Bomber Z1 vs new and old Lyric

With my MRP Ribbon Coil they suggest you need a stiffer spring as you reduce the travel.

For sure, I mean if a hard landing puts 1000lb of force into the fork, with 5" of travel you need a 200lb/in spring to exactly hit bottom. (5x200=1000)

If you only have 4" of travel, you need a 250lb spring to exactly reach bottom. (4x250=1000).

That's just the nature of suspension...

I may be wrong on this concept but with a hardtail it might be better to run something that rides higher in it's travel to help maintain slacker angles.  I say this after spending a couple weeks on a Rocky Mountain Instinct and then going back to my Chromag which had me going..."whert in the actual ferk"

Posted by: BC_Nuggets

I may be wrong on this concept but with a hardtail it might be better to run something that rides higher in it's travel to help maintain slacker angles.  I say this after spending a couple weeks on a Rocky Mountain Instinct and then going back to my Chromag which had me going..."whert in the actual ferk"

Makes sense to me. That's why I really want to try the new Lyric on the HT bike. Going to miss the plushness of the Z1 though...

Posted by: Vikb

With my MRP Ribbon Coil they suggest you need a stiffer spring as you reduce the travel.

Yeah, with 150mm travel a 40# spring worked with about 25% sag but at 140mm a 45# spring gave me less that 20%, felt too harsh off the top and still bottomed out.

I think that the trapped air in the lowers help the 150mm travel get a little more progression.

I've got a 140mm Lyrik w/Push ACS3 now and run a 40# spring and fairly high pressure in the bump stop to keep off the bottom and still get a plush ride.

Posted by: BC_Nuggets

I may be wrong on this concept but with a hardtail it might be better to run something that rides higher in it's travel to help maintain slacker angles.  I say this after spending a couple weeks on a Rocky Mountain Instinct and then going back to my Chromag which had me going..."whert in the actual ferk"

If you've got an air fork can you not just add some pressure? You are dealing with a rigid rear so the front is going to seem plush by comparison with a slightly higher spring rate anyways and ride higher?

Posted by: Vikb

Posted by: BC_Nuggets

I may be wrong on this concept but with a hardtail it might be better to run something that rides higher in it's travel to help maintain slacker angles.  I say this after spending a couple weeks on a Rocky Mountain Instinct and then going back to my Chromag which had me going..."whert in the actual ferk"

If you've got an air fork can you not just add some pressure? You are dealing with a rigid rear so the front is going to seem plush by comparison with a slightly higher spring rate anyways and ride higher?

Yes of course.  But ideally something that rides high in the travel but has some decent small bump compliance would be nice.

Posted by: BC_Nuggets

Posted by: Vikb

Posted by: BC_Nuggets

I may be wrong on this concept but with a hardtail it might be better to run something that rides higher in it's travel to help maintain slacker angles.  I say this after spending a couple weeks on a Rocky Mountain Instinct and then going back to my Chromag which had me going..."whert in the actual ferk"

If you've got an air fork can you not just add some pressure? You are dealing with a rigid rear so the front is going to seem plush by comparison with a slightly higher spring rate anyways and ride higher?

Yes of course.  But ideally something that rides high in the travel but has some decent small bump compliance would be nice.

I think coil is the way to go with a hardtail that has more than 120-130mm travel. Air forks tend to soften in the middle of the stroke whereas a coil will offer more suport and help maintain geo.

My secret weapon for improving my suspension fork feel is to ride a rigid fork for a while. Then I can go back to my hardtail and that fork feels amazingly soft even with a few extra psi in it to keep it riding high. ;-)

Posted by: Vikb

My secret weapon for improving my suspension fork feel is to ride a rigid fork for a while. Then I can go back to my hardtail and that fork feels amazingly soft even with a few extra psi in it to keep it riding high. ;-)

Haha beauty.  I've been buy-curious (say what??!) about those rigid carbon forks with 500mm A-C for turning the old rootdown into more of a bikepack/atb/gravel/adventure rig at some point should I add a new hardtail or fully.  :)

Posted by: joseph-crabtree

Posted by: BC_Nuggets

Posted by: Vikb

Posted by: BC_Nuggets

I may be wrong on this concept but with a hardtail it might be better to run something that rides higher in it's travel to help maintain slacker angles.  I say this after spending a couple weeks on a Rocky Mountain Instinct and then going back to my Chromag which had me going..."whert in the actual ferk"

If you've got an air fork can you not just add some pressure? You are dealing with a rigid rear so the front is going to seem plush by comparison with a slightly higher spring rate anyways and ride higher?

Yes of course.  But ideally something that rides high in the travel but has some decent small bump compliance would be nice.

I think coil is the way to go with a hardtail that has more than 120-130mm travel. Air forks tend to soften in the middle of the stroke whereas a coil will offer more suport and help maintain geo.

Interesting.  Filing that in the old knowledge bank in ye olde brainerator.

Posted by: BC_Nuggets

Posted by: Vikb

Posted by: BC_Nuggets

I may be wrong on this concept but with a hardtail it might be better to run something that rides higher in it's travel to help maintain slacker angles.  I say this after spending a couple weeks on a Rocky Mountain Instinct and then going back to my Chromag which had me going..."whert in the actual ferk"

If you've got an air fork can you not just add some pressure? You are dealing with a rigid rear so the front is going to seem plush by comparison with a slightly higher spring rate anyways and ride higher?

Yes of course.  But ideally something that rides high in the travel but has some decent small bump compliance would be nice.

Over pressuring makes it hard to get full travel, and often makes the fork feel wooden. The new charger 3 damper seems to help the fork ride higher even at less than recommended pressure

If you got an "old" Lyrik - get a PUSH HC97. It's amazing and keeps the fork up there all the time, without making it less plush. It opens up amazing in the rough stuff and is top notch for steep stuff, too. I don't need to twiddle the dials for different trails, like I had to with the stock charger setup. The fork works great with one setup in very different scenarios...