suggests its wrong according to transition (28-30%) - i guess it was a really cheap experiment for me to try a 350lb, if it doesnt feel right im sure ill be happy on the 400lb ill just eat a few more pies - but my gut is telling me a 350 is right for my weight on RS springs

 

[Didzy2009]

Frustrating headset (??) issue. I have a tiny amount of slop in the front that I cannot dial out. Stock GX bike with a Lyrik and FSA headset. It’s EXACTLY like headset slop/not enough preload. if you hold the front brake (or put the front wheel against the wall) and rock the bike, you can feel it. And it makes noise when riding.

Generally, you can solve for this by swapping spacers to get proper preload. Not working. I’ve disassembled twice to inspect and grease. I cannot visually find a problem, but it’s there. Thoughts?

ive got a hope headset thats been perfect its come across from a alloy v2 sentinel and now in my carbon v2 sentinel - well over a years use and lots of mileage in the crappiest of conditions, assuming its the headset

i have had the same scenario when ive put spacers on wrong and not had enough preload to grip the star nut correctly, so now i always take a photo when its working right so i know what i need back on when i dismantle it lol in all honesty what youve written sounds EXACTLY like that so id start afresh and double check it all

 

[Kaparzo]

The difference in sag reading could be operator dependent. I've only measured the sag once (since I haven't been riding) and I did it by dropping the saddle, sitting full weight on the seat, then lifting my feet off the floor. I didn't try reproducing the measurement (but I can do that later if you'd like) since I already own the spring and plan to ride it as-is to check real world feel.

So interesting to see all these different coil weight usages...I'm ~165lbs kitted and use a 450lb spring @ ~25% sag. I started at 400 and it was way too soft.

 

[Didzy2009]

Which shock and spring? Defo interesting isn’t it! I don’t think as with anything suspension related there’s a golden rule, same applies with air pressure too I run mine softer than most I’d imagine

 

[Nat]

I remeasured my sag.
177.5# at weigh-in this morning
400# coil
Spire

 

[Didzy2009]

nice one - i think that confirms really that i should be on a 350 if your only getting that for your weight - your a good 1.4 stone heavier than me in the mornings lol surely must equate to dropping down from 400 to 350!?

although still only 20 odd % - its all very confusing for sure

ill report back with a sag picture it should arrive tomorrow

 

[Nat]

nice one - i think that confirms really that i should be on a 350 if your only getting that for your weight - your a good 1.4 stone heavier than me in the mornings lol surely must equate to dropping down from 400 to 350!?

although still only 20 odd % - its all very confusing for sure

ill report back with a sag picture it should arrive tomorrow

I'm not sure this is my preferred spring weight yet. I'll know after I ride the bike a little. So far I've mostly bounced up and down on it in the living room and squeezed the brake levers a million times. If this winter keeps up I'll need to service my suspension before I even get to ride the bike!

 

[Didzy2009]

I'm not sure this is my preferred spring weight yet. I'll know after I ride the bike a little. So far I've mostly bounced up and down on it in the living room and squeezed the brake levers a million times. If this winter keeps up I'll need to service my suspension before I even get to ride the bike!

ahh see how you fair when you eventually go out - so much for spring here in the uk i am now riding less than i was in the depths of winter, its been that awful the last 2 weeks!! very frustrating! keep us posted ill report back with my 350 findings

 

[socalrider77]

What kind of spring rate I need for 240lbs rider (before gear) with regular link? I got Sprindex 500-550lbs spring. Do I need 540-600 or I'm good?

I’d say get the 540-600. I’m about your weight and 550 was ok, but definitely wanted a bit more support. I ran a sprindex at 580

I run a 700 now with a cascade link


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[Kaparzo]

Which shock and spring? Defo interesting isn’t it! I don’t think as with anything suspension related there’s a golden rule, same applies with air pressure too I run mine softer than most I’d imagine

Tuned Bomber, Nukeproof Enduro spring. Started at 400, then 425-450, even thought about 475 but it's been out of stock forever.

 

[AOK]

Frustrating headset (??) issue. I have a tiny amount of slop in the front that I cannot dial out. Stock GX bike with a Lyrik and FSA headset. It’s EXACTLY like headset slop/not enough preload. if you hold the front brake (or put the front wheel against the wall) and rock the bike, you can feel it. And it makes noise when riding.

