Air Sprung Sus Forks and Bikepacking.

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Ray Young
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Air Sprung Sus Forks and Bikepacking.

Post by Ray Young »

Just fitted some air forks to my bike and was wondering the if people bother changing the air pressure in their forks when loading the bike up. If so how do you decide how much more weight is on the bike as obviously a bar bag will have most effect on the fork and a seat pack the least.
Lazarus
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Re: Air Sprung Sus Forks and Bikepacking.

Post by Lazarus »

more air - usually only if i am adding gorilla cages to the set up otherwise its only like adding 2kg tops to your overall weight [ more if you use water bottle bar mounts]

even then only 3-5 psi more - I doubt it actually really matters but it is part of my ritual .
mechanicaldope
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Re: Air Sprung Sus Forks and Bikepacking.

Post by mechanicaldope »

Yes, partly cos of the extra weight but mainly to stop them bottoming out and hitting my bar luggage. This may affect their performance somewhat but better than ripping the harness/bag.

Edit: as to how much, I just put a bit and give it a bounce. Maybe add a bit more.
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whitestone
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Re: Air Sprung Sus Forks and Bikepacking.

Post by whitestone »

A couple of extra kilos isn't going to make much of a difference but it does depend on how aggressive you ride and whether you bottom out the fork or not. With the correct sag I have to ride very very aggressively to get anywhere near bottoming out my Rockshox Rebas.
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Alpinum
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Re: Air Sprung Sus Forks and Bikepacking.

Post by Alpinum »

I put very little more air in the fork and shock due to the fact, that the system weight is up to 10 % higher and I feel I can ride nearly as agressive with a few additional kilo's of luggage.
I don't like weight on the front on my trail bikes (if I even use a bar bag, it's less then 1 kg) so the shock and fork get the equivalent of additional pressure.

Remember the sag and also how much stroke you use when putting lots of force on the suspension (which you should have dialled in well to use it as a reference) in your non bikepacking setup. Then put all the stuff on and check again where sag and travel use end up being.
That's how I go about it on my full sussers.
Depending on fork or shock you also may want to adjust the damping once the spring rate has changed.
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GregMay
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Re: Air Sprung Sus Forks and Bikepacking.

Post by GregMay »

Extra spacer and nearly the same amount of air. Just under. Works well in my SIDs and SC32s.
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Ray Young
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Re: Air Sprung Sus Forks and Bikepacking.

Post by Ray Young »

Great advice as usual, thanks.
slarge
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Re: Air Sprung Sus Forks and Bikepacking.

Post by slarge »

If you use gorilla cages, then don't use this as a reason to add more air - they count as unsprung weight as they are mounted to the fork lowers......

I never add more, if anything I like the forks softer as it is more likely to be a long day out.
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Ray Young
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Re: Air Sprung Sus Forks and Bikepacking.

Post by Ray Young »

slarge wrote: Sat May 11, 2019 9:21 am If you use gorilla cages, then don't use this as a reason to add more air - they count as unsprung weight as they are mounted to the fork lowers......

I never add more, if anything I like the forks softer as it is more likely to be a long day out.
I prefer stiff forks but the tyre is 27.5+ so that should take care of trail chatter. With you on the unsprung weight bit, :-bd
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