Revalved Marzocchi Shiver 45 for plushness.

[bergerhag]

Revalved my forks for the FSE. What I wanted was plush, plush, plush.

Stock base valve is:
22x10
22x10
11x10
19x15
11x10
17x15
15x15
13x20

My new setup is kinda radical, and is a little bit resaearch and a larger bit guessing.
22x10
19x15
17x15
15x15


This setup worked pretty good. It was now much better for rocky trails. Some bottoming occured in larger whoops at high speed, but I can live with that.
The first test felt really awful, bike was unstable on small rocks and roots, felt like a flat tire. Which it was.
Now with the flat fixed the bike handles fine. On an enduro yesterday on a very rocky trail I managed to climb to the middle of the scoreboard and actually finish the race, as opposed to my normal retired bottom position. A lot of riders struggled hard with the terrain, as I danced the bike around.
It was no problem to just go head on and over soccer ball size boulders.
I am currently running 110 mm of 7.5wt fork oil and I might try a 120 or 130 level, just to get that trials fork feel to it.

Any comments from you suspension experts on my new stack?
What have I done exactly?

[GMP]

Sounds WAY too soft for me on my EC250, must really dive on the FSE.

I'd go back to stock but remove the 11 x .1 between the 17 and 19. Add high speeed rebound. Go to 130mm on the oil. Run more sag in the rear, not too much preload. Look at pobit's posts.

[bergerhag]

I'll have a go on current settings tomorrow on my ordinary trail, then we'll see where to go next.
This setup is really soft, but the riding I do is mostly first or second gear, and occasionally third. Only rocky woods riding.

I'll buy me a set of shims to add to the rebound stack next time fork is apart.
Been looking alot on pobit's posts

Obviously this setup gave me an advantage last weekend, as I managed to beat several club mates, who normally runs 3 minutes faster than me on a 7 km lap over approx 20 minutes.

[bergerhag]

Originally Posted by GMP

I'd go back to stock but remove the 11 x .1 between the 17 and 19.

What would this do?

Originally Posted by GMP

Run more sag in the rear, not too much preload.

I am running 40mm of free sag rear. Should I loosen it even more?

[GMP]

Whatever works for you. Its easy to make a fork work well for one specific application (terrain, rider ability, conditions). Problem occurs when something changes. Super soft setups are great in 2nd gear technical rocks but scary if the pace picks up just a little. I personally need more versatility. I don't mind feeling a little more as long as its not harsh, the fork stays planted, and does not deflect.

[bergerhag]

You're absolutely right there GMP. I dont think this setting is at all useful say in a motocross style track. I'll take on yours and pobit's hint and will continue to dial in a compromise, yet it will be on the softer side.

An extra pair of fork legs wouldn't hurt...

But still, what effect does removing the 11x .1 crossover shim give in the stock valve?

[GMP]

Less high speed compression damping, lets the stack move more on a fast hit. Beleive me, my LTR base valving is way stiffer than your stack and still great in the 2nd gear rocks. Sometimes too soft seems too stiff, from riding too far in the travel and taking a hit.

[SpeedyManiac]

I tend to agree with Glenn in that I run pretty stiff suspension, even when riding rocks. In fact, I've riding offroad with the same settings I use for MX and find it makes me faster. The downside is you need to be able to take the abuse of stiff suspension, but the increased control is worth it.

[bergerhag]

I'm sure stiff suspension makes you guys faster. At your riding skill level it's probably a must. But please bear in mind that I'm a 40 year old fat guy who spends weekends drinking beer, and all the exercise I get are two to three hours of riding the bike every week. And I only started out ridning enduro bikes in 2004. So I'm a hopeless case, but still I like to make progress. I have just now, with the aid of my softer suspension, started to catch up to the speed I used to have on my ol twosmoke husky, which I traded in for the gasser last december. Since the stock valving on the fse was beating the crap out of me I had to do somthing to make it enjoyable. And making it even stiffer (which I already did with new springs) didn't seem like the way to go.

[GMP]

My setup is by no means very stiff, just way stiffer by the specs than your posted stack for the FSE. The way Les set it up its stiffer on the low speed and softer on the high speed hits compared to stock, tuned for rocks. My point is don't sacrifice too much control or versatility for total plush, because its much worse crashing at a higher speed than feeling the trail a bit much till you get faster. You can be plush and still deflect when the fork blows through the stroke too fast on a medium hit. BTW, got you beat by 9 years. Super Senior Class September '08!