What damper upgrade do I want? Or new forks?

I’ve got a few bikes, all around 140-160mm, and recently jumped on the 150mm FS after riding some of the other bikes for a while. I’ve noticed how awful the damping is in the fork vs. my other bikes. All forks serviced recently, so not down to maintenance.

So, the fork is a 2023 RS Lyric Select + 150mm, I know it’s the entry level damping. I’ve got sag , rebound and low speed compression setup nicely with correct tokens to feel right, so that’s fine. I just think the damping feels a bit Halford BSO spec.

The main fork I’m comparing it to is the Fox 36 Rythm Grip 140mm- also entry level damping but it feels buttery smooth in it’s progression and the way it ramps up. Lovely. Same sag and equivalent settings.

I was amazed how my confidence dropped on the ride as the fork just didn’t feel predictable in it’s travel. It’s made me think twice about taking the bike out, which isn’t on. The rest of the bike is lovely so need to get these forks sorted.

What do people recommend?
– Damper upgrade, if yes- which one?
– New fork and keep these as spares? If yes, which ones?

Any advice appreciated!

2023 RS Lyric Select + 150mm, I know it’s the entry level damping.

No, it’s the good damping but without the HSC adjust you get on the Ultimate (IIRC).

My Select+ Pike is awesome anyway.

Confusingly, the Select (without the +) forks ARE more basic in damping (again IIRC).

Might be worth a look at the current thread about TruTune.

I have both the Select + and the Ultimates both set up the same and it’s hard to tell the difference on the trail. You could upgrade the damper but in my opinion it’s a big expense for not much gain

When did they have a service

Just to add, the 2023 forks seemed to get a rep for being a bit more harsh – or struggling to get into their travel.

My Select+ Pike was the previous gen.

So the old 2.1 damper, or the new 3.1 damper would be options. But as I hinted, a TruTune widget might solve the issue much cheaper.

Or get a coil conversion ;)

Select+ is generally pretty close to the Ultimate level damper for RockShox, not that much in it

The 3.1 damper is by all accounts a  big step forward, so that might be a worthwhile upgrade for you – but given the cost, selling your fork and buying a lyrik ultimate would likely cost about the same, and give you the new air spring/buttercups/bushings/shininess of a new fork also

Interesting- thanks all.
The fork is definitely harsh. Not sure why I didn’t notice it before. Jumping from a well damped fork to this is night and day though.

Last serviced about 6 months ago and only been ridden a few times since (less than 40 miles). Only thing I can think of is that the bike is being stored vertically, but surely it’s a good thing as the oil would soak the seals?

Trutune Hit and Flow look like a good combination for an upgrade.. good value too.

Good shout George.

Decent price here already:

https://www.starbike.com/en/rockshox-lyrik-ultimate-charger-3.1-r-c2-crown-suspension-fork-boost-15x110mm-debonair-d2/

I’d post this in the PSAs thread as well if it hadn’t been closed (not quite deserving of its own thread).

Rave review by Alex Evans on Bikeradar this week, and he seems to know his onions.

If changing forks,  see if you can have a go on a coil cane creek helm.

I have one on my hardtail and it is amazing

The main fork I’m comparing it to is the Fox 36 Rythm Grip 140mm- also entry level damping but it feels buttery smooth in it’s progression and the way it ramps up. Lovely. Same sag and equivalent settings.

theres more than one way to skin a cat and different forks can rwequire a different set up………… have you tried more air less damping or the reverse, worth having a play, if youve got access to a shockwiz, its quite interesting if you try extremes, also helps illustrate

Also worth checking whether the lowers have been serviced, air port free of grease, wipers well lubed and oil in lowers

Im surprised chakaping hasnt mentioned a trutune- if you can get to a race theyre at they quite often have a demo one theyll set up for you and let you try out

Common cause for harsh feelings forks can be bushings that don’t have the correct clearance. Were they home serviced or by a specialist? Some “specialists” are not equipped to size the bushings and others don’t do it as standard

The main fork I’m comparing it to is the Fox 36 Rythm Grip 140mm- also entry level damping

[ this is an amazing damper … that it is simpler in construction to more expensive dampers is actually to their advantage … I had a second hand one fitted to my old Factory 36 after experiencing the one in my Rhythm 34 ]

Im surprised chakaping hasnt mentioned a trutune

Was that sarcasm?

