I've noticed over the past couple of week my RC2 36's and Float X2 are noticeably harsher in the cold.
Once it warms up they are back to their usual super smooth plush lovliness.
I'm assuming its the oil viscosity changing due to the cold we're currently riding in - has anyone else noticed this and make any changes to help?
Cheers
It's not just those I was out on the weekend and all of us On 3 different brands of fork were debating letting some air out as the felt harsh in the snow.
Try wiping a little fork oil or synthetic engine oil on the stanchions. I tend to run lower pressures and less damping in the winter. Suspension will partly feel harsher if you have it set to 'smashing summer' style setup when you're delicately and smoothly floating over wet roots.
Well I'm glad it's not just me and the Fox stuff.
Thinking back to last year, I was on the crap 34's and they never felt different - they were just always harsh. Maybe i'm spoiled by plush suspension 98% of the time!
I'll probably look at adjusting the suspension to suit the cold and slightly slower riding we're in now - but not until I'm back from Spain 🙂
I think it's a combination of things. Colder temps change the pressure of your forks and tyres. Cold, numb, hands mean I grip the bars harder so I feel the bumps more, slipperly muddy turns mean more braking into them which is more fatiging and just the genral aches and pains of being out in the cold.
Winter, it really is shit.
A few clicks of rebound adjustment to compensate for the viscosity of the oil at different temperatures and everything's back to normal. In theory I would change the compression damping too - if I thought the knob did anything (RC2).
Ndthornton - you can't be talking about the 2015/16 forks. They make a big difference when knob twiddling.
[url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fox-36-slow ]http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fox-36-slow[/url]
Same on Pikes and Fox rear yesterday.
Lower chamber pressure due to cold. Means damping effects are proportionately more. This is magnified by increases in oil and grease viscosity, and stiffer rubber seals.
Ndthornton - you can't be talking about the 2015/16 forks. They make a big difference when knob twiddling.
No I have the poor mans 2014 forks - After taking them apart I discovered that the compression nobs are connected to an internal middle finger which slowly extends as you turn them
I had some marzocchi forks that used to lock solid in the cold weather. They were old, badly maintained but still worked so well apart from when the temperature dropped around freezing. I put it down to water in the oil but never checked.
My pikes and CCDB inline both felt over damped at the weekend. CCDB was like the climb switch was on when it wasn't.
Back in the day, singletrackmonkey of this parish used to have those marzocchi atom races that were low pressure. They had about 12-14 psi in each leg AFAIR. In sub zero temperatures they'd sag through 75% of their travel and blow though the other 25% at the slightest provocation.