Generally, you can solve for this by swapping spacers to get proper preload. Not working. I’ve disassembled twice to inspect and grease. I cannot visually find a problem, but it’s there. Thoughts?

Is it possible that you have bushing play in the Lyrik? Haven't experienced it myself, but it seems like folks who had bushing play in the SID forks described it as feeling like a loose headset.

When you do the rocking test can you feel the steerer/fork crown moving in relation to the head tube? If you can feel movement there that would probably rule out any issue with the fork lowers and show that it is a headset issue.

Is this still the frame that had play in the pivots or did you get a replacement?

 

[Blatant]

Good input. I’ve had a bad Sid on my Spur and it felt different. This FEELS exactly like a loose headset, but I’ve had it apart multiple times, swapped spacers and can’t dial it out. I’m going to disassemble again tomorrow and will check the fork. I was thinking more of a CSU issue than bushings, but I could be wrong.

What really worries me is a loose headset cup, which would be a carbon layup issue. I’m really sensitive to play and metal on metal noise. I can’t see any play, but can definitely feel and hear it.

 

[Blatant]

Stand by, AOK possibly for the win. Got my wife to help with a spare set of hands. With front brake on and gently rocking the bike from the seatpost, we narrowed it down. Knocking noise at the bushings. You can clearly feel it wrapping your hand around the lowers where the uppers enter. Slightly worse on drive side.

Sigh.

I am really pleased with the bike‘s performance, but have had a lot of QC issues in a short time. Obviously, the fork is a SRAM issue, but still a pain.

 

[AOK]

Stand by, AOK possibly for the win.

Ha! Score!

Stinks that you are having so much trouble with your bike. Hopefully SRAM gets it sorted for you quickly. At least it wasn't a frame issue!

 

[johnsogr]

I did a geo experiment today and wanted to offer an alternative to the recent talk of steepening the HA.

I was curious what a 170 fork would feel like, but wanted to keep my stack close to where it was. I put on a Works -1 degree headset, and swapped my Yari 160 to a Zeb 170 (15 mm higher A2C) - pretty sure this puts the HA to just over 62 degrees.

I live just outside of Philadelphia, and my local trail is a meandering XC trail w/ some very steep chutes w/ features (jumps/drops, etc). Just got back from a quick spin and hit all the most aggressive downs, and hit 4 PR’s on Strava, including a #4 ranking! Mind you these chutes are at most 35 seconds, so I’m happy I hit PRs in such a short amount of time. I felt super confident on the steeps, seemed to brake a lot later, and overall just felt super quick. I was concerned that the longer wheelbase would negatively impact jumps and popiness, but I was wrong - bike jumped and popped just like before.

Climbs felt the same (I feel like I naturally lean forward climbing, so don’t suffer from wheel wander), but there’s absolutely more wheel flop in sharper corners.

I usually run the Cascade link w/ a coil, but the coil is in the shop and I thought I’d give the original link some love. Overall, I really like the setup and plan to keep it this way.

 

[socalrider77]

I did a geo experiment today and wanted to offer an alternative to the recent talk of steepening the HA.

I was curious what a 170 fork would feel like, but wanted to keep my stack close to where it was. I put on a Works -1 degree headset, and swapped my Yari 160 to a Zeb 170 (15 mm higher A2C) - pretty sure this puts the HA to just over 62 degrees.

I live just outside of Philadelphia, and my local trail is a meandering XC trail w/ some very steep chutes w/ features (jumps/drops, etc). Just got back from a quick spin and hit all the most aggressive downs, and hit 4 PR’s on Strava, including a #4 ranking! Mind you these chutes are at most 35 seconds, so I’m happy I hit PRs in such a short amount of time. I felt super confident on the steeps, seemed to brake a lot later, and overall just felt super quick. I was concerned that the longer wheelbase would negatively impact jumps and popiness, but I was wrong - bike jumped and popped just like before.

Climbs felt the same (I feel like I naturally lean forward climbing, so don’t suffer from wheel wander), but there’s absolutely more wheel flop in sharper corners.

I usually run the Cascade link w/ a coil, but the coil is in the shop and I thought I’d give the original link some love. Overall, I really like the setup and plan to keep it this way.

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You running a fluid focus tune on that float x?


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