Hey guys, I have a set of marzocchi 44 rc3 ti forks on my bike, bought these a while back and I’m not really a suspension expert. I don’t seem to be using all the travel, even on bigger hits like jumps and drops, I’m only a nipper at 60kg’s and was wondering if the standard spring in the forks was slightly too stiff for me? Also I have let all the air out. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Is your fork sagged correctly? That’d be first port of call, then compression settings.

http://locotuning.co.uk/forks-sag.html

There’s no rule that says you must use all your travel. It’s a myth started by people (magazines mostly) that don’t have a clue.
Get the settings and static sag sorted, learn how it’s done and what effect the damping knobs have, get it set up and then leave it alone. If you hit it hard enough, you’ll use all your travel, believe me. I had one set of forks 4-5 years and only used full travel twice.

you need http://sussmybike.com/

I’d also argue that jumps and drops may not be what you want the travel for, unless you’re dropping to flat a lot. If they’re transitioned right you may need very little. After all, people jump with BMXs 😉

In my case I see the travel more for fast hammering down rough stuff (which could include drops). It’s my justification for a big travel AM bike anyway 😀 . People see it and assume I’m all into hitting massive jumps, gaps and drops, but a) I’m crap at them 😀 and b) I’ve felt the benefit most in rocky or rooty as hell fast descents.

The last inch is hardly used for me, it’s big hits and things go wrong territory. My forks ramp up to the end of the travel to avoid blowing through. It’s a really tough bit to set up. There is a chance the spring is too hard of you are 60kg, one of the reasons air is much better these days. Probably speak to windwave direct or if you got the forks from a shop via them.

If you used it all, you wouldn’t have enough.

Eat pies

Thanks guys, think I’ll just get them serviced and ask them for advice, just feel like I’m not getting the best out of them, reading the review of these fork I think they just need someone who knows what they are on about!

I have these on two bikes. One set have now had a full service by Windwave. I’ve never used all the travel and wouldn’t want to. I believe in reserve for that time when things go horribly wrong! I love the way these forks ride on all terrain. I’m 75Kg and don’t do jumps. Yours may be faulty, but try winding back the compression damping, release ALL of the air from the preload chamber. (Some lighter riders will compress the fork first, then press in the schrader valve to create a slight negative preload).

There’s no rule that says you must use all your travel. It’s a myth started by people (magazines mostly) that don’t have a clue.

Not just magazines. I recently bounght a Transition Smuggler and was looking at the setup guides on the Transition site. They clearly believe that you should set up the suspension so that you use all of it on every ride.

I’ve never quite worked out a pattern for how much travel I use. Sometimes I’ll ride a route with lots of loose rocks, roots, little (1-2 foot) drops, hit it fairly hard (by my standards) and still have an inch of travel left at the end. Other times I’ll ride a much smoother route and use all the travel.

excalibur – Member

…Some lighter riders will compress the fork first, then press in the schrader valve to create a slight negative preload…

now that is clever.

The last inch is hardly used for me, it’s big hits and things go wrong territory.

This.

Even at Antur the other week my 140mm Revs werent quite getting that last 20mm or so….its purely for when i get things badly wrong and the front of the bike has to sort itself out….i could let some air out but its a hardtail and the geometry changes too much when taking a 140+mm fork from fully extended to fully compressed….it has 20% sag and i like it sat in its mid travel for most of the runs.

I’ve never understood the ‘must use all the travel’ school of thought….are people really setting up their 160mm full sussers to use all the travel on a pootle round the woods, morning blast around Swinley, XC mince etc?????….that seems like bloody hard work, nauseating and energy sapping to me.

Now, if your forks cant compress to full travel because theres something wrong with them then thats different altogether.

….then take into account the type of fork and how it affects your riding, when i had a medium coil spring 140mm Sektor on my HT i rode off the back far more and could get full travel (but still without harshly bottoming out) at places like BPW, FoD etc….same length fork now but air spring and it ramps up a lot more so i find myself riding over the front far more or at least more centred on the bike anyway.

Suspension can get as complicated as you want to make it!….i’ve always found TFtuned to be very friendly and helpful, other report back good things from Loco, Mojo etc…

There’s no rule that says you must use all your travel. It’s a myth started by people (magazines mostly) that don’t have a clue.

Why have a longer fork than you need in that case? Longer forks are flexier forks and if you prefer 100mm movement but have 130mm you may have the wrong bike, set up etc. No world-ender but we all want the most right bike we can have don’t we?

For those saying you don’t need to use all your travel, why are you pedalling around with all the travel then?
Don’t necessarily need to use it every ride (I don’t use as much in wet/slidey conditions and have only used all the travel once or twice, but if I was *never* using all the travel I’d soften the spring). If they were air sprung I may soften them slightly in winter/for days I know I’m not hitting anything that will bottom them out in their current setup.

Getting the sag right matters too, but you should aim to set your forks up so they sit around the right height AND bottom out occasionally.

The last inch is hardly used for me

Fnarr fnarr.

I’m a racing snake too (well skinny and light) and I swapped out the standars (medium) spring for a soft. So there’s more travel but also, more importantly in my view, front grip is improved (which I think is one of the major reasons for suspension anyway).

To add the context back when I use that last inch I really mean it…

If I was using all the travel on every ride then on some rides I’d be going crown to crown far too often and getting a shit ride quality.

