There seems to be no guides out there that show how to tune the SID RCT3 Dual Air forks properly, so here's mine, YMMV (But I hope this helps save lots of time for others.
Right off the bat, I have to say these have been bar none the hardest forks I've owned to dial in properly, seriously; I've had a pair of 100mm Dual-Air Sid RCT3's for 8 months and just yesterday I finally figured them out -- they seem to fly in the face of near all dual air fork tuning wisdom.
Anyways, here's my guide - YMMV - but try this out and tell me they don't feel like completely different forks after. I am now in love with them but so much pain getting here
ACTION 1 - GET THE POSITIVE RIGHT
Okay, set the RCT3 to open and flip the bike (flip your levers if you use hydro brakes .
1. Empty pos/neg chambers fully
2. Fill pos chamber to a reasonable amount
3. Fill neg to about half pos pressure
4. push down a few times on front tire, and check markings - were going for the 5% line. Push down the front tire a few times after each adjustment.
5. once neg is at 5% line when settled, take the bike for a quick spin on flat ground. Stand up and throw your weight down on the forks - no brakes. Were aiming for it to take 85-100% of the full force you can throw to hard bottom the forks out - personal preference. Go back to Step 2 and adjust to achieve this.
ACTION 2 - FINE TUNE THE NEGATIVE
Now that the Positive is set right for wide open, time to fine tune the negative. Keep in mind with these forks, the negative pressure will likely seem really low compared to other dual air forks - this is normal and the main reason it took me so long to figure these forks out, it goes against much common dual air wisdom. Anyways..
1. Start by going for another quick spin, this time find a very slight uphill - very important that there's no potholes or bumps/dips.
2. Sit the way you would ride normally -maybe slightly forward - and start going. Drop the red gauging o-ring down; go gently enough as not to cause sudden fork drop. Once at a reasonable cadence, lean back and coast until you can get off the bike without causing the fork to drop.
3. Check the o-ring; were aiming for the bottom of the ring to be around 20%. If the o-ring is at 20%, do the test another time to confirm. All good? Then skip Step 4 - You're done! If the o-ring is out then carry on to the next step.
4. If the o-ring is more/less than 25%, flip the bike and remove some air from the negative (don't skip this), then pump the neg to a more appropriate pressure, pushing down on the front tire every adjustment - the pressure will settle doing this as there is barely any volume in the neg. Adjust in 1-2 psi max, trust me.
5. Go back to Step 2 and repeat until a balance between ride sag around 20% and a static sag of 5% is achieved.
ADDITIONAL STUFF
--Softer/Stiffer--
For ACTION 1 - Step 5: 85% of your full throw to hard-bottom will be very soft, 100% will be stiff.
As you ride, if you decide your ride style demands softer/stiffer, start here then follow ACTION 2 again.
--RCT3 Dials--
In reading some people were asking how the low speed compression dial works in conjunction with the mode dial; I'll clear this up if I can:
⦁ Open Setting: The low-speed compression dial does nothing, so keep it where it should be for when you use Platform mode.
⦁ Platform Mode: The low-speed compression is just what you would expect. Ever used those compression to lockout forks? Same thing without the lockout. Unless the forks are tuned right this setting will seem way too stiff even with the lowest compression.
⦁ Lockout w/ Floodgate Not full lockout, you'll get around 15-20mm travel, medium compression on that. The low-speed dial does not affect the short travel compression, nor does it affect the amount of pressure that's needed to open the floodgate. Lastly, when the floodgate is tripped, the low-speed dial has no effect on the damping, it's preset.
Right off the bat, I have to say these have been bar none the hardest forks I've owned to dial in properly, seriously; I've had a pair of 100mm Dual-Air Sid RCT3's for 8 months and just yesterday I finally figured them out -- they seem to fly in the face of near all dual air fork tuning wisdom.
Anyways, here's my guide - YMMV - but try this out and tell me they don't feel like completely different forks after. I am now in love with them but so much pain getting here
ACTION 1 - GET THE POSITIVE RIGHT
Okay, set the RCT3 to open and flip the bike (flip your levers if you use hydro brakes .
1. Empty pos/neg chambers fully
2. Fill pos chamber to a reasonable amount
3. Fill neg to about half pos pressure
4. push down a few times on front tire, and check markings - were going for the 5% line. Push down the front tire a few times after each adjustment.
5. once neg is at 5% line when settled, take the bike for a quick spin on flat ground. Stand up and throw your weight down on the forks - no brakes. Were aiming for it to take 85-100% of the full force you can throw to hard bottom the forks out - personal preference. Go back to Step 2 and adjust to achieve this.
ACTION 2 - FINE TUNE THE NEGATIVE
Now that the Positive is set right for wide open, time to fine tune the negative. Keep in mind with these forks, the negative pressure will likely seem really low compared to other dual air forks - this is normal and the main reason it took me so long to figure these forks out, it goes against much common dual air wisdom. Anyways..
1. Start by going for another quick spin, this time find a very slight uphill - very important that there's no potholes or bumps/dips.
2. Sit the way you would ride normally -maybe slightly forward - and start going. Drop the red gauging o-ring down; go gently enough as not to cause sudden fork drop. Once at a reasonable cadence, lean back and coast until you can get off the bike without causing the fork to drop.
3. Check the o-ring; were aiming for the bottom of the ring to be around 20%. If the o-ring is at 20%, do the test another time to confirm. All good? Then skip Step 4 - You're done! If the o-ring is out then carry on to the next step.
4. If the o-ring is more/less than 25%, flip the bike and remove some air from the negative (don't skip this), then pump the neg to a more appropriate pressure, pushing down on the front tire every adjustment - the pressure will settle doing this as there is barely any volume in the neg. Adjust in 1-2 psi max, trust me.
5. Go back to Step 2 and repeat until a balance between ride sag around 20% and a static sag of 5% is achieved.
ADDITIONAL STUFF
--Softer/Stiffer--
For ACTION 1 - Step 5: 85% of your full throw to hard-bottom will be very soft, 100% will be stiff.
As you ride, if you decide your ride style demands softer/stiffer, start here then follow ACTION 2 again.
--RCT3 Dials--
In reading some people were asking how the low speed compression dial works in conjunction with the mode dial; I'll clear this up if I can:
⦁ Open Setting: The low-speed compression dial does nothing, so keep it where it should be for when you use Platform mode.
⦁ Platform Mode: The low-speed compression is just what you would expect. Ever used those compression to lockout forks? Same thing without the lockout. Unless the forks are tuned right this setting will seem way too stiff even with the lowest compression.
⦁ Lockout w/ Floodgate Not full lockout, you'll get around 15-20mm travel, medium compression on that. The low-speed dial does not affect the short travel compression, nor does it affect the amount of pressure that's needed to open the floodgate. Lastly, when the floodgate is tripped, the low-speed dial has no effect on the damping, it's preset.