Hi gang! Newbie here, but not new to cycling. I've gotten back on the saddle after being off for the past five years due to injuries and other circumstances. I suppose I could go to an LBS and have them help me, but I just found your site and thought I'd try here first. I need advice with my suspension set-up. What air-pressure and rebound/compession adjustments should I have on the front fork and rear shock of my OEM-stock '05 Epic Marathon that came equiped with Fox Forx Float 80 RLC and Specialized/Fox FloatR Brain? I bought this bike new back in '05 and have misplaced the info that came with it. I'd hate to adjust it the wrong way and damage the shock and fork My "training route" for now is mostly spinning on the road and a little hard-pack to get my legs back, but I hope to hit the off-road trails when I know where to go around here. My dimensions are 6-0/255lbs. Any good/sound advice about this suspension will be much appreciated. Sorry for the long post, but I'm waaaaay excited about cycling again!....THANKS! :beer:
Welcome to STR. I thought the '05 Epics came with 100mm forks? either way to set the air pressure on the fork and shock, you'll want to adjust it to have about 20% sag. Use a zip tie on the fork stanchion, sit on the bike in your riding gear including hydration pack if you wear one. Don't bounce. as the fork and shock compress measure the sag by how much the zip tie moved on the stanchion. Your rear shock should have an o ring to serve the same purpose as the zip tie. For compression start at full soft and back off a couple clicks. If the forks dives too much when braking, continue backing off. For rebound, start full fast, back off a couple clicks. If it feels like you're being bucked on the rebound, slow it some more. That should get you started. Did you look at Specialized's website to see if you can download the manual?
Welcome to STR and welcome back to riding! It's really cool to see your excitement to be riding again. I looked for a link to the manual, but could find it, but follow CalEpic's advice and you'll be fine. The manufacturers' manuals are rough guidelines anyway, and it always takes some trial and error to find the settings that feel best to you. The chances of you doing any damage by fooling with pressure and rebound settings are pretty much nil, so start with the sag and play with the rest from there. Don't be afraid to try settings at the far ends of the range to get a feel for what they really do. Have fun!
Thanks for the welcome folks:beer: The decals on the front fork says FOX FORX 80 RLC and the rear shock says FOX FlOAT R and SPECIALIZED BRAIN 'attached' to it. The bike was bought new from the LBS with no mods, so I'm not certain they modded it before putting it on the floor. Does 80 mean 80mm? The bike was hardly used and still has its OEM Specialized PRO tires with nipples lol. I checked out FOX's website after I posted and found some info, but nothing specific to the FLOAT 80 RLC front fork. The closest was info for a FLOAT RLC. As far as the rear shock goes, I found info for a FLOAT R shock, but nothing specific for a FLOAT R with the BRAIN. Is the info generic to the family? If the air-pressure info on the FOX website is generic for certain shock/fork families, then based on my 255lbs body-weight I should put ~125psi in the fork and ~160psi in the shock and set the sag. I'll call FOX next week and inquire about the 80 designation and what it means. Thanks for the help!
Yes, the 80 designation should mean it's the 80mm version of the fork. As for pressure, start at the numbers you found and adjust pressure until you have 20-25% sag (it's a bit of personal preference). Then ride it and start playing with rebound and compression damping from there. If you really get stuck or confused, you could go to a good local bike shop or to a suspension tuning shop for a little help with setup. It sounds like the bike has been sitting for a while, so it might not be bad idea to have the suspension serviced anyway, and they can help with tuning in the process. Or just go ride it and have fun! :wave:
I already did a 20-mile spinning road-ride this morning. I had a choice between my rdbike, mtnbike, and fgbike. I chose the mtbike this morning cuz' the route with a couple of long big hills required the mtbike's granny gears to save my knees. Definitely need to get the suspension set up, though....the bike felt like an elliptical trainer going nowhere :lol:
