I had a full service (Lower leg, air spring, and damper) done at the local shop on my 2022 Fox 36 Grip2 and 2023 Fox Float X Evol which are mounted on my 2020 Stumpjumper.
Riders Specs: 6'3, 270lbs kitted. Hard Charging Advanced Rider (jumps, drops, rock gardens, chunky decent, bike parks, BUT lots of climbing/mileage at my local trails too).
When I got the bike back, the technician recommended these settings:
*note: Fork measurements are clicks OF damping, meaning from fully open (turned all the way counter clockwise) turned toward closed(clockwise) – higher numbers are more damping. Shock measurements are from the shocks arrow indicator – Lower numbers are more damping.
Frork:152mm stroke:
135psi 40mm sag
Lsc 6
Hsc 4
Lsr 4
Hsr 4
Shock: 47mm stroke:
315psi 22mm sag
Lsc 5
Lsr 2
Per Fox's tuning guide and lots of feeling it out, below are MY normal settings:
Fork 152mm stroke:
150psi 33mm sag
Lsc 11
Hsc 1
Lsr 14 (skinny knob)
Hsr 9
Shock: 47mm stroke
335psi 18mmsag
Lsc 5
Lsr 6
One thing the technician didn't seem to account for on his settings was that heavier riders, riding higher pressures, need to use more clicks of Rebound damping to achieve the same return/rebound speed as lighter riders riding lower pressures. I weigh 260lbs; so with sag all set right etc only 4 clicks of rebound damping is like a pogo stick. Ive actually run out of rebound damping and if I were any heavier id have to use a heavier weight oil in the damper. His lack of accounting for that was initially concerning but I told him it felt great in the parking lot and told myself that id take his advice and maybe find a middle ground. He just rebuilt my suspension after all.
BUT after getting home, and while readjusting everything to tune it in for my first ride out, I noticed something…
The FIRM switch seems to do pretty much nothing. Maybe a little bit of compression damping but not much.
Here's a video going from OPEN to FIRM and then OPEN to FIRM again:
https://youtube.com/shorts/ZcxY6nQChdc?si=uSNjhhaoymLA3CVI
I felt like this used to be a bit more firm when I flipped it. So i brought it back to the shop and the technician said that its functioning as it should. Does this seem right to you guys?
by Adorable-Objective-2
10 Comments
Might need heavier imo
A botched job is a botched job he should have to go through it with you or go elsewhere and don’t recommend his services
Take it out on a climb on firm, stand up and see how much compression u get. Ur test at ur weight is not appropriate – even on firm ur shock will attempt to absorb a hard hit. Firm is more for pedal bob…
Ur shock was probably sluggish from age before ur service and u just got used to that feeling.
I would do some research on shops and watch YouTube videos and maybe find someone to send them too
So the tech knows absolutely nothing about suspension tuning. Just disregard everything he said. Clicks are ALWAYS given from fully closed because thats the only way to measure reliably. Dampers from literally everyone have some amount of dead clicks toward the open side. This changes based on the specific tune in the damper. Im pretty super my Fox 38 Grip2 has like 5 dead clicks of rebound towards the open that do nothing.
This is enough for me to never take my stuff to that technician ever again…..
> Did the shop fudge my suspension service?
Totally possible. Bike shops are pretty terrible for service these days. They are under a tremendous amount of financial pressure due to how the bike industry is run. They absolutely cut corners, are sloppy, and hire unqualified people. We know your technician is at least unqualified for the advice hes giving and seems to think otherwise… I really want to root for LBS on principle, but I have never run into more issues in any service industry ever than I have with LBS maintenance. Like by 10x. Ive only ever had one bike shop give me my stuff back without issues. Literally every single other time Ive taken a bike to a bike shops before that, they broke something or there was some self-inflicted issue.
The good bike shop I know go to keeps all the old seals from every suspension they service and hand it back to the customers. This is extremely reassuring to me as “Yes, we at least did something here.” I would not trust a shop that didnt do this when asked to.
> The FIRM switch seems to do pretty much nothing.
Sounds like they messed something up in your shock. I have several Float X with the lockouts and its almost a complete lock-out when engaged. Like an on/off switch. The “firm” switch on my Float X2 just becomes firmer and doesnt lock out, but its still a huge difference. So yeah. I would say this was messed up.
As far as how to set up a fork. Im also a heavy rider. (220 lbs). First Ill say that you would see HUGE gains from going up a Fox 38. There is a massive increase in stiffness that translates to cornering precision, smoothness, and huge gains in grip. This is especially true if youre actually riding hard. Going from a 36 to a 38 was a game changer for me. The 36s are just too floppy for people like us unless were not doing much. This will give you better gains than any amount of tuning.
For the tuning, this is the procedure, full stop. There is zero other ways to go about suspension tuning and actually have it work out. Everything is clicks from fully closed obviously.
1. Set sag to 15-20%. 15ish for shoter travel forks. 20% for longer travel. Youre in the middle, so aim for the middle. Take note of the air pressure.
2. Set rebound based on the sicker on the back of your fork based on the air you put in.
3. Set compression to somewhere in the middle.
4. Make adjustments while youre riding based on how the fork feels. Youll have to look this up yourself because its a bit long winded. But generally, faster riders hitting bumps faster run less rebound and more compression. I run 2-3 clicks faster rebound than the fox recommended and compression slightly more closed than half way. Since you say youre riding fast, I really dont think you will “run out of rebound clicks” because you should be running it more open anyway. Im guessing 2-3 from fully closed. Formalizing this step is called “bracketing”. I felt the need to get this formal about it. Plus the tune changes as the service gets older and the weather changes. So If Im feeling something different, Ill throw in a click or two. Cold weather I know I need to open things up 2 clicks.
5. Add tokens if youre bottoming out. Then redo steps 1-4.
For the shock: Same process. Set sag to what your frame wants (25-30% usually). Set rebound to the air pressure based on Fox’s chart. Compression in the middle. Then adjust based on feel. Add tokens for bottom out issues.
Heavy riders tend to have more issues with the Float X shock because there is no high-speed adjustments. The knobs are just LS. The HS tune is fixed. So youll blow through your travel on big hits and have too much rebound for repeated big hits. Going to an X2 was a pretty big improvement for me.
Usually for Fox rebound is stated from fully closed. Regardless, at 270lbs rebound should be close to fully closed. 4 clicks from open makes no sense. Maybe he made a mistake and it should be from fully closed?
Compression damping is more based on preference so wouldn’t worry if your numbers are far off from his recommendation.
I agree the FIRM mode doesn’t seem to do much, but pedal platform will be less effective for such a heavy rider as yourself. Take it for a spin and see if it has any effect on pedal bob.
Ur 260 lb standard compression damping might be the climb setting for a 150lb rider. Thats why ur climb switch wouldnt do much, since the “open” circuit is already heavily damped
Sounds like the service was ok, the recommended settings seem wonky.
Did you ride at his setting or yours? If you are used to 335psi in the rear and ran his recommended 315 it’s going to feel softer and bob more, compression can only compensate for lower spring rate so much. Also the way you count your settings is opposite than most people, maybe the recommendations he gave us from fully closed so maybe there not that far off. But honestly I’d go back to what you like and if it feels fine I wouldn’t overthink it.
If you’re up for removing the air can on the shock it does make it easier to feel the distinction between the climb and open modes. With high aircan pressure it can sometimes mask the climb mode.