[Closed] Reba Race - setting them up

I think you'd be best putting a zip tie on the stanchion to 'record' the performance of the fork.

I used to set them up with lots of sag (approx 120+ve, 110-ve) which was lots of fun in the corners but sketchy on steep stuff as they'd dive.

Since putting fat tubeless tyres on I'm less concerned about grip so am now experimenting with a hard initial platform (very little sag) but then lots of travel when it does move, so maybe 115+ve, 95-ve. this makes the bike feel livelier but there's still 4 inches of suspension there when I need it.

Try setting the +ve pressure up so you get full travel (you'll struggle to achieve the last 1/2cm), then fiddle with the negative pressure to achieve the sag you want. A difference of 30 p.s.i like you're running now sounds like it wouldn't give much initial sag, or if it did you'd probably be blowing through the remaining travel.

Also play with the floodgate if you have it, its really useful for making the fork a little more taut without locking it out completely. If you have floodgate then there should be no need for lockout.

Oh, and i never worry about the rebound, I just leave it as fast as possible without getting a thump when they recoil

Thanks 13thfloormonk. I should have added that I never get anymore than around 80mm travel ( Forks came from Merlin originally on a Malt2 but are now on a SC Blur Classic)

Also the fork originally had the Poplock but I broke the bar mounted lever in a tumble so removed the entire mechanism. I have the little gold knob turned all the way +ve. Is that correct?

Thanks again

P

Rebas ramp up a little, so its really hard to get the full travel.

You should be able to get a little more than 80mm though, assuming there is at least 100mm of stanchion showing. Measure the stanchions when you're off the bike, if there's approx 105mm stanchion showing then they're set to 100mm, if there's only 85mm showing then they've been set to 80mm and you'll need to adjust them internally to get more travel (not difficult, there was a thread recently about it).

At 16 stone i'd have thought 130psi was a little low to be honest, but if you're only getting 80mm travel then you could try lowering it a little bit more. You should then achieve more travel. if the fork then sags too much (i worked on 1/3 of the travel as sag, but 1/4 works too) you can just decrease the negative pressure which in turn decreases the sag.

If the poploc is broken then the forks will never lockout, if you turn the knob by hand it will just spring back. You can disable the return mechanism by unscrewing the damping cartridge and unhooking the spring with some needle nose pliers. Peterpoddy on this forum has a good pictorial guide to doing this. it helps to then buy the proper lockout knob (£10) so its easier to use the lockout by hand.

The floodgate only works when the fork is locked out, and according to the manual you can only adjust it when the fork is locked. It is worth doing though, because even when locked out, you can adjust the floodgate so the fork works on most bumps, but won't bob when you sprint. its better than lockout because if you forget to unlock the forks you won't die on the downhills!

Floodgate at full +ve results in complete lockout, not much use really, try sprinting up a smooth hill and decreasing the floodgate until the fork starts to bob. Increase it again a little bit to remove the bob and you'll have a really useful 'propedal' style setting for smooth stuff and roads.

Im 15 stone and run 120 PSI on mine... 130 seems ok to me?

Fair enough, I run 120psi @ 13 stone, maybe I should have a wee look at my travel too! (or maybe another look at the bathroom scales...)

If it works for you then I would stick with it mate... 😀