[Loki87]

So i've been eyeballing a new bike for the upcoming season but ran into a problem.
Most entry and mid level dh bikes come equipped with Fox Performance series suspension components, which imho suck.
In the past i've always bought rock shox and simply got a tuning or aftermarket cartridge for them, but with Fox there aren't really any viable options for me.
So my question is if any of you guys can tell me whether it's possible to at least add the missing HSC and HSR adjusters to a Performance X2 Air shock.
Going by how companies always try to save money i wouldn't be surprised if they simply just replaced the adjusters with blind caps or just put in a different adjuster assembly. I'm not tech savvy enough to make sense of the listings in the Fox spare parts catalogue though.
It would however be great if it was possible to turn a performance shock into a factory one with only a few spare parts.

On another note, has anybody had the Vorsprung Fractive Valve done on his Fox 40 performance? I reckon it might turn that thing into a usable fork as i most likely won't need the external adjustment if it's set up properly, but i'd appreciate any feedback.

 

[Udi]

So my question is if any of you guys can tell me whether it's possible to at least add the missing HSC and HSR adjusters to a Performance X2 Air shock.

I'm pretty sure you can do that.
Paging @FarkinRyan

 

[tacubaya]

So my question is if any of you guys can tell me whether it's possible to at least add the missing HSC and HSR adjusters to a Performance X2 Air shock.

Yes, you can add HSC/LSC & HSR/LSR adjusters to it. Performance Series Float X2 shocks differ from Factory in the black body and the fixed HSC/HSR, both which can be "upgraded" during a full service. You can alternatively vary the number of HSC/HSR poppet spring preload shims inside until you get the HSC/HSR you want but it's fairly obvious why that would be impractical.

 

[ChrisRobin]

Aren't those adjusters expensive? As in you're better off sending it to tuner like Avalanche right off the bat?

 

[Loki87]

I'm pretty sure you can do that.
Paging @FarkinRyan

Udi saving the day again. Thx mate!

Aren't those adjusters expensive? As in you're better off sending it to tuner like Avalanche right off the bat?

Avalanche is fairly expensive for me with shipping and all. They also have no distributor in europe so atm they're no option sadly. There's one other tuner i know of which does the X2 but idk if they'll do it wothout the full adjusters.
I'll see which way is better in the end but i just don't wanna end up with a base level shock with no chance to do anything to it so those adjusters would at least allow me to reach the standard adjustability which is most likely fine for me or sell the shock off as a fully adjustable shock as the market is flooded with Performance shocks at the moment.

 

[Loki87]

Yes, you can add HSC/LSC & HSR/LSR adjusters to it. Performance Series Float X2 shocks differ from Factory in the black body and the fixed HSC/HSR, both which can be "upgraded" during a full service. You can alternatively vary the number of HSC/HSR poppet spring preload shims inside until you get the HSC/HSR you want but it's fairly obvious why that would be impractical.

Thank you!
Do you by any chance know of any similar way to upgrade the Fox 40 Performance?

 

[Sandwich]

Thank you!
Do you by any chance know of any similar way to upgrade the Fox 40 Performance?

If it's the fox 40 R, as in it only has rebound at the top (plus preload) and non-kashima stanchions, then you should be able to drop in a FIT cartridge with no issue. This is what I did with mine. It started life as a 40 R, I bought a used FIT RC2 damper from a canadian, and then installed the whole thing. Works awesome, I love the fork. @Udi loves it too because it's coil and RC2. It doesn't have Kashima, so I don't get bro points, but honestly the fork is quite slick and only slightly behind a marzocchi in sliding friction, while on the plus side it has actual damping so that's nice.

 

[Loki87]

If it's the fox 40 R, as in it only has rebound at the top (plus preload) and non-kashima stanchions, then you should be able to drop in a FIT cartridge with no issue. This is what I did with mine. It started life as a 40 R, I bought a used FIT RC2 damper from a canadian, and then installed the whole thing. Works awesome, I love the fork. @Udi loves it too because it's coil and RC2. It doesn't have Kashima, so I don't get bro points, but honestly the fork is quite slick and only slightly behind a marzocchi in sliding friction, while on the plus side it has actual damping so that's nice.

Apparently it has a FIT4 damper which is lacking the external HSC dial, so i still try to figure out if this is another case of simply adding the knob or if there's a fundamental difference in the damper.
Down the line a new cartridge is certainly an option but for now it would be great to be able to safe a bit of money by adding a few small parts if possible so that's what i'm aiming for atm. The Vorsprung upgrade does fit the Performance 40 though so that's something that might do the trick for me and is reasonably priced. It'll lack external HSC and Broshima but i expect the damping to be dialed and black stanchions are always a plus in my book!

 

[tacubaya]

Thank you!
Do you by any chance know of any similar way to upgrade the Fox 40 Performance?

I'd just wait for someone to upgrade their 40 from RC2 to GRIP2 and then buy the RC2 cartridge from them for cheap.

 

[FarkinRyan]

I'd just wait for someone to upgrade their 40 from RC2 to GRIP2 and then buy the RC2 cartridge from them for cheap.

