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FOX Rear Shock and Fork Tuning TipsHaving your Ellsworth rear shock and fork set up accurately is absolutely critical in providing you with the most efficient ride possible. Proper suspension set up and fine tuning allows the ICT suspension to perform as it was designed - nearly 100% efficient. Please take some time to review these Fox suspension tuning tips and be sure your rear shock and fork are tuned properly to your weight and riding style. Rear Shock Tuning TipsThere are 4 major tuning features for FOX Racing Shox for Bicycles:
The spring pre-load sets the ride height of the bike and determines how much of the total travel will be available for compression and how much will be available for extension. Damping keeps the bicycle from behaving like an old Sacked out Cadillac - i.e., still bouncing 10 seconds after hitting a bump. Compression damping slows the shock when it is being compressed. Rebound damping slows the shock when it is rebounding. Rear Shock Damping Tricks Of The Trade:For your initial tests with the FOX Racing Shox, make BIG changes at first. Become familiar with the general RANGE of tuning changes available. (Speed Secret: A lot of riders never do this... so, you can gain an "edge" here!) Rebound DampingFor example, with compression damping set at the middle of its range, turn the rebound adjustment close to MAXIMUM, and then ride. (WARNING: Ride cautiously - in case this setting works poorly for you!) LEARN what HEAVY rebound damping FEELS like. Do NOT just go out and try to ride FAST. No! Instead, concentrate your senses on how your bike is behaving... on what it is doing, and what it is NOT doing... on what it does WELL and what it does NOT do well... concentrate on what you are FEELING. Do this for a while. Then make a BIG change... Now set the rebound adjustment close to MINIMUM. Then go right out and ride again. (WARNING: Ride cautiously - in case this setting works poorly for you!) Similar to above, LEARN what LIGHT rebound damping FEELS like. Do NOT just go out and try to ride FAST. No! Instead, concentrate your senses on how your bike is behaving... on what it is doing, and what it is NOT doing... concentrate on what you are FEELING. OK. What have you learned so far? Well, you've learned what HEAVY rebound damping feels like, and you've learned what LIGHT rebound feels like. You've also learned the full RANGE of rebound setting available on this particular shock (NOTE: the RANGE can vary considerably from one shock model to another, and one shock brand to another!). What next?Well, which setting did you like best? The HEAVY one or the LIGHT one? Or do you (most likely!) want to try something IN-BETWEEN? Usually, you'll want something "in-between". Let's assume that. Now ask yourself this question: "What do I think here... should I try: a). A setting right about in the middle; or, b). A setting closer to the HEAVY side; or, c). A setting closer to the LIGHT side?" What do you think? Whatever your answer is... do it. Make the adjustment accordingly. Then ride. See how it FEELS. See what you think. Is it a little too LIGHT now? A little too HEAVY? Adjust accordingly. And keep adjusting until you find the setting that works best for you. BracketingThe basic procedure above is sometimes called "bracketing". It means this: you determine one setting that gives you TOO MUCH damping, and another one that gives you TOO LITTLE. You've now "bracketed" the BEST setting... the best setting is somewhere IN-BETWEEN! You then keep adjusting and testing, adjusting and testing... and keep NARROWING the bracket until you dial-in your best setting. "Bracketing" is a good, efficient way to do this. Example: Let's say your shock has a rebound adjustment with 12 "clicks". Per guidelines above, you test it at "1-click in" (minimum damping), then at "12-clicks in" (maximum damping). You decide 12 clicks was definitely too much damping, and 1 click was definitely too little. [Note: you've now got the "best setting" bracketed between 1 and 12. (OK! OK! I know you're saying to yourself: "Wow! Tell me something I don't already know!" So - please! - bear with us on this... )] You think about it, and realize you liked 12 clicks more than 1 click. So you decide to try 8 clicks next, rather than something in the middle (like 6 clicks). You go to 8 clicks. That feels pretty good, but you still want a little more. [Note: you've now got it bracketed between 8 and 12.] You wanted a little more, so you try 10 clicks. You ride it. It's very close now, but you decide that's just a little too much rebound. You want just a little less. [Note: you've now got it bracketed between 8 and 10.] Viola! There's only one possible number between 8 and 10... 