Question regarding Front shock and oil weights.

[Bikerguy]

Dear group,

I am currently riding a custom mountain bike with a Manatou Mars Super front shock that I primarily
use for trail riding and commuting to work. (no extreme jumping or the like). The recommended oil
weight is 5. I've been using 10 weight oil because I don't like the bobbing that occurrs with a
sensitive shock and I also weigh nearly 200 pounds so I needed to increase the dampening.

This year I thought that I would back off the damping by opening the valve nearly 100% but
keeping the 10 weight oil. But before I do this I would like to hear about some of the combos
that other have been using different oil and spring weights and the kinds of action that they
have been getting.

Thanks,

BikeGuy

 

[S. Anderson]

It's really up to you. You use the oil and springs to adjust the ride to how YOU like it. For
instance, you're using your bike for commuting and trail riding. In this case you could practically
use rigid forks and still be fine. So in that case, you can stiffen up the spring and oil and still
have reasonable ride quality. If you're riding off-road on lumpy trails you generally want the
softest spring and oil that causes the fork not to bottom out. You're trying to get plushness on
those rocky rides. Same goes for downhill. The fact they use heavier springs and oil on DH bikes is
a function of making sure the fork doesn't bottom on the largest hits. I weigh about 185lbs and have
a Rock Shox Judy XC. It came with standard/med. springs and the weight range was 150-180lbs. I like
the fork a little stiff, so I upgraded one side to a heavy spring and upped the oil to 10 wt. This
greatly improved the ride (IMHO) for my style of riding which is mostly pavement, dirt road and
"serious" off-road where I consider myself a "graceful" rider ;-) I felt the med. springs and 5 wt
were just too mushy..bobbing, weaving etc. So, pick your oil (10 is probably good for you, but get
at least one heavy spring), use the damping adjuster to fine tune your ride and have fun.

Cheers,

Scott..
--
Scott Anderson

"BikerGuy" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Dear group,
>
> I am currently riding a custom mountain bike with a Manatou Mars Super front shock that I
> primarily use for trail riding and commuting to work. (no extreme jumping or the like). The
> recommended oil weight is 5. I've been using 10 weight oil because I don't like the bobbing that
> occurrs with a sensitive shock and I also weigh nearly 200 pounds so I needed to increase the
> dampening.
>
> This year I thought that I would back off the damping by opening the valve nearly 100% but keeping
> the 10 weight oil. But before I do this I would like to hear about some of the combos that other
> have been using different oil and spring weights and the kinds of action that they have been
> getting.
>
> Thanks,
>
> BikeGuy

 

[Bikerguy]

Scott,

Thanks for the reply. I think that I'm going to stay with the 10 weight and back off the damping big
time. If this still isn't plushy enough, then I'll go with the 7.5 weight or I'll mix my own oil.
Just so you know, I did upgrade the spring to my weight (the yellow spring is rated for user up to
195 pounds). I can also ease up on the air spring some but I don't want to venture too far from the
suggested air pressure as I don't want to bottom out.

Thanks again

Bikerguy

On Fri, 28 Feb 2003 17:29:08 -0500, "S. Anderson" <[email protected]> wrote:

>It's really up to you. You use the oil and springs to adjust the ride to how YOU like it. For
>instance, you're using your bike for commuting and trail riding. In this case you could practically
>use rigid forks and still be fine. So in that case, you can stiffen up the spring and oil and still
>have reasonable ride quality. If you're riding off-road on lumpy trails you generally want the
>softest spring and oil that causes the fork not to bottom out. You're trying to get plushness on
>those rocky rides. Same goes for downhill. The fact they use heavier springs and oil on DH bikes is
>a function of making sure the fork doesn't bottom on the largest hits. I weigh about 185lbs and
>have a Rock Shox Judy XC. It came with standard/med. springs and the weight range was 150-180lbs. I
>like the fork a little stiff, so I upgraded one side to a heavy spring and upped the oil to 10 wt.
>This greatly improved the ride (IMHO) for my style of riding which is mostly pavement, dirt road
>and "serious" off-road where I consider myself a "graceful" rider ;-) I felt the med. springs and 5
>wt were just too mushy..bobbing, weaving etc. So, pick your oil (10 is probably good for you, but
>get at least one heavy spring), use the damping adjuster to fine tune your ride and have fun.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Scott..