Vorsprung luftkappe Vs smashpot

Very different feel. Never had both in the same for but had each in a different bike at the same time.

Luftkappe feels like air but better, Smashpot is very much coil. Which you prefer is very subjective. Smashpot is a LOT of extra weight and was noticeable even on my ebike. The trade off was buttery smooth and very sensitive. Suited the point and smash persona of the bike it was on. Moved a lot more under weight shifts and less pop so I  found it harder to lift the front end over obstacles. Difficult to gauge spring weight, I found Vorsprung assume pretty aggressive usage and went for the softer option and lighter oil on advice of shop. Liked it overall but also wouldn’t want it on my trail bike.

I have a smashpot set up for sale if you're interested, its for 2021 onwards Fox 36s set at 160 travel. £150 with a spring of your choice - yellow, blue or red (soft, medium, heavy)

Selling as I switched to 38s, the weight difference over air is noticable.

Jon

Nothing to add but interested if anyone. Has run the Smashpot in a Zeb so any feedback appreciated.

I’ve got the Luftkappe in my old 2017 Pike, and was/am really pleased with it.

Interestingly TFTuned talked me out of the Smashpot conversion for them, because of the weight making it less suitable for trail bikes.

They also talked me out of a Luftkappe for my current Fox 36s saying that modern forks already had an adequate negative chamber.

FWIW: the weight increase is between 250 and 450g (depending on spring weight used). A price worth paying in my experience.

The only thing that hasn’t worked for me was the treacle they spec for oil. Seemed OTT but I’m pretty light.

I’ve very recently converted my fox 38’s to smash pot and have got a luftkappe in some 36’s on another bike. For me the smashpot performs way better than the luftkappe and the original air spring in the 38’s. There’s the obvious weight penalty but as it’s on my e-bike it’s not an issue. The forks feel fantastic and the best performance I’ve got out of the  numerous sets of fox forks I’ve had. If you can stomach the weight, I’d say smashpot every time

The only thing that hasn’t worked for me was the treacle they spec for oil.

Fox 20 Gold?

Out of interest what oil are you using now then?

Not the same application, but I put a Luftkappe in a Pike and it changed it from being disappointing and choked, to being adequate. A good addition but not gamechanging. It always felt like a "fix" rather than an "upgrade".

But the Smashpot in my 36s took a good fork and made it into an absolutely great fork, and inspired me to also replace those Pikes with a coil fork too. It was a much bigger upgrade than the luftkappe, on what was already a much better fork with a better airspring in the first place. Obviously other coil conversions are available, some Foxes you can just use the Marzocchi parts I think?

I'm maybe a wee bit of a zealot but I think for big bikes, coil is just the right choice most of the time. Sure, air springs can be really good... But equally, sometimes they're not, and it's not just "better or worse", a bunch of it is by design, manufacturers have contradicting ideas of what's best, try to make a fork architecture that works at 130mm or 170mm, or feels good in the shop, or puts ease of adjustment over quality of ride... Lots of advantages for manufacturers that don't mean as much to users.

It's fair enough, different people like different things but you don't have to deal with that with a coil, every coil fork I've ever put a coil in, from my ancient Lyriks and Revs to my modern 36s and MRPs, feels like it's got a coil in, and therefore really bloody good.

I really fancy the smashpot for my revs. I’m thinking back to the old fox vanillas and their superb comfort! The 34s on their bike might get luftkappe, but I need some more miles on them before deciding. I had wondered if modern airsprings had bought up with luftkappe

Fox 20 Gold?

Out of interest what oil are you using now then?

I was worried about this from the start and the tuner recommended 15wt Stendec instead. Even after that I’d to remove all but two HBO shims from the active side of the stack to get the adjustment range usable for me.

I had wondered if modern airsprings had bought up with luftkappe

I have one fitted to my 2022 Fox 36’s and definitely prefer them with it. Before I could have supple initial stroke but it sat well into its travel before ramping quickly with a couple of tokens needed, or run no tokens but need more air pressure and firmer at start of travel. With it I’m still running 1 token and more pressure but feels nice in initial travel.

Even after that I’d to remove all but two HBO shims from the active side of the stack to get the adjustment range usable for me.

Yeah that's why I'm asking.
I've also swapped shims around but still never been fully happy with my Smashpot 36.

I started with 20wt Fox in mine (Fox 36 Rhythm) and found that anything more than two clicks from fully open on the HBO felt I was was hitting a brick wall.

I went down to 10wt after a while and this put me roughly half way between open and closed, and any adjustments that I made felt less like an on/off switch.

Thanks for the replies. I likely to stick with my luftkappe. The bike is a hope hb130 with the fork set to 150mm. The bike is used 70% for trail riding the the other 30 for enduro. Weight has been brought up a few times which has put me off.

Fox 20 Gold?

Out of interest what oil are you using now then?

10Wt. There’s a note somewhere about the 20 not being ideal below 10 (I think) degrees C. Given it spends all its life in Scotland, that’s half the year.

I've had a Lyric with Smashpot and now have a Fox 38 Factory on my KSL. It's early days and I've haven't done much riding or tuning since swapping but the Lyric was better off the top and the Fox is better in the mid stroke and tracks better. The Shockwiz thinks I need another token in the 38 so that may improve the small bump response a bit.

I've got the bits to put the Smashpot in the 38 but I'm hoping I won't need to.

I'd be interested in trying a Luftkappe at some point.

@doomanic

I've just fir myself a 38. I'll be interested to here about your smashpot Vs Luftkappe experience

Just jumping on this - I’ve got a 2021 Lyrik Ultimate rc2 running at 160mm m. Generally I find it fine but I’m due a lower leg service shortly son it’ll be all apart.

Is it worth running a Luftkappe on this fork or does the C1 airspring already have a big enough negative spring? I understand to run one I’d have to source a solo air shaft then fit the luftkappe to it.

If it’s materially bigger does it mean it’ll have better soft bump, but ramp up harder / quicker?

I’ve not had a Luftkappe on a Lyrik but I’ve had it on two older Pikes. And I’ve got two Lyriks, both 160mm RC2.1 damper but one B1 and one C1 air spring. I think the Luftkappe is a lot more like those two, especially the B1, than it’s like the older Pike air spring.

Off the back of this thread i just re looked at the installation instructions for the smashpot.

Seems they now have a new spring isolation part.
Think I'll have to bang one of them in my old smashpot 36 with some lighter oil and give it another try.

The shrink wrap always used to move on the spring on mine after a few rides and it'd get pretty noisy.
Most annoying.

There is also the Luft Fusion option, I think it's the equivalent of the Secus but lighter and cheaper.

I have it on a Lyrik and while I'm no expert or hard core rider, the fork now feels like I was expecting it to when I bought it.

I never could dial it so that it was comfortable at low speed and didn't blow through the travel, with the Luft Fusion it has the small bump sensitivity I was looking for without blowing through the travel.

Might be autosuggestion though!