9! So... you set it at 9 clicks and go riding. Sure enough, that setting feels great! [Note: thanks to "bracketing" you found the best setting quickly. "Bracketing" isespecially helpful if your shock has a large number of settings (e.g., 24 clicks).] Compression DampingSame procedure as above (except: if you've already dialed-in your rebound setting, do NOT change it to "the middle of it's range"; if rebound is already dialed-in, just leave it where it is). Adjust Rebound and Compression Independently Do not adjust both at the same time. This complicates things, and can be confusing. Double-check The First Adjustment After (independently) adjusting both rebound and compression, it is always a good idea to go back and double-check the first adjustment again... and dial-in again if necessary. Here's why: based on the laws of physics, rebound and compression damping "interact" with each other in complex ways as your suspension goes over bumps. Sometimes - if you've made a big change in either compression or rebound setting - the other setting may also require some (usually small) adjustment for really optimal performance. Example: Suppose you dialed-in rebound damping first. Per the directions above, you had set compression damping "at the middle of it's range" before starting. Then, after dialing-in rebound, you concentrated on compression damping and got it dialed in also. So, at this point - for reasons covered above - ask yourself where you ended up on your compression setting. Did it end up pretty close to the middle of its range? If so - since that's where it was originally when you dialed-in rebound - you are done. However, if you ended up with the compression setting toward either the high end or low end of the range, you should go back and re-tune the rebound setting again. Adjust it (usually a small adjustment, if any) as necessary. Front Fork Tuning tipsIt is most important to set up the forks sag. Sag Is how much the fork compresses or "sags" when the rider sits on the bicycle. Generally, This is 15-25% of the forks total travel. Front Fork Performance Symptoms / Causes / Solutions Symptoms: Not using full travel, feels harsh, poor traction while making turns. Causes: Overly stiff spring rate Too much compression damping or oil level is too high"overfilled" Solutions: Decrease spring rate and reduce compression damping as needed. Check oil volume for proper specifications Symptoms: Bottoms out and is too soft throughout travel Causes: To low of spring-rate and or too little compression damping. Solutions: Increase spring rate and or increase compression damping as needed.Symptoms: On G- Outs the fork Bottoms out but still is compliant over small bumps Causes: Spring rate too low, compression too soft Solutions: Check sag, Increase spring rate as needed and compression damping as needed Symptoms: Harsh over large bumps, but good over small ones Causes: Spring rate too high and or compression damping to firm or oil volume incorrect Solutions: Check sag,reduce compression damping and check oil volume Symptoms: Excessive sag, feels soft initially but doesn't bottom Causes: Initial spring rate is too low Solutions: Air forks add air pressure and for Coil Spring Forks increase spring rate Symptoms: Compression is harsh over small bumps but uses full travel Causes: Air forks air pressure is to high, Coil spring Forks Initial spring rate or preload too high, or too much compression damping Solutions: :Lower air pressure, Coil Spring Forks install softer springs or reduce spring preload. Reduce compression damping as needed Symptoms: First bump in a series is compliant, but harsh over the rest of the bumps in the series, poor traction in washboard corners Causes: Too much rebound damping Solutions: Reduce rebound Symptoms: Front end springs back too quickly after big hit bumps, poor traction in bumpy corners Causes: Not enough rebound damping Solutions: increase rebound damping. BEARINGS: What maintenance is required on your bearing systems?The sealed bearing pivots are engineered oversized and sturdy to last many years under normal use. They are very resistant to dust, mud, riding through creeks and even leaving your bike out in the rain. However, we are aware of the following conditions that can reduce the service life of the grease pack that protects the bearings in the cartridge:
