ISOTUNED Suspension aka drakethomas (threads merged)

[Dino Brown]

http://www.socaltrailriders.org/foru...tml#post567732

Suspension GURU lives in SoCal

Ok after numerous PM asking me this I will cave in.

[Drakethomas]

Originally Posted by mtnbikerfred

Strawberry Shortcake scratch & sniff or Pokemon stickers.... HAHAHAHA

Funny, a buddy mentioned how cool that would be. A scratch n sniff sticker that smells like burnt oil. That would be cool. Ahh, the smell of burnt oil in the morning.lol

[mpmffitz]

Hey drake you want to ride?

[art23rockpile]

When I bought my Uzzi, the Fox DHX came PUSHed. The suspension on my bike is something i've never taken the time to really learn about. It seems to be set-up right, but i can't help thinking it could be tuned better.

Drake, when finances permit, i'll have to give you a call.

[Drakethomas]

Originally Posted by art23rockpile

When I bought my Uzzi, the Fox DHX came PUSHed. The suspension on my bike is something i've never taken the time to really learn about. It seems to be set-up right, but i can't help thinking it could be tuned better.

Drake, when finances permit, i'll have to give you a call.

If you dont strive to push the envelope then why are you trying in the 1st place, that is my motto. Everything can be better it just takes time.

[bruinlad]

Drake,
I'm trying to restore a GT STS DH and a Judy DHO in need of new internals, upper crown and lower with steerer (was cut down too short by former owner). I manage to find the latter at Cambria but haven't had much luck with the uppers and internals. Do you service these forks and/or still have parts by any chance?

[Drakethomas]

I dont sorry, the cartridges in those are nearly all gone world wide I would bet, I remember when those came out they were sick, my dad still has one on a full suspension I built for him as a cruiser 12 years ago, still works.

[kellyn8]

Drake,

By chance do you do any suspension setup (analysis/tuning)? I've got a 2008 Demo8 with a 2007 888 WC upfront and a Double Barrel in the rear. I'm having troubles fine tuning the suspension especially for the hardpacked stuff. Thanks.

[mouse jockey]

Originally Posted by kellyn8

Drake,

By chance do you do any suspension setup (analysis/tuning)? I've got a 2008 Demo8 with a 2007 888 WC upfront and a Double Barrel in the rear. I'm having troubles fine tuning the suspension especially for the hardpacked stuff. Thanks.

I don't know if Drake will see this question anytime soon. He's out of town for a couple weeks with his semi-regular gig of rocket building. Better to PM or call him (see his number in his sig?).

tom

[mfoga]

I have to give Drake props as he was kind enough to send me a spare spring for the seals on my Lyrik that I noticed was broken after doing my own service.

[RustyIron]

Following are my thoughts on a shock I just received from Drake (DrakeThomas).

The shock is an RP23 from my SC Superlight that was long overdue for an oil change. I've heard good things about Drake's work, so I gave him a call and asked him if he could not only do the service, but tune up the shock to address some of it's qualities that I considered less than optimum. He said he could tune up the shock in a manner that would better suit my needs, so I sent it off.

I received the tuned-up shock on Monday and immediately installed it and took the bike out for a test run. I've now run it twice on local trails that are not particularly technical or rough, but which I've ridden extensively, so I would have a sound basis with which I could compare the new shock.

First: uphill.

Bob is minimal under normal pedaling conditions. But then, bob was minimal prior to the tune-up; I can't detect any difference. That's good, because I didn't want to loose any uphill efficiency. On long, dull uphills, I'll sometimes switch to ProPedal. Originally, the shock's ProPedal could be adjusted between "no noticeable difference" and "hard like a rock." Now, while in ProPedal, bob is almost completely gone. But when there is a sharp bump, the shock absorbs the hit. That's a distinct improvement from stock.

On the flats, I played around by plowing into obstacles that would normally result in the back end being kicked up a bit. Now those bumps are better absorbed, allowing the rear wheel to remain in contact with the ground more. Bigger hits that would normally be jarring, are now smooth. It seems that now the back end better matches the front, rather than the fork absorbing hits and then the back hitting hard.

The effect of the wheel staying on the ground really helps when going into turns. I can charge further before braking, knowing that I can decelerate more rapidly.

The effect is also evident on fast downhills, with moderate bumps. The more the rear wheel hops, the harder it is to maintain directional control, so speed must be reduced. With the wheel on the ground more, speed can be increased and control maintained.

One more uphill observation that really excited me: There's a small 50 foot section that is steep and loose, requiring determination to clear. At the bottom is a small bump that makes the rear kick up a bit. Traction is often lost, and the remainder of the climb is spent spinning the rear wheel, grunting, and gasping. Now the rear end complies with the bump, so traction isn't lost, the wheel doesn't start spinning, and there's more overall control. It's now clear that the improved shock can help give me an advantage in areas that approach the limits of my skills.

I've not ridden anything technical or rough yet, but my observations lead me to believe that the new shock set-up with allow better control over the bike.

