[Ginger Ninja]

Anyone else here a light-weight?

I only weigh 65kg (143lb) and the standard spring was way too stiff for me so I've gone for the softer one. The fork still feels really progressive and I seem to only use the first 7" of travel. I took the air preload cap off, then held the fork down about 1" while screwing it back on. This helped soften it a bit but what else can I try? Lower oil height? Eat more pies?

 

[JohnnyC]

-Bad:

~The cartrige rod is still quite small, which doesn't bode well considering I just broke the x side one in my 07' wc (noticed when I serviced them yesterday to sell them), so I'd advise minimising pre-load

Not an issue, the MY08-10 RC3 forks don't top out against that piston so theres no force on them to break it. The 06/07 forks did have top out springs inside the cartridge and there were a few cases of them breaking but its fixed now.

 

[Kanye West]

Not an issue, the MY08-10 RC3 forks don't top out against that piston so theres no force on them to break it. The 06/07 forks did have top out springs inside the cartridge and there were a few cases of them breaking but its fixed now.

Just to clarify, this means both legs must be equal height in the crowns. Don't set it so the damper leg tops out before the spring leg. Yes, I've seen people do it.

This concept is how Fox 40's can rely on having an imperfect bleed in the damper. It's that much longer than the spring leg, so as long as you only have something like 5mm of air at the top, the piston will still be in the oil bath.

 

[Troc]

I am trying to install new lowers on my 888 and I cant seem to get them off. I tried to pry off the gold adjuster and now the lowers are leaking on that leg. help please

 

[dilzy]

I note that they have an extending lower crown (vs flat) which has been an issue int he past, is the A/C off the meter? (yes I will go look now)

My other concern is will it fit my headtube? I have an XL VPF and had to chase down the top crown from an older 888 because the stock crowns wouldnt allow fit. Do you know if they offer a 'drop' crown for us with long headtubes?

About the maximum your going to get out of it is a stack height (head tube and headset) of 175mm.

 

[dilzy]

First ride impressions in the absolute pissing wet:

+
~Fork goes about it's business without you thinking about it much
~Through tight steep g-out berm corners, it stays nice and high, very much like a 2010 team
~Has pretty amazing traction considering the conditions I was in
~Even with the lsc 1 click from fully closed (where I ended up), the fork opens up nicely, with roots and rocks disappearing
~Air volume adjustment is very effective

_
~When you bottom it out, it still makes a clank, do they have bottomout bumpers?
~No shrink wrap on spring means it groans like a mating hippopotamus
~Rebound adjustment, though very effective is a bit non-linear and with far too many clicks.

 

[dilzy]

I am trying to install new lowers on my 888 and I cant seem to get them off. I tried to pry off the gold adjuster and now the lowers are leaking on that leg. help please

You need to get that gold adjuster off, then while holding the gold hexagonal thing the adjuster knob was on, remove the black nut on the bottom.

Then need to undo the spring side nut (if it starts to spin, compress the fork).

The lowers should then just slip off.

 

[Huck Banzai]

About the maximum your going to get out of it is a stack height (head tube and headset) of 175mm.

Hmmm.. this is with stock crown? If so, I'm about 6.5" on the HT, and no need for the added expense.

hmmm...

 

[Kanye West]

First ride impressions in the absolute pissing wet:

+
~Fork goes about it's business without you thinking about it much
~Through tight steep g-out berm corners, it stays nice and high, very much like a 2010 team
~Has pretty amazing traction considering the conditions I was in
~Even with the lsc 1 click from fully closed (where I ended up), the fork opens up nicely, with roots and rocks disappearing
~Air volume adjustment is very effective

_
~When you bottom it out, it still makes a clank, do they have bottomout bumpers?
~No shrink wrap on spring means it groans like a mating hippopotamus
~Rebound adjustment, though very effective is a bit non-linear and with far too many clicks.

What do you mean "non-linear" in regards to the rebound? Reason I ask is that the rebound valve is a fixed size orifice with adjustable bleed - meaning it should be perfectly linear. Might be ideal for you, or might not be. I'd personally like to keep it a little slower around the sag point and recover from bottom outs a bit faster.

This cartridge really really begs for a more robust main piston valve, both in compression and rebound. Both directions could benefit from a lot more LS damping coming from that main piston with a lot of digression and more large amplitude support from the adjustable base valve. A lot of the valving specs I've seen have basically been trying to compensate for the lack of valving on the main piston, and sacrificing the main functions of the base valve.

The nice thing is that it would be very easy to make and install an aftermarket main piston and shimstacks. Really wish I had consistent access to a machine shop..

Functionally this is pretty much the difference between the stock cart and the Avy cart, but is a somewhat expensive option, probably heavier (this Zoke damper was made to be pretty dang light), and without the volume adjust.

