[Closed] Fox 36 Talas RC2

hi mate

i feel your pain, great forks apart from on small hits, iv played with mine (on an alpine 160) and just cant get the small bump just right, they are just a bit 'sticky' on the initial movement.

I think the answer is convert them to floats...... im toying with doing that at the minute and it seems to be a fairly popular mod

I all likely-hood the rubber bladder in the RC2 damper will have deformed. The bad news is Fox, in their wisdom, stopped making the bladders last year (ie. making a 2010 fork obsolete in 2013). More info here;

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/any-way-to-fixbodge-a-fox-36-rc2-bladder

When I contacted them in October TFtuned and J-Tech both had a "small number of bladders" left. They may or may not have any now.

Due to the shoddy actions of Fox, Mojo will do you a discount on the newer inverted FIT RC2 damper if you contact them and ask nicely.

Details on number of clicks are in here;
http://www.ridefox.com/fox_tech_center/owners_manuals/010/eng/Content/Forks/36/36_TALAS.html

If you want to whip out the damper to check the bladder have a look here;
http://service.foxracingshox.com/consumers/Content/Service/Forks/36FLOAT/36FLOAT_RC2.htm

Ok 2 questions

How much to convert to float?

How much is the discounted FIT upgrade?

Thanks

Conversion kit is £85 from mojo. Then either fit it yourself or get someone else. I know most fox authorised service places will do it (south coast suspension do it for about £30 or so)

Fit damper is normally about £285 - on mojo site again. Not sure on discounted rate tho

I don't think you can convert them to floats as I dont think they sell the conversions kits for pre 2011 forks anymore. Currently Mojo shows as out of stock, its been showing out of stock since I bought my pre 2011 conversion kit last year, I'd ring to double check.

For what its worth I'm running 65-70psi, zero clicks of high speed compression and 8 clicks of low speed compression (low speed is the small knob).

IME The float conversion is Ok (a bit more progressive) but hardly a game changer, your best bet would be to fit SKF low friction seals and refill with Fox 20wt gold if you can get hold of it.

Do you know if they've been serviced recently?

Currently Mojo shows as out of stock, its been showing out of stock since I bought my pre 2011 conversion kit last year, I'd ring to double check.

They were in stock earlier this week as I bought one!

I thought Fox/Mojo are offering some sort of discount program for the 2014 carts? As people have been so unhappy recently. Get a 2014 cart if you can, as it looks a step up from last years.

Better yet, pop in an Avalanche cartridge and be done with it.

Hm. Thanks for the heads up.

I love my old blue 36 RC2 Talas' and there's no chassis or stanchion reason to change them. I hadn't realised Fox had stopped parts availability - so I'll look into the options above. If I had to Float-ify them it wouldn't be the end of the world as they tend to live in the middle position (?140) anyway unless I remember there are choices... 🙂 Nearly £300 for the FIT upgrade sounds like half a Pike to me...

As to settings, me and a mate just spent a day in Guisborough Forest with shock pump tweaking things based on feel and look from bottom of trail up to descending bike and prety much nailed it. It was a fun way to set a fork up and very productive.

dont bother with the FIT upgrade - go Avalanche

tho once you fit the SKF seals, buy a float conversion and sort the Avvy cart its almost as much as a new Pike anyway

The AVY cart is much more tunable than the pike though. You can tune the high speed Compression shims, the low speed compression, the midstroke compression, the hydraulic bottom out control, rebound and the high speed compression blow off valve.

They also mod the Pike as they aren't happy with that damper either, something to do with the bladder being leaky (I think it lets in air over time which causes cavitation) and not having adjustable shim stacks/mid stroke shim stacks.

These are are the forks when I had a look it says they have the FIT RC2, so maybe/hopefully just set up wrong.
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[url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/90489422@N06/14069099642/ ]Rt[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/90489422@N06/ ]Alpine160[/url], on Flickr

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[url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/90489422@N06/14087534663/ ]Cc[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/90489422@N06/ ]Alpine160[/url], on Flickr

If the compression is at the bottom and not the top then its the older FIT damper (as opposed to the newer one)

Loco can probably confirm if they can still be serviced (or if it was the older RC2s pre 2009 that the dampers are no longer available for)

I am keen to look at the Float conversion as I do not use the Talas at all - also upgrading to another damper does look expensive like £300 or such You could probably get a decent of 2nd hand Lyriks/pikes for that and not have to worry about lack of servicing parts??

If it's already a fit cartridge, then I think you can upgrade it to the latest 2014 spec for 80 quid - it's not a total replacemnt just a matter of conversion.

But yeah, seeing as it's the Talas model - sell them and buy a Pike unless you want the avalanche damper for it's particular benefits. Or convert them to coil?

You won't have to worry about a lack of servicing parts for the avy, you'll be able to get all the bits you need from any motorbike dealer. Craig tends to use commonly available parts in his cartridges.

These are are the forks when I had a look it says they have the FIT RC2, so maybe/hopefully just set up wrong.

Rebound at top so it's older FIT RC2.

If the compression is at the bottom and not the top then its the older FIT damper (as opposed to the newer one)

Exactly

There seem to generally be confusion about the two types as people think new = FIT, old = non-FIT. But the older one was FIT as well.

New = "inverted", with compression dials at the top, rebound at the bottom.

Old = rebound at top, compression at bottom. It's these that you can't get bladders for (unless TFtuned/Jtech still have any).

EDIT: Although everyone (including me) says the bladders aren't available, I'm sure they're listed actually on this page if you don't mind ordering from the US.
http://www.enduroforkseals.com/id152.html

I had thought that the bladders for the older FIT cartridge were still available but for the non-FIT forks they had been discontinued

however, that enduro page implies that the non-inverted FIT and the older RC2 dampers are the same

the power of 'branding', eh! Makes no difference to my rebound-only fork tho