i'm running a pair of vanilla 32 RLCs, 130mm travel on an old stumpy (120mm). having recently worked myself up to going off a (not very high) drop-off, i have bottomed them out a couple of times.
Is it especially bad for the forks to bottom them out in this way? it isn't too hard, but there's a definate 'clack'
With out going to harder springs and therefore compromising the general behaviour of the fork, are the only other solutions to have longer travel forks/ not to go off things of this height/ put up with a bit of bottom out?
i have a medium spring in (correct for my weight) and, with pre-load at it's slackest, i am in the recommended range of sag, but nearer to the 'xc' end (25mm ish) than the 'freeride' end (33mm) as described in the fox manual. i.e i'm running them quite stiff.
there is of course a bit of technique to be sorted out. it's when i land more heavily on the front end that they bottom out.
for the record, it's only about a 60cm drop.
cheers, jimmer
My first guess would be try a harder spring. If you are bottoming out that easily with that much sag then you need more support. A stiffer spring with less preload should still give you a great ride.
For starters though, wind on a touch more compression. Should help a bit.
TBH this sort of behaviour is fairly normal and your forks should bottom out occasionally on a ride, you won't be damaging them by doing so. I'd personally wind on a bit more preload on the spring and increase the low speed compression a bit more.
Hitting a drop is high speed compression. Increasing compression damping risks ruining the feel of the fork
thanks marky, i don't need a stiffer spring; i'm already set up in the stiffer end of things at present.
when you say 'wind on a touch more compression' do you mean compression damping or pre-load? aye i can see a but more compression damping would be a good idea
i'm really asking if it's ok to be bottoming out occasionally? or is it preferable to just run with slightly more than the desired pre-load, and therefore less sag?
when you bottom out is it the tops of the lowers actually hitting the crown that does the 'bottoming'(smirk)? it this bad?
Fair enough. And yes, a touch of compression damping. As said above, too much with ruin the ride. I'd keep adding it a click at a time until notice the ride going 'off' then back it off one click. Should provide you with what you need.
Again repeating what others have said, bottoming out now and then is good as you are making full use of the travel. As long as its not too often. I'd still recommend trying a stiffer spring. You might be surprised with the results. I tried a stiffer coil on a rear shock a while back and it improved the ride without sacrificing sensitivity.
Just a thought.
When the Float fork bottoms out the bottom of the stanchion's hit the bottom out bumpers in the bottom of the lowers. (enough bottoms already)