 

[dilzy]

By non-linear I mean the rebound adjustment does barely anything for some clicks, then it all happens very quickly.

I'm sure you could valve the mid valve for compression, but you want to go pretty easy on it, because the pressure balance has to still create a larger pressure drop on the base valve then the mid, or it's going to cavitate.

 

[Kanye West]

Ahh gotcha. That has been an issue with Zoke's damper setups in the past too. The effective ranges happen very quickly at the adjuster. The compression adjuster seems to make a noticeable difference with every click on the new 888 however.

 

[Huck Banzai]

About the maximum your going to get out of it is a stack height (head tube and headset) of 175mm.

Just spoke to the Zoke's and its 161mm max; I think I may be about 3 mm over! poop!


EDIT:

161mm = 6.34"

My darned headtube + Chris King is 170mm / 6.69"

FOOEY!

 

[dilzy]

Just spoke to the Zoke's and its 161mm max; I think I may be about 3 mm over! poop!


EDIT:

161mm = 6.34"

My darned headtube + Chris King is 170mm / 6.69"

FOOEY!

Yeah but Zokes "min" markings are way off. If you go by the, theres about 215mm of stanction showing. I'll take my top crown off, make up my stack height above 170mm, check it still fits with at least 205mm of stanction showing.

 

[Kanye West]

Yeah but Zokes "min" markings are way off. If you go by the, theres about 215mm of stanction showing. I'll take my top crown off, make up my stack height above 170mm, check it still fits with at least 205mm of stanction showing.

Gotta check crown/arch contact points too, not just stanchion bottoming.

3mm is nothing. You could potentially face off a TINY bit more of your headtube if you were that close, depending how close the welds are and how much open tubing there is.

 

[dilzy]

Gotta check crown/arch contact points too, not just stanchion bottoming.

3mm is nothing. You could potentially face off a TINY bit more of your headtube if you were that close, depending how close the welds are and how much open tubing there is.

New Zoke doesn't have a problem wit arch contact like the old one.

 

[Huck Banzai]

Just spoke to the Zoke's and its 161mm max; I think I may be about 3 mm over! poop!


EDIT:

161mm = 6.34"

My darned headtube + Chris King is 170mm / 6.69"

FOOEY!

Mind you, I am referring to stock crown; I will have to pony up for the drop crown as Im ~9mm over max for stock (which was about same on my 07), and I can use a higher front end being 6'8" (I would be doing a handstand if I rode the low setups some people are running!!)

MEH!!

 

[IH8Rice]

lower headset? aftermarket crown?

 

[Huck Banzai]

lower headset? aftermarket crown?

Marzocchi makes the crown, but I was hoping to save $$ - Im still not sure how much it is, but Im wary. I should be getting a good deal regardless, but less payout is more for me!!!!!!!!(Who doesn't like that concept?!!!)

Are you aware of an after market crown for the 38mm stuff?

 

[IH8Rice]

Are you aware of an after market crown for the 38mm stuff?

theres a few that should work
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=21851
http://www.risseracing.com/product_accessories.shtml

 

[Ithnu]

Just received my 888. With the stem its was 7.09 (uncut steer), my 40 with an Answer direct mount was 7.33. So it will easily be 1/4 pound lighter than my 2008 Fox 40.

How does it ride? We'll see. Honestly I really love my 40 but my team has a Marzocchi sponsor now so as a team manager I picked it up. I told Marzocchi I'd give them a no BS opinion on the comparison and they seemed to appreciate that.

I've had a 2006 Boxxer Race, 2007 Boxxer Team, Kowa FPC, 2008 Fox 40 and now this. I've also put a few runs at Sol Vista in on a 2010 Boxxer WC, 2009 and 2010 Fox 40, Kowa 160 air, and a Manitou Travis 180mm.

Right now all I have to go by is customer service and as grass roots team sponsored by Fox last year and Marzocchi this year; Marzocchi is already several steps ahead of Fox. Communication with them has been great. Hopefully the fork rides the same, like I said though; we'll see.

Here's a pic without the stem but including axle, all bolts and tube uncut: 6.67.

 

[Huck Banzai]

Oooh, its on the way shortly! 888 RC3 EVO (not ti) but with the grey lowers and a drop crown.

Woooooooooooooot.

Anybody want a spare set of white lowers?

 

[dilzy]

Not that it matters now, but for everyones info, with 205mm of stantion showing, a 170mm stack height can be accomodated with the top crown coming in just below the bit of shamfered stantion.

 

[dilzy]

Oooh, its on the way shortly! 888 RC3 EVO (not ti) but with the grey lowers and a drop crown.

