Help with Suspension/Forks

AusJacob

Hey All

First off i would like to say: YES I AM A NEWBIE!!!

I have got a set of RST Gila Plus - T6 and im finding them too hard. I have played around with the settings on top but they are still really hard. I was wondering how i could soften them...
Thanks, Jacob

Specialized
Hardrock
Sports
Disc
(Newbie)

AusJacob

Hello, can anyone help or am i wasting my time?

rek

I'm thinking they may be elastomer shocks, which basically means there's a big cylinder of 'rubber band' material in the shock. (The little dials on the top affect the preload of the shock -- i.e. how hard it presses on the elastomer, before you put any additional load onto the suspension)

Over time the rubber can go hard, and make the shock feel stiff. Sometimes it's a simpler matter of re-lubing the inside of the shock so the stanchions can move more freely. They might be clogged up with dirt and grit etc. making it feel 'stickier'. This is what's usually done at the regular suspension fork service interval (a lube-up and re-grease)

How old is the fork?

__________________
Peter
Cannondale Synapse Carbon Scalpel Cyclocross Ultra

AusJacob

Not old at all, it came on my bike and its about 2 months old.

davebee

it is possible you haven't broken the fork in properly. I don't know anythign about this fork so I am reluctant to comment.

it is also possible that this is a really cheap lower end fork that will never offer a decent level of performance. consider replacing the fork with a marzocchi MZcomp or if you have a bit more money an MX Comp. both of these will offer reasonable performance on a low budget.

How much did you pay for the bike?

AusJacob

I'm not sure about the break in.

I might havea look at the Marzocche range.

The bike was $679(AUD)

John90210

Do not buy MZ Comps! These forks are the worst I've ever ridden with. They have no rebound speed ajustment and the rebound is so fast it feel like they are going to snap your wrists off, it lifts the front of the bike up if your not putting pressure on them when they rebound.

I have Rock Shox J3 and these forks are absolutely brilliant in my opinion, and not too expensive.

davebee

i found the mz comps ok. you just have to put a heavier grade of oil in to slow the rebound. good for a cheap end fork if you can be arsed.

AusJacob

Hey Davebee and John90210,

Can you guys tell me how much your forks were?

The Marzooche MZ Comp
The Marzooche MX Comp
The Rock Shox J3

Thanks Guys

davebee

'06 MxComp goes for £150 on chainreactioncycles.co.uk
'06 Judy J3 goes for £90 on same site.
cant find a price for the Mz's but it should be <100

robbielg

I replaced the judyTT forks on my 2004giantnrs3 with the mx comp with the ETA (external travel adjuster), i am very very happy with it. You can adjust the preload with an air valve. and you can lock down the fork with the ETA.

The marzzochi is much much better than the forks my nrs3 came with.
Very good performance off-road. I recomend it. the price quoted here seems to be accurate. The older Marzochi Bombers without the ETA are considerably cheaper.

alfeng

You may just need to "lube" the fork's sliders ...

Wipe them clean, and then apply some SLICK HONEY OR equivalent.

SLICK HONEY is basically a petroleum product, AFAIK, which has the viscosity of hand lotion -- thicker than most oils you'll find AND thinner than grease.

You can "make" some (the equivalent, that is) by mixing a very small amount of MOTOR OIL with a DAB of (vaseline) PETROLEUM JELLY.

AngoXC

Im not really a fan of RST...had a few issues with them...upgrading would be your best idea...

Check out this link for an accurate idea of the Australian Range and Prices
http://www.vicmtb.com.au/hub.php

Have you considered Manitou Axels?...They would be about the same spec as the J3s and MXs. The upper models feature rebound and travel adjust and other fancy things like that.

1id10t

Hey AusJacob,

Check out Phantom Cycles. They've got good prices on forks. My GT has RSTs on it at the moment but I hope to upgrade soon. I'll thrash it for a couple more months before I get another though.