I asked this question a while back, but nobody had had it done at that point.

So I thought I’d ask again. Has anyone had this done yet? and if so, did you think it worth it?

My 2005 36R forks are coming back tomorrow with the FIT RC2 damper, so I should be able to give a report in a few weeks time when I get round to riding it.

Out of interest, what was the total price? (I have 36 vans )

£259 inc VAT for the upgrade to the RC2 FIT cartridge and a full service.

I looked into buying new 2011 RC2 Talas forks, but you’re looking at at least £650-£700 for some with a 1 1/8th steerer. Theres some cheap taper steerers knocking around though, if you’ve got the frame to use one.

Stupid question of the day: I have a 2009 pair of 36 Van RC2’s on my Nomad. Does that mean I already have this damper/cartridge fitted?

Tim

I’m thinking of doing this to my 32 Vanilla R. I will be interested to see what you think.

Edd

interested in this too, hopefully to get this done very soon, so feedback appreciated!

Will give some basic (riding around the local woods) feedback when I get them fitted, but probably wont be able to give feedback from a proper ride for a few weeks.

txr301, the FIT cartridge is ‘upside down’ which makes it marginaly better in terms of unsprung weight etc, basicly the fork now pushes a damper (which weighs next to nothing) through the oil rather than pushing the oil (which weighs ~200g) through the damper if that makes any sense. Also it saves some weight by using less oil.

You’ll know if you have it because the fork will have FIT written on the side of it, off the top of my head I can’t remember which way up the damper is but its the compression adjusters will be on the other end (top/bottom) compared to the ‘cheeper’ forks.

It’s a 2011 upgrade and only fitted to 2011 forks onwards – I asked about getting it for my 40’s.

thisisnotaspoon – cheers mate, appreciate the explanation.

got my fork back yesterday, not got it on the bike yet but for the weight freaks its 100grams lighter than when it went in, it was a 2005 TALAS R, now its a 2005 TALAS, but with 2011 RC2 damping.

Theres some cheap taper steerers knocking around though, if you’ve got the frame to use one.

Where are these cheap tapered forks? I’d love some 36’s for my LTc!

It is also possible to get a replacement crown/steerer for £180. If the wrong steerer forks are that cheap ( Talas on CRC for <£400) it might make sense to do that. You have also got a spare steerer if you change frame later.

fitted the forks on the bike and had a ride round outside the house to try and get the settings into the right ball park.

ended up with maximum low speed compression damping, the high speed somewhere around a quarter up from no damping, and the rebound set to the middle setting.

I wont try and pass judgement on the new damper yet, as riding up and down kerbs is hardly a decent test, but what I have found is that even with the low speed compression turned up to maximum, theres still a fair bit of dive under braking.

Went to llandegla for a decent ride today , it was absolutely packed, overflow car park was full.

New damper is excellent, better small bump absorbtion, better large bump absorbtion, just generally all round better,super smooth. I turned the high speed compression and rebound damping down a couple of clicks, compared to my riding off kerbs setting.

It was worth the money I would say. I’d imagine that you could get the normal damper custom tuned to give the same effect though, but you dont get the adjustability.

I can see myself varying the high speed damping depending on what sort of trail I’m riding.