Woooooooooooooot.

Anybody want a spare set of white lowers?

You paid for a set of silver lowers?

 

[Huck Banzai]

You paid for a set of silver lowers?

Im so vain! Me got very nice price on the kaboodle (fork+drop+extra lowers), quite happy oh ya!!



DOWN WITH WHITE PARTS!!

 

[Dangerous Dave]

What do you mean "non-linear" in regards to the rebound? Reason I ask is that the rebound valve is a fixed size orifice with adjustable bleed - meaning it should be perfectly linear. Might be ideal for you, or might not be. I'd personally like to keep it a little slower around the sag point and recover from bottom outs a bit faster.

Hi there, would you mind just clarifying that for me? When you say the rebound valve is a fixed sized orifice, do you mean like the TST rebound piston?

Details on this seem sketchy!

Does the base valve have any effect on rebound?

 

[Kanye West]

It's probably the same way in the TST cart. Only taken the stationary compression valve out of the top of a TST cart to re-shim it a couple of times.

Base valves should have almost no effect on rebound. There's just a check shim in the rebound direction I think.

 

[Dangerous Dave]

Well the picture above shows the tst rebound piston. The glide ring on top of the piston acts like a check shim and forces oil through a fixed orifice, with the adjuster simply closing the hole.

I had kinda hoped for something a little more advanced when both RS and Fox have some shimstack funkyness.

I was considering upgrading my 888s with rc3 evo as I've a great deal of success tuning the tst carts. Not sure it's worth it tho if it has some basic rebound damper.

 

[Kanye West]

Looking at it closer, it does indeed have the same kind of rebound damper/check slider thing.

I also expected something a little more robust since they went with a fully tunable base valve...seems like a silly place to compromise.

 

[Dangerous Dave]

Damn!!! Mind you, you CAN unscrew the rebound piston on tst and screw on the compression assembly in it's place. Hmmm.

Thanks tho, googling brought up no results and i needed someone with a set to confirm.

 

[Dangerous Dave]

Damn!!! Mind you, you CAN unscrew the rebound piston on tst and screw on the compression assembly in it's place. Hmmm.

Thanks tho, googling brought up no results and i needed someone with a set to confirm.

 

[Kanye West]

You have my attention....want to take some measurements for me? Diameter specifically?

 

[Dangerous Dave]

What do you want measurements of, the TST part?

http://img488.imageshack.us/i/tst5zj.jpg/ (part on the bottom right)

It depends on whether the RC3 cartridge body is the same diameter as a TST body...

I'm tempted just to get one so I can have a fiddle. But depends whether the rebound piston is the same as in the above image.... just need a 5mm allen key to undo it, but it's quite a soft material and is often on VERY tight.

Don't suppose you could return the favour and measure the diameter of the bottom of the RC3 cart? The red bit, specifically?

 

[Kanye West]

The base valve?

OD of the sliding piston - 0.708"

 

[Kanye West]

I guess I'd like to know the diameter of the compression assembly if that can replace the sliding piston.

 

[Dangerous Dave]

Sorry, no I meant the red nut that secures the base valve.

I'll get some measurements of the compression assembly for you.

 

[Huck Banzai]

DAMN! The crown option MZ has is ~350$ -- Really? R boxxer comes with 2 crowns, 2 springs and choice of color - too bad I dont want a boxxer, but really?

Risse has a drop crown for 125.

Also - springs wont be available for >=2 weeks

SOOO Frustrated, probably going to do it anyway, just costing about 175 more than I expected.

Or do I just ride my 66 and wait for the Avy cart for my 07 888


waaahmbulance please!!

 

[IH8Rice]

why pay that much more for a marzocchi crown??
the stock spring will be okay for you. its pretty damn stiff

 

[Huck Banzai]

why pay that much more for a marzocchi crown??
the stock spring will be okay for you. its pretty damn stiff

I put the deal on hold for now; you think the stock spring will work? I am 265 in gear?!!

I will get the Risse crown if I do it; Crown, Extra lowers and the spring when it comes I will wind up paying ~1000; not a complete steal but better than the 1300+ retail would have hit me for. (1000 fork, 125 crown, 50 spring, 150 extra lowers)

If I didnt need the crown or spring, or maniacal vanity about white (crap) - it would be under 800.....



a little more 'waaaah' (I'm sensitive)

 

[Kanye West]

Gotcha - ID or OD? What would you need those measurements for?

Red nut OD - 1.144"
Thru hole ID of the red nut - 0.535"
Cartridge OD - 1.024"

 

[Kanye West]

I put the deal on hold for now; you think the stock spring will work? I am 265 in gear?!!

Not a chance in hell. Firm or X-firm.