So i have a pair of this years rockshox 120mm recon gold tk coil sprung forks that came with my first bike. I’m pretty light, currently a little over ten stone and with the preload dial all the way off i reckon i get about 20% sag in my “attack” position.

I’ve tried to keep a track of where the o ring moves up to over my rides in the last month or so and in a non-scientific manner, i dont think it’s ever moved more than 80mm up the leg post ride, about 2/3 rds of the length from fork body to the bit below the headset (dont know the technical terms!). Admittedly most of the local stuff is pretty tame but with the preload dial off there seems to be a rattle or “looseness” there at (my) top speed downhill that isn’t present with a few clicks of the dial on, is that the spring rattling around?

So am i not getting my full travel because i’m light and the spring is too stiff or do i just need to mtfu and go faster/find some big drops to huck off or is this just how it works?

I’m sure i remember reading that you want to bottom out your fork every once in a while to know that your are set up using your full travel for your local riding but i guess thats not happening?

am i missing the point?

No. You don’t have to bottom out your fork every ride. That’s an old wives tale. I very, very rarely bottom forks out. It’s not something you should be doing with any regualrity at all, but you should be getting closer to it than that.
What you do need to do is match the spring weight to your weight.
If you’re very light (under 10, maybe 11 stone I’d say) then you might need a softer spring (I take it this is a coil sprung fork) the standard one is OK for average weights.
20% sag is a tad on the stiff side for my liking, I’d say you want more like 25% to be fair. 🙂

Sorry, didn’t read your post properly. I see your weight now. Yeah, I reckon you need a lighter spring, and then you’ll probably need to run some preload to get the sag right. Then, and only then, can you work on damping settings. 🙂

I have a slightly older Recon, and it came with a medium spring (coloured blue on the top of it if you open the forks up). As said, a lighter spring?

Oh, and yes, that rattle could be the spring. Try adding some preload to see if it goes away.
If not, it still might be the spring (some of them just do that) or it could be one of a lot of other things and virtually impossible to diagnose without seeing the bike in the flesh 🙂

Thanks

I’m pretty sure the rattle isn’t there with the preload dialled up a bit so I guess it might be the spring

So next question, ill get my wife to check my sag as it were. A softer spring is going to give a plusher ride and I should see that o ring move further up over a ride?

How much is a spring going to set me back? Am I better off saving for a better air sprung fork or will I still find the basic spring in something else too stiff?

Thanks everyone!

An air sprung fork is more easily and more accurately adjustable and and you only need a pump then you can faff you your hearts content.
You might like that, you might not.
I’m guessing a spring will be around £25 for a fixed travel Rockshox fork these days. Have a look on TFTuned, I bet they have them for sale.

IMO the sag is the important setting, cos it affects geometry and handling. And really, how easily it moves in the first 1/3 of travel too since that’s where you spend most of your time. Although with a coil fork you don’t really have any control over that but it should be good if static sag is right.

As Poddy says don’t worry too much about full travel. Like I say you don’t have many variables to control in a coil fork so set the sag and don’t worry about the travel.

You may find it better to set 30% sag or even more, depending on the fork, the bike, riding position and preference.

Air forks are often more tunable, but imo this is a double edged sword as often they NEED more tuning which means more faffing and less chance of it being right 🙂

sounds like i should investigate the spring as i cant sag it any more as it is with my weight, the preload is already totally off……unless i eat excesively over xmas of course…;-)