:P

The 2023 Rockshox definitely have issues and it’s inconsistent from fork to fork too. Charger 2.1 or 3.1 before and after are much better.

Personally, I’d recommend a custom tune though – I have some Charger 2.1 Lyrik Ultimates and for about 50 something quid while they were in for something else, J-Tech did a custom tune and it transformed them. Never had a problem with them before, but they’re way better now. Feels like a big hardware upgrade for what was simply tweaking/optimisation.

Who serviced them .

I bet yourself

Full service

I bet just a lower leg lube

It’s no substitute for a full service from tf j tech etc

Send them off let the pros do it and I,promise they will feel a million times better

cokie
Full Member

The main fork I’m comparing it to is the Fox 36 Rythm Grip 140mm- also entry level damping but it feels buttery smooth in it’s progression and the way it ramps up. Lovely. Same sag and equivalent settings.

This is mostly about where the limitations of the fork are. Grip is a potentially brilliant, lovely feeling damper, with very poor adjustability to the point that a lot of riders just can’t make it work adequately. So if you’re in the right zone for it and can find a setup that you like, fantastic, it’ll outperform plenty of far more expensive dampers. If you’re me, there’s simply no good setting in there and it fundamentally sucks. TBH it is a really terrible OEM damper choice for that reason, even though it’ll be great for some there’s just a lot of people buying bikes that will never be able to make it work well. In fact even Grip2 has an element of that.

But the flipside is that for some people it absolutely shines.

Whereas Select+ imo never feels as good as Grip can, if you’re lucky enough for Grip to work at its best for you. But it works for most people. So across the board it’s better but for some people it’s worse. Definitely makes it a superior OEM option but it’s always goign to be inferior for those people for whom Grip works great.

Gotta be honest, I think most suspension companies have had their heads up their arses for years. It’s just crazy to be putting out products that have worse breakaway than previous years, crazy to have products that just don’t work right for a decent proportion of riders, compression damping adjustment that loads of people have wound completely off all the time because the lowest setting is still way too high. Constant churn and “innovation”, hands up everyone that likes Buttercups? Thousand pound forks that can be massively improved with a single aftermarket piece like a luftkappe or a tiny wee andreani ported piston, and yet when the company literally just tries to copy that they still **** it up.

Are you sure they are properly set up? I’ve always found each fork needs its own tweak to get it to feel right, so if you’ve set it the same as the other forks then it may just need a wee tweak.
If it is feeling harsh, maybe remove a token and slow the rebound a touch? (Says the bloke who doesn’t quite understand how all this works!)

I think the latest air spring version add a bit of harshness as people complained with the previous version that they ‘lost’ a bit of travel. There are a few things you can do, drop back to the previous air spring (B version I think), remove the top out bumper to increase negative spring volume, replace with a coil spring (tf tuned, vorsprung),

Point is, it probably isn’t your damper.

If you have a charger 2.1 or 2.0 then this might be relevant if you do want to upgrade the damper. Reduced down to £75

https://www.pushindustries.com/products/hc-97

Thanks everyone for all the replies! Lots to think about.

One thing I’m certain of is that I’ve got it setup correctly. I’ve has RS stuff for years and is my preferred fork usually. Quite confident in getting them setup.

I might just do a service at home and inspect everything and go from there.
I like the idea of these after market bits anyway to improve them, so will definitely have a look.
Shame that Trutune and other are out of stock.

Just to throw an idea out there, have you thought about swapping one of the forks you do like the setup on across to the FS? Then go for a ride on each bike and see if the problem transfers across to the hardtail/the FS suddenly does feel fantastic?

Only because I’ve been nerding out on youtube videos with Jordi from Fox recently regarding suspension setup and one of things I picked up on was the relationship between fork and shock can really affect how the fork feels. If they’re not balanced you can end up with a horrible feeling fork/bike, because the bias of the bike has been shifted by the shock setup/condition.

Worth a try first? Plus workshop tinkering is fun.