[aham73]

Hey guys,

I've got a 2011 Session 8 which comes with a Boxxer Race and Vanilla RC.

I didn't get to ride it much over winter break, and now am back at school in San Francisco.

Anyway, one thing I was trying to do is tune in a good bit of supple small bump performance. I'm running very little compression, medium rebound settings, and we've actually taken a bit of oil out of the fork. Still feels kinda stiff. Oh, and a middle weight spring (med frame).

Any tips? Obviously it was cold (~32*F), so do you think it will start to come alive when I'm back on the bike in May?

 

[spocomptonrider]

How much do you weigh? How much are you willing to spend? How aggressive is your riding style?

With out knowing any of that you could potentially get a Motion Control cartridge from a Boxxer Team or alternatively one of them newfangled Avalanche cartridges. You could also try switching to a lighter weight oil in the fork itself. But all forks will require some break in time to reach their full suppleness how long have you ridden it?

As for the shock, a lighter weight spring should help the small bump compliance, if it feels like it is bottoming to out too often try upping the air pressure and compression (not sure if that shock has a compression adjust)

or upgrade to a CCDB... haha.

 

[mtg]

Here's a few options:
http://www.avalanchedownhillracing.com/Fox%20DHX/Fox%20DHX%205.0%20Highlow%20Adjuster%20Kit.htm
http://www.pushindustries.com/2009/index.php?menu_id=31&type=products&title=FOX%20Vanilla%20RC&product_id=18
http://www.avalanchedownhillracing.com/20%20mm%20Cartridge.html
http://www.pushindustries.com/2009/index.php?menu_id=43&type=products&title=BoXXer%20Team/Race&product_id=67
The Push Boxxer kit appears to only work with the 32mm version, I'm not sure though.

I haven't used any of those specific mod kits, but I have had the RP23 on my trail bike modded by Push, and it was night-and-day better performance.

 

[aham73]

Sorry I didn't give more details. I'm 5'10" and probably weight 180 with my full face, pads, camelbak, etc on. Maybe 185.

On my trail bike, an Ex8, I tend to run a lot of sag and use almost all of my travel, staying efficient by pedaling smoothly in the saddle.

Riding DH (Diablo & Vertical Earth), I'm fast and smooth. Tend to keep my tires on the ground and float through rock gardens by staying light and centered on the bike. Not into big air, more of an old school technical DH guy.

I know my bike will perform better after some good break in and in warmer weather, I'm just excited and want to hit the ground running in May. Really sucks getting such an awesome bike and then immediately parting ways with it.

 

[chup29]

you didnt bring your dh bike to San Francisco with you? that was a poor decision... certainly some great riding that you can get to on the train... i grew up there - you can ride year round, im really more just shocked that you left your bike in the cold and didnt bring it to the land of 55-60 degree winter days...

 

[MarkDH]

Is it stiff as in you are not getting the full amount of travel even on bigger hits or stiff as in you feel it isn't compressing smoothly? Could be worth using a zip tie to check how much you're using during a run. I agree with the above though that it will take a bit of time to bed the fork in. Have you stripped it and got some quality grease into the seals? I find that has more of a difference to small bump response than you'd expect.

 

[yd35]

I'd say you need a few runs to break the shock in properly. Also, have you tried playing around with the settings, namely running the exact opposite of what you think you like (lots of compression, super slow or fast rebound) just to see how it feels? It's a new bike so you might surprise yourself.

 

[Inclag]

Hey guys,

I've got a 2011 Session 8 which comes with a Boxxer Race and Vanilla RC.

I didn't get to ride it much over winter break, and now am back at school in San Francisco.

Anyway, one thing I was trying to do is tune in a good bit of supple small bump performance. I'm running very little compression, medium rebound settings, and we've actually taken a bit of oil out of the fork. Still feels kinda stiff. Oh, and a middle weight spring (med frame).

Any tips? Obviously it was cold (~32*F), so do you think it will start to come alive when I'm back on the bike in May?

Just make sure you get the spring weights correct for your body weight and riding style. Next, do runs down familiar trails and keep a notes on settings and changes. Make sure that your adjustments are in small increments, and don't fiddle with both the fork and shock at the same time.

If after this your suspension isn't performing as you would like then I would suggest using the data you acquired to see what internal improvements are upgrades could be made to get you where you want.

 

[aham73]

you didnt bring your dh bike to San Francisco with you? that was a poor decision... certainly some great riding that you can get to on the train... i grew up there - you can ride year round, im really more just shocked that you left your bike in the cold and didnt bring it to the land of 55-60 degree winter days...

I would but it's too much of a distraction. I'm strapped for time. Probably spending close to 70hrs a week on school alone.

Sounds like I aught to wait till I get back in May, ride the thing hard, and go from there.

If the fork is still acting funny, I'll take it apart and check grease and oil levels. I definitely have the correct spring. That said, I backed compression damping all the way low and it was still a bit stiffer than I wanted with no damping. I was hoping to be somewhere in the middle of the compression range, so I could dial up and down for varying conditions.