Why have a longer fork than you need in that case? Longer forks are flexier forks and if you prefer 100mm movement but have 130mm you may have the wrong bike, set up etc. No world-ender but we all want the most right bike we can have don’t we?

Nope, longer forks tend to be stiffer actually, not because longer is inherently stiffer of course, but because longer forks are generally for more argo riding – weight is the penalty (and usually cost).

There’s a few reasons why you don’t need to use full travel to be making the most out of it – as others have said it’s not a bad idea to have a bit of safety margin for that unexpected hit.

Also most forks tend to be progressive / non-liner so the very bottom of the stroke can be quiet harsh – fine if it’s for that surprise big hit because it’s better than bottoming out, a bit crap if you’re hitting it on every other root because you’re hell bent on using every mill of travel every ride.

Also there’s an element of convenience – you might be riding forest tracks one day, big rocky descents the next – are you going to get the pump out to optimise your bike for every place you ride, hoping you’re not 5% out or you’ll spend a morning bottoming out which feels horrible,.

Have you tried adding more exclamation marks?

That might help!!!!!!!!!!!!

There’s no rule that says you must use all your travel. It’s a myth started by people (magazines mostly) that don’t have a clue.

Spot on!

dirtydog – Member
There’s no rule that says you must use all your travel. It’s a myth started by people (magazines mostly) that don’t have a clue.
Spot on!

I dunno Robin Seymour used to laugh at me for having “travel reserve” – what’s the point of having travel and not using it all would be his reply.

He’s kinda handy tbf and hard to say that he doesn’t have a clue.

Huck to flat off a petrol station roof. That’ll do it.

If you’re not using all your travel at least occasionally, you’re either overbiked or you’ve set it up wrong.

There, I said it.

Depends doesn’t it, that’s the technical answer. I set my 36’s up pretty stiff (one of my friends commented they were locked out) and I use about 90% or 95% of the travel most days.

On rougher steeper stuff I’m more likely to use it all, but I’ve never noticed a harsh bottom out. I try and add some lsc to counteract this if I can get away with it. If conditions are extremely wet I might run things a bit softer to get some more grip…..might use a bit more travel.

I set the rear up fairly stiff too, 15% – 20% sag, but bottom it out more frequently, again not harshly. If it’s wet I’ll adjust accordingly.

To give you an answer specific to your fork…

You are light, the ideal rider for that fork would be more like 70kg or a touch more. I had one when I was over 75kg and it was just about alright.

You are right to have no air in it – that’s for even heavier riders to add more resistance.

Are you happy with how the fork rides otherwise?

TBH you might be better on an air fork if not. Replacement ti springs are so rare and expensive that it’s not really a practical option. I’d just buy a Pike instead.

Nope, longer forks tend to be stiffer actually, not because longer is inherently stiffer of course, but because longer forks are generally for more argo riding – weight is the penalty (and usually cost).

True if you compare a 150mm pike to a 130mm 32. I meant for a given fork model, esp since a lot of forks can be travel adjusted to suit (but prob need to sort the spring rate also).

jameso

True if you compare a 150mm pike to a 130mm 32. I meant for a given fork model, esp since a lot of forks can be travel adjusted to suit (but prob need to sort the spring rate also).

Adjusted down the way though. It’s a moot point however since by and large fork chassis get stiffer as travel increases. 34s, Devilles, Diamonds, Pikes, Lyriks, 36s, Totems……

PeterPoddy – Member
There’s no rule that says you must use all your travel. It’s a myth started by people (magazines mostly) that don’t have a clue.

Actually it’s not that simple.
The rule about using all your suspension (but not bottoming out) comes from motocross racing.
The thinking was/is if you’re racing at a track and not using all your travel then you could make the suspension abit softer etc to make it less physically demanding on the rider and therefore the riding can push harder for longer.

Anyhow, things for mtb’s are a bit different you’re not racing a circuit usually, and you probably aren’t going at racing pace all the time either.

Try to get your sag right, then as a rough guide for getting your rebound setup, sit on your bike, put your hands flat on the bars and quickly push down and then lift up. The rebounding forks should just about keep up with your hands. If they hit them, add more damping. If they drift sluggishly upwards, reduce the damping.

I dunno Robin Seymour used to laugh at me for having “travel reserve” – what’s the point of having travel and not using it all would be his reply.

He’s kinda handy tbf and hard to say that he doesn’t have a clue.

I don’t think it’s always necessary or advantageous to be using all of your travel.

Take Llandegla for example, it seems wrong to set your suspension up based on how much travel it uses at just one or two points on the trail, what about the rest of it?

There are advantages in running a setup that doesn’t use all it’s travel, stability and efficiency.

I don’t think it’s possible to get full travel on my 66 atas, looking at the design. I spent years trying to find a setup that would, then I realised that the performance was all wrong set up like that. So much better now I stopped writi worrying about the last inch or so.

You are too light for the stock spring.
Undo the coil side to allow coil to come out. Then undo damper side, push fork 100% of travel allowing coil to come up.
Then whilst pressed tighten up damper side cap.
You will need to pull fork apart to insert sorting and tighten spring side.
Try that it should work.

This might be the answer to your challenges!

SussMyBike quantifies suspension performance