How often do you pump your shocks?

Dave F.

Hi
'07 Stumpy Expert.

This is my first time with air forks & shock so I'm looking for advice.

How often do you need to pump them up? The same as tyres?

If it is, can you recommend one to me?
I'm surprised they make hand held ones - I didn't think you'd be able to get enough pressure in them, unless, of course, you were Geoff Capes.

As the valves on my Foxes are schrader, is it possible to use the air pump down at my local petrol station? I'm not sure what pressure they go up to.

Any other tips/advice welcome.

Cheers
Dave F.

Andy B

I check the pressure's in my forks & shock every few rides, or when it feels like I need more air.

Do not use an air pump like at the local garage, they are not designed for air forks/shocks, they are designed for large volumes of air & low pressures. there is a very high chance you will damage the forks/shock.

A good shock pump only costs about £20, you can easily get 300psi with a hand held shock pump, that's what they're designed to do, small volumes of air at high pressures

nicklouse

the manuals state before every ride.

Dave F.

nicklouse wrote:

the manuals state before every ride.

Nick
And so that's what you do is it?

All manuals?

I've read the ones that came with the bike. About 60% of which was disclaimers & arse covering caveats to please the company lawyers.
I'm after useful, real world advice advice from people who've had experience.

Do you have any to give?

Dave F.

Andy B

Nick has lots of 'real world' knowledge, he just comes over as a bit abrupt sometimes, possibly due to having to answer the same questions time & again!

nicklouse

well lets put it this way if there is no air you will see when you sit on it (air sprung) and if it has an air chamber for pro pedal or spv etc and there is not air in it for the required pressure damage will happen that can be seen internally and will have no warrenty coverage.

but if you ride your bike every day pressure changes are more noticeable. if you ride it once a week or month you would not normally be able to tell so you should reset it before each ride.

Dave F.

Andy_B wrote:

Nick has lots of 'real world' knowledge, he just comes over as a bit abrupt sometimes, possibly due to having to answer the same questions time & again!

Hi
I did try & find an appropiate thread by doing a search but all I got was a long list of products, so I was forced ask a Q. which I guessed had already by posted.

Is the search feature working? Is there a way to get it to search only the forums?

Also in my other post Nick replied with a Q., the answer to which was clearly in my OP.

He'd obviously not read my post, yet felt qualified to reply; in demeaning a slighlty way.

I'm sorry if this seems ungrateful & biting the hand that feeds me, but to me that's just plain rude. Thankfully he appears to be in the minority in this forum.

Cheers
Dave F.

baccaman21

:shock:

L60N

LoL

he just comes over as a bit abrupt sometimes, possibly due to having to answer the same questions time & again!

Then maybe Nick needs to leave it for other people to advise?

My mummy aways told me, if you dont have anything nice to say, dont say anything at all

Only messing, but there may be a tiny nugget of truth in there

baccaman21

Nicklouse
Joined: 20 Mar 2003
Posts: 28460

Just about sez it all really...


Dave F.
AFAIK - the search engine does work but it's a bit clunky... and not very user friendly.

Nick has a tendancy to be rather upfront and direct in his responses agreed, but honestly buddy, best not to get hot under the collar... I think we've all at some point been stung by him - but he does know his beans... just look at who's set up all (well a lot) of the sticky's and FAQ's... you'd be hard pushed to find a better advocate for MTBing and wouldn't really wanna p155 the guy off by pouring scorn.

At least you got the balls to stand up though so I'll give you that...

nicklouse

baccaman21 wrote:

Nicklouse
Joined: 20 Mar 2003
Posts: 28460

Just about sez it all really...


Dave F.
AFAIK - the search engine does work but it's a bit clunky... and not very user friendly.

Nick has a tendancy to be rather upfront and direct in his responses agreed, but honestly buddy, best not to get hot under the collar... I think we've all at some point been stung by him - but he does know his beans... just look at who's set up all (well a lot) of the sticky's and FAQ's... you'd be hard pushed to find a better advocate for MTBing and wouldn't really wanna p155 the guy off by pouring scorn.

At least you got the balls to stand up though so I'll give you that...

yep l,ike i spend too much time on here.

Dave yes i can be abrupt. it is my way.

you ask about air shocks/forks but dont catually mention which? is it air or air assist or???? yes you mention the bike but often specs can change and one may not be the same as another.

in general terms see my post above. if it is an air (only) fork/shock you will see as soon as you sit on it.

if the air is for a SPV or other platform then yes before every ride or it can be costly.

air assist forks the does nothing except set the sag so they can be used with no air with no issues.

if you had asked about a particular fork/shock youwould have had a different answer asking general questions gets general answers.