Summary: I'm pleased with Drake's work and would not hesitate to send my suspension parts to him again. I can't compare his work to Push or other shops, and I'm barely qualified to make observations regarding the subtleties of suspension characteristics, but it's clear that the shock is now better than it was when it left the factory.

[minimusprime]

After reading some good things about Drake's abilities i had him work his magic on my 08 talas 36 rc2. I was having problems with sloppy bushings and not being able to get all the travel out of my fork. I was having problems with the 2008 talas unit not getting the full 160 but rather was bottoming artificially at about 20mm short.

Drake assured me he could tune the thing up and make me stoked on my fork.

Work I asked for was:
Full rebuild (seals, oil, bushings, wipers etc etc)
swap 08 internals to 09 including talas unit
Full tune

I got the fork back the other day. The talas unit is far improved and the fork feels completly different. After I got the fork I had a bunch of questions and Drake met up with me to give me a 1 on 1 tune on the fork and explain all the things that were done and how they are going to affect performance.

Unfortunatly I have a fractured tailbone right now so I won't be able to give any riding impressions for a few weeks but the fork feels amazing. So this review is going to have to stop on the fact that Drake is a stand up guy and stands by his products. He drove over an hour just to meet up with me and explain the work that was done... Awesome customer service.

I'll update this with riding impressions when i can actually ride my bike.

[Drakethomas]

Thanks Rob & Eric appreciate it and the contact may tackydirt await your next ride.You guys are def very cool.

[jamisjake]

Thanks Drake for doing another AMAZING job on my bikes! Drake converted a Marzocchi 55 ATA to an air assist coil and its sick--and hooked me up, by fixing a couple annoying issues on my other bike! AWESOME WORK!

[Eric]

He promised me my fork and shock back by Friday, so I could ride a big ride Saturday, and when the post office didn't come pick it up when they should have (not his fault) he drove it all the way to my house in OC, which was probably an hour for him or more. I am definitely going back for my yearly services and telling my friends to do the same.
Thanks again Drake

[UR2KLOS]

Originally Posted by mouse jockey

"it'll only be a few minutes honey, I'll be in and out"

Anyone looking for a new sig?

[mtbbiker]

Only one word to describe what Drake did to my fork "insane"!

To me, tuning stuff doesn't mean a lot unless you know the skill level of the rider doing the review, so here's a little about me: I'm a 40 year old ex downhill racer & I use to race expert level. I ride dirt bikes off road at an "A" level as well. What does this mean? Point me downhill & I'm living the dream!!!!I've also been working hard at the climbing aspect of riding & can go uphill at a decent pace for a 195lbs rider.

There are several tuners to choose out there and I chose Drake for a couple of reasons. He's got an excellent reputation from this site & he lives about 15mins from me, so that means I could talk to him in person. Also means I don't have to ship my fork anywhere & worry about lost or damaged forks! A big plus there! Not to mention, I dropped off my fork Monday morning & he called me later in the afternoon to tell me it would be done that night! Talk about insane customer service!

I have a Maverick DUC 32 fork, it has 6" of travel that's under 4lbs, awesome fork! I'm the original owner & it's about 7yrs old. I have never done anything to this fork except keep the air pressure to around 80psi. The fork has been leaking oil for the last 2yrs & I keep a rag with me to clean it off during the ride. As you can imagine, over the years, the performance of this fork has degraded & was in need of some serious TLC. My complaints to Drake was: fix leaky fork, make my fork travel higher initially in it's travel, more small to medium bump compliance, without sacrificing the big hit.

Drake tried to explain his unique take on valving, & how he customizes it, but it went over my head, hopefully he'll chime in on what exactly he did to my fork.

The ride: I normally put 80psi into my fork & Drake had 100psi, so I set it back down to 80psi & tested it in the street. This fork has a 4" lock out mode & rebound adjustment within hands reach. When the fork was brand new, the rebound knob hardly did anything, now when I turn that knob, I can actually feel a big difference in rebound speed! So I can actually do a lot more tuning then before. Bouncing up & down in the street, I can already feel how buttery smooth the fork is feeling. So I take off in to my backyard ride "the Farm". I hit my first downhill & wow! The fork felt pretty good when it was new, but now this fork feels absolutely amazing & feels just like a downhill fork without the heavy weight penalty. It took everything I threw at it & just soaked it up. Small to medium bumps I barely felt now & the fork has the same big hit compliance as before. The fork is unreal now. The only downside now is, I need to save up money, so that I can get my RP23 in the same league as my fork is in!

Drake is the real deal & if you send him your stuff new or used, it will come back way better then new! And I love the fact that he's a local guy!
Drake's contact info:
Screen name "Drakethomas"
Email: isotuned@yahoo.com
Cell #619.760.6261

[afgenkuong]

Sick moto style inverted fork...

[mtbbiker]

I love the fork and the unique look it gives my bike! I was seriously considering selling the fork, to get a more up to date fork. But after Drake's work, this fork works as good as any of the top forks out there!

Originally Posted by afgenkuong

Sick moto style inverted fork...

[Laggdawg]

It looks so much better now that you got the bash gaurds back on...wonder how long till you break 'em off again!!