Forum

Hi, I have just bought a new Lapierre Spicy 2011. It came with a Rock Shox Domain R fork. I have used this for the first time this weekend at Chicksands and it seams to be using about 90% of the fork travel when only getting small amounts of air, I don't jump much so maybe clearing like 2ft in height with the odd flat landing. I was thinking that this is not normal for the fork to be using this much travel. I have taken a look at the spring and it is a red - which is rated as medium on the Rock Shox spring guide chart. According to Rock Shox the red spring is suitable for riders 72 - 81kg. I am at the lighter end of this range.

Does this make sense to anyone?Is it normal for the fork to use this amount of travel or should I change it for a stiffer spring?

Thanks for any advice ?

This may help: http://www.sram.com/rockshox/products/domain-r

is it a u turn model ?

Thanks, I have checked this out but unfortunately the only external settings the fork has is rebound adjustment. It is not a U-turn model. The fork has one spring and from what I can tell the only way of adjusting the damping is by changing the spring

How much sag do you get when getting on it? Ie in a neutral standing position like your about to hit a jump?

I generally ignore what the manufactures say sand work off what say readings im getting. if its more than 20-25% then you need a heavier spring

I read something a while back that said you want to be using all the travel our its a waste, don't forget that coil springs are progressive so even if you have used 90% travel on relatively light landings you will still only use 90% on harder ones too. No point having all that travel and not using it!

Posted from my phone ' cos I can't wait to get to a PC!

Jon does have a point. using all the travel isn't always a bad thing
it does sound like you may well benefit from a firmer spring though.

Eh? Surely you will only use the same travel if the same force is going through the fork?

The usage of travel (outside of how the damper / bottom out stop controls travel) will always increase as the force increases. All you are doing is compressing a spring and it will require an increasing (usually linear) level of pressure to compress it further.

i.e. a 10 inch 100lbs spring will require -

100lbs of force to compress it 1 inch
500lbs of force to compress it 5 inch
900lbs of force to compress it 9 inch

etc. - as mentioned... let us know what sag you’re getting... it’s the first point in setting up any suspension.

You said it yourself, a 10inch travel spring can only ever travel 10" no matter how hard or fast you compress it, its the recoil rate and preload that provides the resistance in conjuction with the damping / oil viscosity / heat etc

You set 'sag' or pre-load so that (for example) when you hit a hole the spring has enough pre-load to force the wheel down into the hole keeping the wheel on the floor and the spring supporting your weight if the pre-load is too low you will fall into the hole the coil will not extend enough and then the spring will compress until its resistance is enough to support the weight making a very harsh ride.

in an ideal world you'd dial in the pre-load beore riding over every terrain, but this is impracticle so we compromise by setting a 'best guess' this is different for every person, i like my bike to have quite a lot of preload so when l i wheely hop it / jump it for example i dont get that sensation of the forks extending slowly and the front wheel dropping, i like them to pop out really quickly but people that ride XC appear to like settings that are not as sharp, its all down to preference

If the OP set his sag at say 20% thats fine, but when he's in the air that means nothing as the fork will extend and have zero sag before he lands.

As this thread proves setting suspension can be dam confusing.. couple of things

Preload
Doesnt increase the actual stiffness of a spring - just the point at which it moves begins to move
i.e. a 10 inch 100lbs spring with an inch of preload will not move untill 100lbs of force is applied. It will still only take 100lbs of force to move it another inch. Adding preload will help firm up the inital spring rate but if a hit gives you 90% of travel then that same hit with loads of preload will still use 90% of travel

Sag
It does allow the bike to track the terrain as Jon mentioned, and having sag wont help you when your in the air. However measuring the sag can also be used as a guide in setting the right spring weight for your bike.

These boys explain it well



http://www.pinkbike.com/news/technical- ... -2010.html
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/technical- ... -2010.html

Hello mate, I had the domains and it took me a while to work it out. The domain is a good, reliable fork but it all depends what you want them for. People are right saying that you should be using all the travel. That's great for downhill but I found that for general riding, jumping etc you don't want them too sagy. I have a couple of springs for you to try if you like, I live in Brentwood.

worth pointing out that this is a little misleading - because the spring is pre-compressed it will indeed take more pressure to compress it further but Pre-load isn't just about the point a spring will compress more, its also about the rate it will uncompress as weight is removed !

Its a good thread on pinkbike but the original poster here was concerned that he was using a lot of travel, perhaps what he needs to ask is wether his ride was uncomfortably soft, if it was then a firmer spring is needed (regardless of manuf. rider / spring weight claims)

comfort is in the arse of the beholder !

Win

Thanks for all the advice guys. I have just checked the amount of sag I'm getting when riding normally / stationary and it's in the 20 - 25% range. I didn't really notice that the forks felt overly soft when riding, just that I was using a lot of travel.



This does make sense to me, why have the fork travel that much and then not be able to use it?

Thanks Damo for the offer. to try out the springs.

I will leave them as they are for a bit and try them out on a few more rides and see what happens

Cheers