Dave F.

baccaman21 wrote:

Nicklouse
Joined: 20 Mar 2003
Posts: 28460

Just about sez it all really...


Dave F.
AFAIK - the search engine does work but it's a bit clunky... and not very user friendly.

Nick has a tendancy to be rather upfront and direct in his responses agreed, but honestly buddy, best not to get hot under the collar... I think we've all at some point been stung by him - but he does know his beans... just look at who's set up all (well a lot) of the sticky's and FAQ's... you'd be hard pushed to find a better advocate for MTBing and wouldn't really wanna p155 the guy off by pouring scorn.

At least you got the balls to stand up though so I'll give you that...

I'm not denying he knows what he's talkng about. I just wish he'd pass his knowledge on instead of the curt replies. Maybe by linking to appropiate previous posts to save on the typing?
Having said that, over twenty eight thousand replies doesn't actually prove he knows a everything. It just means he spends a long time in front of a computer screen. I'm not saying it's the case here, but i've seen other boards where people believe they're important just because their post count is high & actually post nonsense just ot bump it up!

Ok, back to the Q in hand.
Thanks to those who've replied so far.

On another thread NickL. has said a certain hight pressure pump (300 psi) is "bad" for low pressure forks. What's bad about it? I assumed you'd just have to pump less into the forks.

I have Fox with schrader valves, & from what I gather Marzocchi use a different one.
So am I right in thinking their pumps would only fit they're system?
Could you recommend a suitable one for both the Fox Fork & Shock?

Cheers
Dave F.

nicklouse

see other post.

supersonic

The guage on high pressure pumps can be quite a long way out on low pressure forks.

yeah, gotta watch these peole with 20K+ posts, they make it all up! ;-)

Dave F.

nicklouse wrote:

baccaman21 wrote:

Nicklouse
Joined: 20 Mar 2003
Posts: 28460

Just about sez it all really...


Dave F.
AFAIK - the search engine does work but it's a bit clunky... and not very user friendly.

Nick has a tendancy to be rather upfront and direct in his responses agreed, but honestly buddy, best not to get hot under the collar... I think we've all at some point been stung by him - but he does know his beans... just look at who's set up all (well a lot) of the sticky's and FAQ's... you'd be hard pushed to find a better advocate for MTBing and wouldn't really wanna p155 the guy off by pouring scorn.

At least you got the balls to stand up though so I'll give you that...

yep l,ike i spend too much time on here.

Dave yes i can be abrupt. it is my way.

you ask about air shocks/forks but dont catually mention which? is it air or air assist or???? yes you mention the bike but often specs can change and one may not be the same as another.

in general terms see my post above. if it is an air (only) fork/shock you will see as soon as you sit on it.

if the air is for a SPV or other platform then yes before every ride or it can be costly.

air assist forks the does nothing except set the sag so they can be used with no air with no issues.

if you had asked about a particular fork/shock youwould have had a different answer asking general questions gets general answers.

& my way is to be irritated by that manner.

You're right about the spec:
http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=22216

Cheers
Dave F.

baccaman21

RE: Marzocchi forks... and you're (DAVE F.) Assumption that they use a different system... not exactly true - This is based on the other post that both you and nick are referring to...

I have Marzocchi forks (few years old z1 DropOffs) with air assist and they have 'regular' fitting schrader valves...

So you can't assume anything apart from there is no standard and things differ from model to model year to year and manufacturer to manufacturer...

The reason why high pressure pumps are bad going into low pressure is obvious isn't it? The high pressure that they put in can rupture the inner workings...? That's how I always thought it worked anyway... I may wrong... but it makes sense... I don't think you have the amount of control one needs to push 'just a little air in'

I dunno.

supersonic

Well, it can be like that in some sytems, but the zocchi is a high volume, low presure system. Think of it like a big DH tyre and a road tyre. Its the guage that causes the most problems.

nicklouse

baccaman21
re the pumps they are the same. it is just the gauges.

baccaman21

fair doos... I think I'm getting ya drift?

Dave F.

I think I now understand where I'm getting confused.

Fox recommended pressures for my weight:

Front: about 100psi
Rear: about 225psi

I was assuming (yeah, I know that's wrong ) that 100 for the front was 'low' (ie lower than 225), but after talking to a colleague I've been told that some forks run at about 30 psi which is the real 'low'.
So for those recommended pressures I need a high pressure pump?

Can you please confirm that my understanding is correct.

Cheers
Dave F.

supersonic

Yes thats correct. Some pumps are accurate from 100-300psi, others from 0-100psi (or whatever is nominated on them)