[RideFour15]

I've had my Judy SL's for about a year or so and love them, but I want them stiffer.

I know there's a special oil you're supposed to use but am now sure how to apply it, or if it's even the oil that adjusts stiffness. Last time I checked the manuals that came with them (which I cannot find at the moment) it mentioned nothing about adjusting stiffness.

Now yes I'm well aware and know how to use the travel adjustment, but that's not my concern.

So how can I go about making my suspension a little stiffer so I have less chance of bottoming out?

 

[blue]

The oil you're referring to won't do anything but slow the fork down, not keep it from bottoming out (it's heavier oil). The general consensus is to put stiffer springs in, and back off the preload.

 

[binary visions]

Actually, heavier oil will help it to not bottom out on big hits. It's like increasing your compression damping - it makes your fork compress slower/harder.

However, it'll only go so far in preventing that.

As blue said, stiffer springs are the answer if you're bottoming it out.

 

[RideFour15]

How much would stiffer springs cost me? And is it a fairly easy install, or something I should just have the LBS do?

EDIT: Actually, I should reword something from my first post. I'm not bottoming out now, but I don't want to be doing it anytime soon. If I do a fast/big drop, they compress rather quickly but don't bottom out all the way. I guess I basically just want them to compress slower, which would make them somewhat stiffer I suppose? Tweaking suspension is a new thing to me, so pardon my lack of knowledge.

 

[binary visions]

If you're not bottoming them out now, I wouldn't worry about it. You're supposed to be using all of the travel of the fork, so going deep into the travel is actually a good thing.

When you start bottoming out, then you should definitely buy new springs. They'll be less than $50 and will be pretty easy to install.

 

[RideFour15]

But the thing is, I use almost 100% of the travel whether it's a short drop or really big; I just sense that on smaller drops it shouldn't compress as much. Smaller drops being like less than 12" on a trail. Is that normal?

 

[binary visions]

Sure, just (likely) means you're a little front heavy on the small drops and you're using better form on the larger drops.

Like I said, I wouldn't worry about it unless you're actually bottoming out.

However, if it's going to make you feel better or if you don't like being that deep into your travel, feel free to upgrade to stiffer springs. It's not that expensive.

 

[RideFour15]

You mentioned in an earlier post about using heavier oil as a dampening, would that help much?

 

[MtnbikeMike]

That would help to a certain extent like he said, but it could have adverse effects on its handling characteristics over small bumps.

 

[binary visions]

That would help to a certain extent like he said, but it could have adverse effects on its handling characteristics over small bumps.

Right, but so will stiffer springs.

I'd go the stiffer spring route before increasing your oil viscosity. The oil viscosity actually slows down your fork, it doesn't make it any "stiffer". It also slows the rebound down. Consequently, it makes for some very different handling characteristics all around.

 

[budgetrider]

I find traction wise, stiffer springs with lighter oil is best. The fork responds well to small bumps at speed, but you've got to be prepared for hard rebound. If the oil's too heavy, just like bv said, the fork get's sloww, and you lose some traction.