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Lost a chunk of weight recently so have had to fiddle with my Fox Factory 36 forks, equipped with a FIT 4 damper.
I’m not exactly a hardcore rider, so even though I never got full travel out of the forks, I loved the stiffness and direct steering of the 36s. Now, however they feel harsh, like they’re ramping up really quickly. I’ve reduced air pressure to get to correct sag for my weight (20%). Harsh. Less air. Harsh. Volume spacer out (leaving only one in). Ouch. Reduced compression damping to just 4 out of 22 clicks. No better.
What am I missing? Do they just need a service?
It seems this is what they are like.
We've 36 Fit4 and 34 Evo CTD Fit. Both are harsher than the Rockshox initially - almost as if there's not enough oil and therefore some stiction.
If it's a new fork, check the oil levels. Ours feel better after a good service and lube up.
In bigger hits they feel much more controlled than my Yari and much nicer.
But they are harsh 🤔
Try them at 25% sag. I’ve found the Fox recommended pressures too high, unless you’re a hard hitter.
Vorsprung Luftkappe is also a great upgrade for these forks.
They're 2020 model forks, almost exactly a year old. Would a Grip2 damper upgrade help? Expensive though,,,
I'd be doing a lowers and airshaft service before dropping money on a damper upgrade.
You're right they are harsh, I have 36s in both FIT4 and Grip2. (2018 and 2020 versions)
I've played around to see if I can get the same suppleness of the Grip but just not been able to.
A service will make a tiny bit of difference initially as most things feel a bit better new but its basically the dampner. Might upgrade it on the FIT4s at some point now I have the grip2 forks and know the difference.
If you think its the damper and you want more oil flow have you checked if Andreani, Vorsprung etc do an upgrade?
Grip damper is obviously the easy drop in
Sag is just a starting point for air pressure, dont get too hung up on the %, keep adjusting to get what you want
IME it's just pretty much how they are- mine is a slightly older Fit 4 but it had all the small bump sensitivity of the 2008 Revelations I had for a bit which probably hadn't been serviced this decade. Everything else the fork does is fantastic, so I put a coil in it to overcome that one shortfall, but you really shouldn't have to.
If the forks are a year old and not had a service it’s probably worth at least doing a lower leg and air shaft service.
If they have been serviced maybe they are over dampened for your loss of weight?
I have a 6 month old 36 with a fit 4 damper (oem 3 position without the 24 clicks of open adjustment) and find them really good.
I did just do a lowers / air shaft service and that made a big difference to small bump break away.
Nothing compares to the Marzocchi 44 rc3 ti that I had a good number of years ago though. Never tried a grip 2 fork but that was the most controlled fork I have ever used. Annoying they stopped making them.
+1 for doing a lowers service in the first instance
I have a Fox 34 with Fit 4 damping and it's less plush than current RS forks - but it's never felt harsh and I've ridden it on some pretty gnarly trails.
I wouldn't choose the Fit 4 damping for a 36 myself, but the sporty feel suits a trail bike quite well IMO.
Interesting this as I have Fit4 36's and initially they were lovely and plush, much more so than the Pikes they replaced. Then I changed frames and tweeked the pressure and now they seem a bit spikey early in the travel. I have tried to put the setting back but although better they are not back to where they were.
I have a new pair of 2020 34 Performance with the Grip damper. Would these be smoother?
Rather than binning the damper and replacing - get the current damper reshimmed? Should be considerably cheaper, some places might be happy to take just the damper too rather than having to add on the cost of a service
30% sag on mine, no tokens. Smoother and still ride really high which I like.
Ive put a luftkappe on and it has helped smooth it out further.
JTech do Andreani conversion on the damper, TF do Push fractive tuning.
Vorsprung fractive is an option. I fitted one to mine and it made the world of difference. It was £70ish but a tricky fit requiring shaft clamps etc. TFT can fit them during a service, but the price is approaching grip2 at that point.
Do you have them set up correctly? Reason I ask is my mate and I both thought we had ours set up ok until I bought a shockwiz. My air pressure was a bit out, his was way out. Both of us told to wind the LSC right off, add a chunk of rebound and it's made a significant change to our forks. I'm not suggesting you go and drop £265 on one but see if your local bike shop has one it'll let you borrow or their guys that hire them off of eBay and pinkbike.
Check the clearance on the bushings. Fox used to have a reputation for loose bushings once Upton a time but seem to have now gone that other way.
Strip and clean for a lowers service and remove the seals. The CSU should drop into the lowers smoothly under their own weight. If they don't, try one leg at a time.
If it doesn't slide, your bushings need to be honed.
Gave my fox 34s fit4 a lowers service and they are super plush now, more so than my lyriks. They just glide through everything. Definitely reccomend that before anything else.
@haggis1978 ShockWiz is a good shout. And I have a mate who has one which I'm sure he'll lend me. Looks like I should get a lower leg service first though...
What do you mean by harsh?
Given you have lost weight then you’ll really want to start your tuning all over again.
Also consider tyre pressure as well.
Given you have lost weight then you’ll really want to start your tuning all over again.
Yep, done that. Air pressure, compression and rebound control changed accordingly. And tyres, obviously. Harsh as in not initially plush over small chatter and then ramping up early in the travel.
I know it's been said, but do a lower service. I have a set of 34 performance elite/Evol FIT4's and was never that impressed by them out the box,...and ran them like that for 10months or so because I thought that's just the way they were.
Until I decide to up the travel, which obviously ment opening the forks and doing service as well. The airshaft was absolutely plastered in grease, so much so I'm not sure the forks ever worked properly and the difference now is staggering, super plush..much more so than my pike Ultimates.