Setup RS Reba for light rider?

Discuss light weight issues concerning mountain bikes & parts.

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LukasT
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2012 10:52 am

by LukasT

How should i setup my rs reba to fit my 60kg fully eqipped?

I've tried Many different settings as 85+85-, 80+70-, 75+70- and many others but i can't get it perfect... I doesn't use the last 15-25mm of travel, and it's to soft in the middle of the travel. It is a 2011 100mm RS Reba RL. I'm riding mostly competitive XC and XC Marathon in Sweden.

How which pressures should i use? I've been trying for months without getting it right...

//Lukas

Asymptotic
Posts: 253
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2011 11:06 am
Location: North Adelaide, South Australia

by Asymptotic

I understand your frustration :( have gone through the same problem for the last two years with 2010-11 and now '12 models of SIDS and Rebas.

My conclusion, you simply cannot mimic Fox's small bump compliance with Rockshox. However, I have now fine tuned it enough that mid-end stroke compliance is pretty darn good, except that it feels like a rigid fork on even reasonably rough single track . I weigh 68kg and run 125psi top and 118psi bottom. The major compromise is that the the fork is effectively reduced to 80mm :? as soon as I put my weight on the bike, other then that it uses the full travel.
Norwood & Adelaide Uni CC

by Weenie


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bikedoc
Posts: 638
Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2007 3:16 pm

by bikedoc

im sure it can be done but as with all forks which are so tune-able theres a million ways to get it wrong, 6months of playing with mine and im still not convinced it right, i had it good once but fiddled with it and cant remember how it was setup

Gabe
Posts: 56
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2012 9:16 pm

by Gabe

LukasT wrote:How should i setup my rs reba to fit my 60kg fully eqipped?

I've tried Many different settings as 85+85-, 80+70-, 75+70- and many others but i can't get it perfect... I doesn't use the last 15-25mm of travel, and it's to soft in the middle of the travel. It is a 2011 100mm RS Reba RL. I'm riding mostly competitive XC and XC Marathon in Sweden.

How which pressures should i use? I've been trying for months without getting it right...

//Lukas

I'm close to your weight at 125 lbs. I have a 2012 reba rl 29" those pressures would be too stiff for me. I'm running 35-40 in both, and can't get the fork to extend the last 10 mm of travel when I'm not on the bike. the fork gets pulled in too which is a sign of too much - air pressure but I have less - than +. if I go 50+ psi it extends but its too stiff for me. I don't think this fork is good for lightweights. curious how a fox would do, seems like most people like the reba more than the fox now though so not sure if I want to bother.

LukasT
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2012 10:52 am

by LukasT

Gabe wrote:
LukasT wrote:How should i setup my rs reba to fit my 60kg fully eqipped?

I've tried Many different settings as 85+85-, 80+70-, 75+70- and many others but i can't get it perfect... I doesn't use the last 15-25mm of travel, and it's to soft in the middle of the travel. It is a 2011 100mm RS Reba RL. I'm riding mostly competitive XC and XC Marathon in Sweden.

How which pressures should i use? I've been trying for months without getting it right...

//Lukas

I'm close to your weight at 125 lbs. I have a 2012 reba rl 29" those pressures would be too stiff for me. I'm running 35-40 in both, and can't get the fork to extend the last 10 mm of travel when I'm not on the bike. the fork gets pulled in too which is a sign of too much - air pressure but I have less - than +. if I go 50+ psi it extends but its too stiff for me. I don't think this fork is good for lightweights. curious how a fox would do, seems like most people like the reba more than the fox now though so not sure if I want to bother.



When using my fathers 2011 sid rlt i have to run much lower pressures. He runs about the same pressures as I do, but he weights over 75 kg, and still doesn't use all travel, but hopefully we havn't found the right setting yet. We also have the problem with the fork sagging without sitting on the bike. The travel is still about 100mm but the sag gradients gets messed up.

I was in contact with a technincan at TFTuned about the settings and if a Sid would fit me better.

Hi Lukas,

Unfortunately there's not an awful lot you can do about the Reba; without extra weight you'll find it difficult to use all the travel on a solo air system because you're just not heavy enough to get full travel at the correct pressure to hold your weight up. You might find the SID slightly better for you. If you run around 10 psi more in the negative chamber than the positive, you'll find it's much more plush. If you still can't make full travel, you should drain the fork completely and replace the damper fluid and the lower lubrication, making sure you've got the correct measurements (these can be found on the SRAM website).

Thanks

John


Hopefully my father will let med switch forks so i get his Sid ;)

Shouldn't the solo air forks as the fox be harder to setup for light riders when you can't change the negative spring?

Does anyone have experiences with setting up the dt swiss xrc 100 race for a lighter rider?

socratease
Posts: 160
Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2011 5:25 pm

by socratease

My recommendations:
1. play with rebound.
2. If you want something that has a bit of platform at the top, try using a couple of notches down on the compression, with the gate all the way open
3. Run a lower pressure, and if the fork doesn't fully extend, start dropping the negative chamber pressure.
3. These forks, with the exception of shimmed forks, are about as tunable as they get. You can put lighter weight oil in them, which would probably be better suited for your weight.

Gabe
Posts: 56
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2012 9:16 pm

by Gabe

socratease wrote:My recommendations:
1. play with rebound.
2. If you want something that has a bit of platform at the top, try using a couple of notches down on the compression, with the gate all the way open
3. Run a lower pressure, and if the fork doesn't fully extend, start dropping the negative chamber pressure.
3. These forks, with the exception of shimmed forks, are about as tunable as they get. You can put lighter weight oil in them, which would probably be better suited for your weight.

fyi, the 2012 reba rl doesnt have floodgate.

I fixed my issue with the fork sagging while not on the bike. I let all the air out of both chambers. compressed the fork a few times. I then added air to the + chamber, fork extended completely, then I added about 10psi less air to the - chamber, and fork is still not sagging with me not on the bike. not sure why this process fixed it, cause I've ran these pressures before.

one thing I've noticed with this fork is when I push down on the handlebars right before hitting bumps it makes the hit much smoother. I'm wondering if I have too much of my body weight back on the bike. I have a 90mm stem, 23mm offset seatpost, and my seat slid back on the rails. curious if I slid my seat forward some and got a 110mm stem would the fork feel better. I have proper sag so not sure. but having the fork compressing right before the hit makes it feel so much better.

by Weenie


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