[Viking72]

I just got my Trek powerfly FS4 6 months ago and so far I havnt been able to set the front suspension to were it is comfortable. I´m a rather heavy guy at 240 lbs and after a 1-2 hour ride my wrists are killing me from all the shocks from the trails that come directly up to my hands. I´ve tried all kinds of settings with rebound and airpressure and it really doesnt make all that much of a difference. The rear suspension is fine.. Its just the front.

I´ve also tried tire pressure from 30-45lbs and that doesnt change anything either.

So my question is if you guys can help me out.

Is the stock fork crap and should I replace it with a Fox or something else or am i doing something wrong?

This is the one I have now and came with the bike.

SR Suntour XCR 34, air spring, LO R damper, hydraulic lockout, tapered steerer, 44mm offset, oversized crown for eMTB, Boost110, 15mm bolt-on thru axle, 120mm travel

I would really appreciate all help on this

 

[JB450]

Could be fork related.

But also can be grips, brake lever position, reach that causes wrist pain...


It is by no means a top spec fork, but should work relatively well.

 

[IMeasure]

It could be set up, the type of riding you are doing or the fork. The fork is definitely at the bedget end of the spectrum and it would be something that I would be upgrading if the bike was mine.

A real step up would be a Marzocchi Bomber Z2 or a Rockshox Pike Select. Both of these forks come in 120mm travel and would be money well spent. They are easy to set up and service and will handle your weight.

Back to your existing set up, I would look at how you have set up the handlebars. You can adjust the bar height using the spacers, so make sure that the bar is at least as high as your seat, or even a touch higher. This will reduce the pressure on your wrists. You can also roll you bars which can help out with comfort.

Check the angle of your break levers. If you lift them higher it can reduce wrist strain.

Finally grips can help too, so try something thats a bit more squishy. Your local bike shop should have a range of grips to try out.

Hope that helps.

 

[Viking72]

Could be fork related.

But also can be grips, brake lever position, reach that causes wrist pain...

It is by no means a top spec fork, but should work relatively well.

Thank you for your help

 

[Viking72]

It could be set up, the type of riding you are doing or the fork. The fork is definitely at the bedget end of the spectrum and it would be something that I would be upgrading if the bike was mine.

A real step up would be a Marzocchi Bomber Z2 or a Rockshox Pike Select. Both of these forks come in 120mm travel and would be money well spent. They are easy to set up and service and will handle your weight.

Back to your existing set up, I would look at how you have set up the handlebars. You can adjust the bar height using the spacers, so make sure that the bar is at least as high as your seat, or even a touch higher. This will reduce the pressure on your wrists. You can also roll you bars which can help out with comfort.

Check the angle of your break levers. If you lift them higher it can reduce wrist strain.

Finally grips can help too, so try something thats a bit more squishy. Your local bike shop should have a range of grips to try out.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the tips.. I really apreciate it. I forgot to mention that most of my riding (like 80%) is on uneven trails and the other 20% is up and downhill. I´m just looking for a fork that will eat up the holes in the trails I´m riding and give my hands and ass a softer ride I´m not doing any serious downhill jumping or stuff like that although I wish I could

 

[acer66]

Like said before the fork is only one factor and another one is how much weight you put on your hands and how tight you are gripping the handlebar or how relaxed your arms are.

I was taught to hold the grips like a little chick.
Tight enough so it does not gets away
but not too tight so it gets crushed.

Even the best fork will still transfer bumps to the handlebar and the more you hold on to it and the more stiff you are the more you feel the bumps.

I do not mean to imply that the OP does this just something to think about before throwing money at the problem.

 

[AKamp]

Another thing that is very often overlooked is saddle angle/position. A little tilt up will keep those 240lbs from sliding off the front and keep a lot of weight off the front end. Of course it is a fine line between hand comfort and some other important regions.

 

[A2PM]

Good input above. You might consider going with a new bar with more rise (to take weight off your wrists) if you're already topped out with spacers and/or carbon bars for better damping (reduced vibration). Before that I would try new grips though (cheaper) and before that I would concentrate on riding with less weight on your hands (free). Use your core. Also many (most?) people tense up when the going gets rough when you actually want to do the opposite. When you're tense, bike inputs are transferred more to your body - which results in a harsher ride since you're not using your body to smooth the ride by using your legs/arms. Stay relaxed with a light grip as mentioned above. After all that, drop some coin on a new fork if you want.

I should add that I only weigh 150lb so maybe not quite as relevant comments as you might get from larger riders.

Good luck.

 

[JB450]

To add to all the comments above (apologies if it has been mentioned).

Experiment first with bar height, bar roll (forwards/backwards), brake lever position, seat tilt and fore and aft position. However only change one thing at a time, then go for a ride and see.

Some of these things (bar and lever adjustment especially) might also improve cornering/handling, if so leave these in those positions.

If if doesn't improve handling or the wrist pain return back to the original position and try the next component adjustment and so on.

As mentioned it could be you are "strangling" the grips with your hands causing the wrist pain. The best way I found (IME) to combat this was to do wrist exercises using a short piece of wooden dowel/broomstick with some string/thin rope looped through a hole (drilled through the cross section in the middle), the string is then attached to a weight (large brick/dumbbell weights).

You grip the ends of the dowel and twist the dowel alternating each hand and wind the rope up on the dowel with the weight hanging in the air, once the weight is up to the dowel you wind it back down. Then repeat as much as you can. Try and do it holding your arms out like you are gripping handlebars.

This helps with arm-pump as well as grip strength resulting in a lighter grip.

 

[Viking72]

Like said before the fork is only one factor and another one is how much weight you put on your hands and how tight you are gripping the handlebar or how relaxed your arms are.

I was taught to hold the grips like a little chick.
Tight enough so it does not gets away
but not too tight so it gets crushed.

Even the best fork will still transfer bumps to the handlebar and the more you hold on to it and the more stiff you are the more you feel the bumps.

I do not mean to imply that the OP does this just something to think about before throwing money at the problem.

Thanks for the tip

 

[Viking72]

To add to all the comments above (apologies if it has been mentioned).

Experiment first with bar height, bar roll (forwards/backwards), brake lever position, seat tilt and fore and aft position. However only change one thing at a time, then go for a ride and see.

Some of these things (bar and lever adjustment especially) might also improve cornering/handling, if so leave these in those positions.

If if doesn't improve handling or the wrist pain return back to the original position and try the next component adjustment and so on.

As mentioned it could be you are "strangling" the grips with your hands causing the wrist pain. The best way I found (IME) to combat this was to do wrist exercises using a short piece of wooden dowel/broomstick with some string/thin rope looped through a hole (drilled through the cross section in the middle), the string is then attached to a weight (large brick/dumbbell weights).

You grip the ends of the dowel and twist the dowel alternating each hand and wind the rope up on the dowel with the weight hanging in the air, once the weight is up to the dowel you wind it back down. Then repeat as much as you can. Try and do it holding your arms out like you are gripping handlebars.

This helps with arm-pump as well as grip strength resulting in a lighter grip.

Thank you so much... I am going to start with raising the bar and pull it more toward me and see what that gives me

 

[dakata81]

I just got my Trek powerfly FS4 6 months ago and so far I havnt been able to set the front suspension to were it is comfortable. I´m a rather heavy guy at 240 lbs and after a 1-2 hour ride my wrists are killing me from all the shocks from the trails that come directly up to my hands. I´ve tried all kinds of settings with rebound and airpressure and it really doesnt make all that much of a difference. The rear suspension is fine.. Its just the front.

I´ve also tried tire pressure from 30-45lbs and that doesnt change anything either.

So my question is if you guys can help me out.

Is the stock fork crap and should I replace it with a Fox or something else or am i doing something wrong?

This is the one I have now and came with the bike.

SR Suntour XCR 34, air spring, LO R damper, hydraulic lockout, tapered steerer, 44mm offset, oversized crown for eMTB, Boost110, 15mm bolt-on thru axle, 120mm travel

I would really appreciate all help on this

I find the same thing. I am about 220lbs and I find there is little of the 'plushness' that Trek talks about in the shocks. I used the Trek suspension calculator to get the right pressures, but it is far too rigid... Would be interested to hear if you solved the issue. I was also thinking about changing the shocks, but haven't looked too far into it yet...


James