29" 2013 Lefty XLR tuning?

Discuss light weight issues concerning mountain bikes & parts.

Moderator: Moderator Team

Post Reply
dukezpol
Posts: 51
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2010 10:20 am
Location: Warsaw, POLAND

by dukezpol

Hello, Just received 2013 29" 100mm version to be installed in my Open project (7,5 target weight in total).

Initial total weight of this Lefty is disaster - 1380g. I will change bolts to Ti, remove: front shield, air chamber reducer, x-lock and probably will shave ca. 100g finally....
Not enough! What's more possible? Only efficient solutions Please without destroying quality of work...
Thx a lot!
Dukezpol

Open 1.0
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=122295

User avatar
the_marsbar
Posts: 1051
Joined: Wed May 13, 2009 5:23 pm
Location: Denmark
Contact:

by the_marsbar

I wouldn't remove that front bumper/shield if I were you. Not if you're going to ride the bike anyway.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



dukezpol
Posts: 51
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2010 10:20 am
Location: Warsaw, POLAND

by dukezpol

I ride in flat sandy forests - no stones at All. will it be still usefull?

02GF74
Posts: 724
Joined: Thu Jan 13, 2011 4:04 pm
Location: Sunny UK

by 02GF74

the 26 in XLR inc remote lockout weighs in at 1254 g - the 29er will be more like for like - so is not that bad.

I am running Ti bolts for the clamps and alloy bolts for the gaiters - the latter won't aply to your fork.

User avatar
the_marsbar
Posts: 1051
Joined: Wed May 13, 2009 5:23 pm
Location: Denmark
Contact:

by the_marsbar

dukezpol wrote:I ride in flat sandy forests - no stones at All. will it be still usefull?


Will what be useful? The fork, the fork without the bumper? The bumper?

No matter what you ride in, I wouldn't recommend that you take it off.

User avatar
yourdaguy
Posts: 2204
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2005 3:25 am
Location: Southern Indiana USA
Contact:

by yourdaguy

If you take the bumper off the 29er tire can hit on the crown and that would lock your wheel and you would go over the bars.
For certain parts stiffer is more important than lighter.

DanW
Posts: 1243
Joined: Fri May 02, 2008 5:39 pm
Location: Here, there and everywhere

by DanW

I will change bolts to Ti, remove: front shield, air chamber reducer, x-lock


Ti bolts- fine, 10g saved at most
Remove front shield- no way is it worth removing for the few g's saved
Air chamber reducer- what does this achieve?
Remove x-lock- I wouldn't do this. The Lefty is very active in the initial stroke for a given air pressure. It descends great but bobs a lot riding out of the saddle. If you up the pressure to make the initial stroke firmer then the mid and end stroke end up far too firm. Basically, the Lefty being active is its advantage over other forks but really does benefit from the lockout. I'd do anything to be able to lock out the fork from the bar :D

If you want a light Lefty then you might be better off with the 26 version then reducing the travel. The 29er adds about 100g to the comparable 26 version. The only difference would be slightly less travel but lighter as far as I am aware. If your riding isn't too technical you probably wouldn't miss the extra cm or so of travel... maybe someone can better advise with this.

I'd also be interested how to lose g's on a Lefty but I can't come up with much besides Ti bolts. Maybe a different damper saves weight but that is kind of pointless in a brand new fork...

dukezpol
Posts: 51
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2010 10:20 am
Location: Warsaw, POLAND

by dukezpol

Thx for valuable advise (specially for x-lock - i am often cycling out of sadle), 1 point is not clear however - What's the role of front shield in sandy forests with no rocks at All? (I mean front shield - not the bumper of course!!!)

Second - Arent there yet any efficient tuning sets like for Older lefties? 88+ for eg?

Unfortunatelly 29" version is in da hause already so i must work on this...

DanW
Posts: 1243
Joined: Fri May 02, 2008 5:39 pm
Location: Here, there and everywhere

by DanW

During normal use the front shield shouldn't help much but for the 1 in 10 time a stick/ rock gets thrown up by the front wheel or you clip a tree stump or the bike falls over or whatever then I'd much rather have this venerable area covered. If you look at a normal fork most people will have scuffs to the lowers which just happen over time with normal use. It could get very expensive to replace a stanchion on a Lefty that picks up similar scratches. Leonardi make a carbon fibre shield but I don't think it saves many g's.

Pretty sure you can get a newer style Lefty tuned (the damper) the same as the older forks. No reason not to as far as I know. Was this the "tuning kit" you meant?

The best XC damping I've ridden was on a Magura Durin- absolutely perfectly balanced start, middle and end stroke for XC riding/ racing. If it is possible to get Durin characteristics in the Lefty I'd be over the moon but as far as I'm aware tuning can only refine the Lefty damping but not fully escape from the Fox style bobbing and diving. Does someone have better experience with tuning the damping on a Lefty?

User avatar
the_marsbar
Posts: 1051
Joined: Wed May 13, 2009 5:23 pm
Location: Denmark
Contact:

by the_marsbar

DanW, do you find that the 2013 Lefty bobs and dives a lot? I don't, maybe I'm running mine a bit firmer than you. Also, I guess the Lefty damping characteristics should resemble that of a Rock Shox fork, since they are making the unit that's used in the Lefty.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



DanW
Posts: 1243
Joined: Fri May 02, 2008 5:39 pm
Location: Here, there and everywhere

by DanW

2012, sorry didn't make that clear. I'd forgotten the internals were Rockshox derived (despite reading X-Loc :D ). Nevertheless, I'd still want to improve the Rockshox feel ever so slightly to be more like a Durin in use. Both are still better than the 2012 Lefty/ Fox style though :D

Post Reply