This is the correct answer, particularly if you are one of the poor unfortunate souls who has ended up with the terrible outdated spring technology found in one of the coil sprung performance 40s. Slap a second hand RC2 cartridge in it and you have a fork that is flat out excellent.

As far as the Float X2 / DHX2 performance series shocks you can definitely install the HSC/LSC adjuster into them but it isn't a cheap part which is likely deliberate by Fox. You can potentially even do the installation yourself without bleeding the shock, the pin-spanner to remove the adjusters is hidden in the valve cap for the IFP, nice touch. I wouldn't spend the money on the second adjuster to gain HSR though, that's just pissing money away IMO.

 

[Loki87]

This is the correct answer, particularly if you are one of the poor unfortunate souls who has ended up with the terrible outdated spring technology found in one of the coil sprung performance 40s. Slap a second hand RC2 cartridge in it and you have a fork that is flat out excellent.

As far as the Float X2 / DHX2 performance series shocks you can definitely install the HSC/LSC adjuster into them but it isn't a cheap part which is likely deliberate by Fox. You can potentially even do the installation yourself without bleeding the shock, the pin-spanner to remove the adjusters is hidden in the valve cap for the IFP, nice touch. I wouldn't spend the money on the second adjuster to gain HSR though, that's just pissing money away IMO.

Good thought about the HSR.
I've looked it up, the part is 75€. Not even that bad imho, especially since only HSC is really needed.
It's not a coil sprung version of the 40 though. I'm pretty sure they killed those off completely. Kids just want air these days
Alright,sounds like it's still a good basis to upgrade and improve upon.
I might actually be cheating on rock shox next year.
Thank you guys!

 

[djjohnr]

I have a HSC/LSC adjuster out of an X2 you can have for the price of shipping. Had mine replaced with the climb switch version.

 

[Loki87]

Thanks for the offer! I might get back to it if/once i bought the bike, however it might be just as expensive to ship the thing to me from the states as buying it from Fox.

 

[carlos1]

Thanks for the offer! I might get back to it if/once i bought the bike, however it might be just as expensive to ship the thing to me from the states as buying it from Fox.

Hi, I have 2016 X2 that have a little crack on body, but the other stuff(compression,reboud) is ok, I sell it for 100Euros, so if you wan it, let me know. Cheers

 

[StiHacka]

Hi, I have 2016 X2 that have a little crack on body, but the other stuff(compression,reboud) is ok, I sell it for 100Euros, so if you wan it, let me know. Cheers

Where in CZ are you, Carlos?
#bornandraisedinOlomouc

 

[FarkinRyan]

This is what you need to know to do the changeover yourself although obviously this is for removing an existing HSC/LSC adjuster to install a climb switch version, the basic process is the same without needing to mess around with the valve seats unless you already own the necessary tools and want to check that it's tight, which is never a bad thing. When you take off the cap to de-pressurise the IFP you'll find theat there is a hidden pin spanner in there for removing the adjusters that you can then use with a 6mm allen key; https://www.ridefox.com/fox17/help.php?m=bike&id=664

It would also be like $30 maximum to mail that adjuster anywhere in the world via an actual courier like UPS and declared as a gift.

 

[Loki87]

This is what you need to know to do the changeover yourself although obviously this is for removing an existing HSC/LSC adjuster to install a climb switch version, the basic process is the same without needing to mess around with the valve seats unless you already own the necessary tools and want to check that it's tight, which is never a bad thing. When you take off the cap to de-pressurise the IFP you'll find theat there is a hidden pin spanner in there for removing the adjusters that you can then use with a 6mm allen key; https://www.ridefox.com/fox17/help.php?m=bike&id=664

It would also be like $30 maximum to mail that adjuster anywhere in the world via an actual courier like UPS and declared as a gift.

And this right here is why monkeys are the best!

 

[carlos1]

Where in CZ are you, Carlos?
#bornandraisedinOlomouc

Nejdek, near Karlovy Vary

 

[madpharma]

I did the exact same thing that you are triying. bought the hsc/lsc adjuster (94€) and instaled myself following fox manual and being careful. And dropped a fractive piston in the fox 40 (180€ with skf seals and service). Asked steve before upgrading about different options for the f40 and the fractive was the most economic and in his words, and would give the same if not better performance than the best of the market.

Pretty happy with the outcome, the hsc adjuster in the floatx2 was more than neccesary in my case, the shock before lacked hsc and was really loose at highspeed.
The fractive did exactly what I asked, more support without being harsh. (doesnt add hsc adjustment, but with the valving being adjusted for you, its spot on.)

 

[Loki87]

I did the exact same thing that you are triying. bought the hsc/lsc adjuster (94€) and instaled myself following fox manual and being careful. And dropped a fractive piston in the fox 40 (180€ with skf seals and service). Asked steve before upgrading about different options for the f40 and the fractive was the most economic and in his words, and would give the same if not better performance than the best of the market.

Pretty happy with the outcome, the hsc adjuster in the floatx2 was more than neccesary in my case, the shock before lacked hsc and was really loose at highspeed.
The fractive did exactly what I asked, more support without being harsh. (doesnt add hsc adjustment, but with the valving being adjusted for you, its spot on.)

Now that's exactly what i wanted to hear!