Sorry if this is a Repost, but i searched for a few pages/searched for a few pages i didnt find much. Relatively new to dealing with Fox suspensions. After i went through and set my proper sag.. (I weigh 150-152lbs, fork psi @ 60) I noticed that I get a fair amount of brake dive? Not like 1 inch, but 3-4 inches of fork travel dive with hard braking. Is that normal for fox forks? I have a '11 32 Talas 29 RLC Fork. Not much hours on it.
when i started i got a lot of brake dive because i had too much weight on the bars - keep your hands really light and put all that pressure into the pedals and it makes a huge difference. Also for me, the fork never sags as much as the shock - maybe you need to measure fork sag while in the attack position
SAG should be measured in your most used riding position....or where you want the suspension to really work....the attack position. Re-measure your sag with some weight on the bars like ^^^ he mentioned. Once you get that right, play with your compression settings and try and tune out the brake dive. Also, remember - suspension is a compromise. No setting will be bitchin everywhere/every condition/every type of bump. A fork set for big hits may not have much small bump, and vice versa...
I also noticed that I normally cannot get to use the last 20mm of the fork, but read online that the last 20mm of travel is really only used on big impacts unless tuned internally to utilize the full travel. (Same goes for not being able to use the last 10-5mm of the rear shock? Is that what they call when they get their suspension 'pushed'? when they get it tuned to use the full travel?) Do i base my sag off the FULL travel including those last 20mm or where it usually limits itself? I've upped the PSI to 65 and clicked the LSC 4 clicks in the (+) direction... seems to have a slight difference, but still get some brake diving... it's managable though.. just curious how it will affect me when I have to do some hard braking on downhills.. hopefully I wont go OTB :-k Also on a side question... what do you guys normally have your rebound set to? Someone told me they way rebound should be set is just enough to where the rebound brings it back initially within the same area where your sag is set at.. and not to under/overshoot that as best as possible..is this correct?
That is correct, you're not gonna bottom out, or use up the full length of your travel, unless there is sufficient force which is usually achieved from large impacts. You're always gonna have some brake dive. The key is to learn to brake at the right moments, and not drag the brake down a steep section or rocky section. If you're hitting a rocky technical section you're not gonna grab brake just before your fork will hit a large impact. There's a trick I've read about to set a general rebound, what you do is turn the rebound to the fastest setting and ride the bike off a curb, then progressively reduce the rebound until when you ride off the curb your suspension compresses only once and then returns to the original position.
I picked up a Tallboy this August with the same fork, and previously had coil / oil forks so this was my first air sprung fork. I have found that the fork (and rear shock) are much more sensitive to the air pressure than I would have thought. I weigh 145 lbs, and have found 75 psi to be just about right for me, where I prefer the fork to be on the plush or soft side. At one point I had not checked the fork for a few weeks and went for a ride, and found it was blowing through most of the travel until I added air. I just invested in a shock pump last week to one that had a finer resolution on the dial, as I seem to need to be within about 2 psi for the fork to perform just how I like it. IMHO - increase the air pressure to 75-80 psi and try it again. This worked for me in a similar situation with the same fork.
That last little bit of travel is heavily dampened by a rubber stopper. On a coil over rear shock you can physically see it, for full travel you must end up compressiong not only the shock, but this rubber bumper as well. Its not so much a tune that will change it as much as it is a thinner bumper. Unless your racing ad retarded velocities, you dont want to change this. "disclaimer" Some forks dont use this bumber inside their cartridges, but will actually use another small valve that will give a bit of automatic Hi speed compression control and will also start to work reguardless on tat last bit of travel.... this one is in fact tunable via different springs.
Sag - for me, the best way to get the right air pressure is simply to pick a starting point (about 10% below the Fox recommendation) and start riding familiar trails. I then add or subtract based on feel. There are certain places I expect to use almost all of my travel. If I don't, I let some air out. PUSH - you mention a fork or shock being PUSHed. Usually that means the owner sent it to PUSH industries in Loveland, CO for custom tuning. Rebound - rebound should never stop your fork or shock from returning to its full travel. It should slow the return enough to keep the fork from bouncing. Rebound should be adjusted relative to your air pressure - more air pressure will require more rebound damping (slower) to overcome the air spring. The trouble with rebound settings is you get the same effect from too much or too little damping - loss of control and a choppy ride. Fork Dive - On my 2011 36 TALAS, I never found a setting that was plush enough for my tastes that did not have a lot of fork dive. You can adjust your riding style a bit, but it is a little frustrating. I didn't have that problem on my '08 TALAS 36 or my 09 TALAS 32 (150). On a 29er with less than 4" of travel, this shouldn't be a huge problem, but on my 26er with over 6" of travel, fork dive gets a little dicey when going down ledgy drops at a slow speed. Good luck!
