(cough) Manitou (cough)

I'm not a fan of RS forks. I've ridden many of them and it just doesn't suite my preference or riding style. Fox has some decent products, I own and like all of my 34's, but they're generally more expensive and hit or miss in recent years as far as ride quality and out of the box performance. There are many aftermarket products/adjustments that can be done to dial in performance based on personal preference, local terrain, and riding style though.

Manitou on the other hand I've had good luck with. I'm pretty happy with the performance and adjustability right out of the box. Easy to work on, highly adjustable, and they just plain work well.

For reference, I also recently put a MRP Ribbon Air on a new hardtail and I'm luke warm on it. I was hoping to be blown away but after spending a fair amount of time making adjustments it still has more stiction than my other forks.

If I'm buying a new Trail fork tomorrow it's going to be a Fox or Manitou.

 

(cough) Manitou (cough)

Manitou on the other hand I've had good luck with. I'm pretty happy with the performance and adjustability right out of the box. Easy to work on, highly adjustable, and they just plain work well.

For reference, I also recently put a MRP Ribbon Air on a new hardtail and I'm luke warm on it. I was hoping to be blown away but after spending a fair amount of time making adjustments it still has more stiction than my other forks.

If I'm buying a new Trail fork tomorrow it's going to be a Fox or Manitou.

FWIW, I have a Ribbon coil on my bike and it's quite harsh at speed. I expected a coil fork to perform much better, but apparently the damping is not very good. The Mattoc Comp on my hardtail feels better than the MRP at speed.

The Ribbon is being replaced by a Mezzer this weekend.

 

What you don't mention which could help...

Did you do a seal change when updating?
When was the last time you did a lower leg service?


Air getting trapped is somewhat common in both RS and Fox forks. ( Use the zip tie trick).



Sent from my GM1915 using Tapatalk

 

What you don't mention which could help...

Did you do a seal change when updating?
When was the last time you did a lower leg service?

Air getting trapped is somewhat common in both RS and Fox forks. ( Use the zip tie trick).

Sent from my GM1915 using Tapatalk

This was installed less than two months ago. New seals and new cartridge. I avoid the zip tie trick because I do not want to ... push a zip tie through the seals, not a good idea! What I did with the old cartridge was to flip the bike and open the lowers periodically. Takes a few minutes but I was hoping to avoid it with the charger 2.1 ... maybe I drill through the stanchion and put a valve in it! :nono:

Might end up getting a DVO diamond. For now service and re-lube everything, but it is kind of ridiculous to go from a good performance to unacceptable in a few weeks :eekster:

 

Seb Stott at Bike Radar tested the Lyrik with Charger Damper 2.1 along with 9 other all mountain forks in 2019 over a period of 2 months. And filmed himself doing it. He rides more like a 20 something year old racer than a pensioner. The fork wasn't a Pike, true - but he rated that Charger Damper 2.1 outfitted Lyrik the best enduro fork in 2019. The DVO Diamond was also in that test and didn't make his top 5.

All of this is still subjective of course, but to him - like most - it might not be perfect but it's also far from crap.

The rebound rod seal on the Charger 2.1 is a SKF ultra-low friction green seal, like the Charger 2's rebound seal and that in the Charger 1 starting some time in 2016. Since the rebound rod is the only sliding part in the damper you'd be able to feel if that's the source of the stiction when you remove the lowers and slide the rebound rod up and down. IMO it's very unlikely that you'll get stiction like you describe from the rebound rod and piston.

 

The Charger 2.1 is not crap, it is fine, although with the ACS3 installed I could not really find any difference with respect to the charger 1. The positive is that it has a wider adjustment range. The charger 1 at my 72 Kg needed the compression dial completely open, while the 2.1 is four to five clicks. Otherwise I bet the two are pretty much not distinguishable in a blind test.

What is crap is that the performance varies uncontrollably over a short period of time. The fork goes from performing normally (and well, no arm pump, good small bump performance) to loosing a quarter of its travel and small bump sensitivity. With the Charger 1, this happened over a week of riding (seven rides). With the Charger 2.1 it took longer but here we are. What helps is opening the fork.

Petercarm: this is a Pike with a Push ACS3 coil. Heads and shoulders above the performance of the air cartridge it came with. Lube/seals are as they should, but yes, I will reopen and service ... I can do that in about 10' given the amount of practice I have :eekster:

 

Tight bushings?
Dried out Debonair seals?

 

[deleted: I'd not spotted the ACS you have fitted so much of my comment was off the mark]