Our experience is that the bearings/pivots are going to be maintenance free for years. If you notice that they have become contaminated with water or whatever, or have become "notchy", you can simply pop the rubber seal on each cartridge on the accessible side (the side you look at) and re-grease them with Ellsworth factory grease, or any high quality non-migrating (sticky) waterproof grease. Here are the step by step instructions: 1. Remove the pivot bolts to give you access to the rubber seals on the cartridge bearings. 2. With a small pick, gently and carefully remove the rubber seals on the bearings, being careful not to puncture or bend them so they will reseal when you reassemble them. 3. If you wish, you can clean them by spraying a greaseless solvent (lacquer thinner or other solvents in a spray bottle will work, be careful to choose a thinner that will not harm the anodized finish on the frame). 4. Let them air dry or use rubbing alcohol so the thinner is all evaporated and won't contaminate the new grease your going to install. 5. Work the Ellsworth Factory Grease with a clean finger pushing it into the bearing cartridge as you rotate it. 6. Replace the seal. 7. Reinstall the pivot bolt using BLUE Loc-Tite 242 on the 8mm bolts. No Loc-Tite is necessary on the 12mm sex pins. 8. If you waited too long and the bearings remain a bit "notchy", they can usually be recovered by just sticking a pencil in a drill and building it up with tape until it presses into the bearing, and then spinning them for 30 seconds with the fresh grease already in them. Keep in mind that these bearings are not rotating as a wheel bearing would, and do not need to spin freely. They just need to be filled up with a full pack of the sticky non-migrating grease such as the Ellsworth Pivot Lube. So a little notchiness will not matter at all. Mount, Ride and enjoy for another bunch of years. Under normal, even muddy use, these cartridge bearings should go for a very long time without needing any attention. If they were to squeak, simply shove more grease in them as described above and roll! BOLT TORQUES:ICT Four Bar Link Suspension Bikes: Single Pivot ATLAS Suspension Bikes: The two main sex bolts that connect on the seat tube: grease and tighten to 20 ft. lbs. The four small button head bolts, one each by the dropouts and the other two at the back of the rocker arm: blue Loc-Tite and tighten to 15 ft. lbs. The two shock bolts hold the top and bottom of your rear shock and need to be greased and tightened to 15-20 ft. lbs. BRAKES:Disk Routing on older bikes with cable style triple stops: Many people will modify the center cable stop to allow the use of continuous brake housing. They do this by drilling out the cable stop, or boring it out with a Dremel tool. Obviously you must exercise care when doing this but it will in no way void your warranty. The Joker can handle a 6" rotor but not the 8". The Dare is our only bike that is designed to handle an 8" rotor. There are too many variables to know what length brake line you should buy. Take a tape measure along the route you will need to run your line and purchase close to that. I think you can cut the brake lines to fit. Derailleur Hangers Maintenence: They can work loose from dust and water exposure—I find if I’ll put some of the bearing retention compound under it, it will prevent the dust and moisture from getting under it, and it will stay tight for much longer AND as an added bonus, it keeps it from developing a creaking sound from the dust getting in it in just the “right” place to create a mysterious and difficult to find creaking sound. WATER BOTTLE MOUNT RIVETS:You will need to take your bike to a local bike shop to have new rivets put on your bike that requires a special tool. Be sure to grease the screws well when you are installing your water bottle cage so that they will come out easily if you need to take it off in the future. Historical Ellsworth Bike Specs:ID: Front Derailleur: Top Pull, Bottom/Traditional swing TRUTH 2001: Front Derailleur: Top Pull, Bottom/Traditional swing 1 3/8" Truth '98-2000: Front Derailleur: Top Pull, Top swing 1 3/8" Truth pre 98: Front Derailleur: Top Pull Top swing 1 3/8" Dare XC 2001: Front Derailleur: Top Pull, Bottom/Traditional swing Dare DH 2001: Will not take a front derailleur, no double or triple rings on the DH swingarm. Dare XC pre 2001: Front Derailleur: Top Pull, Bottom/Traditional swing Dare DH pre 2001: Will not take a front derailleur, no double or triple rings on the DH swingarm. Flight: Front Derailleur: Bottom Pull, Either swing Sub 22 2001: Front Derailleur: Top Pull, Either swing Downloads |
