Fox Talas RL

s1mon

Hi,

Got some Talas RL's on a new bike and set them as per the manual for the first ride. I set 65psi, maxiumum travel and 6 click counter-clockwise from fully closed on the rebound. Went out for a ride and was going down a hill not really bumpy and looked down at the forks and they were virtually fully compressed probably had about 20mm of travel left :? Then I tried riding with them lock out looked down at them and they had compressed fully again while locked out :? any ideas I checked the pressure when I was home and it was 60psi so I have put it upto 70psi. They work fine when you push down on the bars and let go.

Simon.

stumpyjon

I have TALAS RLs and weigh about 13.5 stone, I run them at 95 PSI which is about middle of the range for my weight. Went out with them at 75 PSI a few weeks ago by mistake and they were awful, sounds like you don't have enough air in them.

Do you have a copy of the CD with owners manual on it? There's a table in there for rider weight vs fork pressure. The other way to set the right pressure is to judge it by the amount of sag, should be 20% to 25% when sat on the bike stationary.

s1mon

Hi,

Yes looked through the manual at the chart. I'm 10.5-11 stone which is about 150lbs and the manual reakons you need 65psi for 145-145lbs. I will take my shock pump out next time and keep increasing it 5psi.

Still not sure why they were fully compressed while riding with them lock out ?

Simon.

stumpyjon

Did you lock them out while seated on the bike? I must admit I don't lock mine out very much but on the few occasions I have, sometimes they don't seem to lock out and other times they do. Think I usually end up turning the lock out knob backwards and forwards a couple of times.

Wish I only weighed 11 stone

Oh well it is new year.

s1mon

Wish I only weighed 11 stone

I am only a short ass though

I did lock them out while they were fully exteneded but didn't try moving the lock out lever back and forth a few times. It was basically the first proper ride on the bike but I didn't have my shock pump and it was really muddy so just wanted to get used the bike and get the brakes beded in. I shall play around with the shocks on the next ride see what happens.

Simon.

s1mon

Hi,

Went out quickly just round on the roads I put 100psi in them and still got 85mm travel :shock: they seem to compress ok but I have to stop and get off the bike and lift the wheel to get them to fully extended again :? While riding they just don't seem to be going up and down just down. Any ideas

Simon.

Splasher

Could be a TALAS problem. Try winding them up and down a few times and see if they're any better. You need to cycle them a few times after you adjust the travel to get them to shorten/extend. Having to lift the wheel to get them to extend makes me think it could be this.

s1mon

Hi,

Can you check I have set the sag up correctly first. I have 130mm travel front and RP23 rear 120mm. 25% of 130mm = 3.25cm and 25% of 120mm = 3cm.

So I started with 105psi rear and 65psi front. I needed 55psi in the front to get 3.25cm and 50psi in rear to get the 3cm.

Is that right so far ?

Simon.

Neily03

s1mon wrote:

Hi,

Can you check I have set the sag up correctly first. I have 130mm travel front and RP23 rear 120mm. 25% of 130mm = 3.25cm and 25% of 120mm = 3cm.

So I started with 105psi rear and 65psi front. I needed 55psi in the front to get 3.25cm and 50psi in rear to get the 3cm.

Is that right so far ?

Simon.

You're right for the front, i'm 11 stone and need to 70psi to get the correct sag, so their;s either something wrong with yor fork ot you're setting the sag correctly.

As for the rear you're miles off! You want 25% of the shock stroke not 25% of wheel travel (like on the font) I have 160psi in my rear shock (fox triad).

There's some video's here to help you - http://www.mojo.co.uk/html(mojo)/setupvids.htm

s1mon

As for the rear you're miles off! You want 25% of the shock stroke not 25% of wheel travel

Yes did think it was a bit soft with only 50psi

Measured the rear shock piston bit, and its 55mm so I need 13.75mm roughly for the sag (25%). Ended up with about 90psi in the rear.

So now I have the sag set right I can try and see whats wrong with these front shocks.

Simon.

Neily03

You're pressures are still way too low for your weight! I think its just hit me why...... you're not sitting on the bike to measure the sag are you? :shock:

With those pressures you've set the suspension will sag just under the weight of the bike so you mustn't be sitting on it!!!!

s1mon

you're not sitting on the bike to measure the sag are you?

Yes I am sitting on the bike, moving the O ring or zip tie getting off and measuring the distance.

Simon.

stumpyjon

This is probably a really stupid question, but which lever are you turning, the one on the left stanchion (siting on the bike) or the one on the right. The one on the left is the TALAS travel adjust.

If you are playing with the right lever it does sound as if something is wrong with the TALAS system, I mucked mine up by taking it apart and got similar results (also didn't have enough pressure in the forks). A good LBS should be able to sort it out or preferably the place you bought the bike should be sorting it for you.

s1mon

Hi,

Yes the one on the top left leg (sitting on bike looking down at it) does my travel which I have 3 settings 90mm, 110, 130 it also has the air cap this side and the other saide has the blue lock out lever and the red rebound adjuster. It must be something to do with the pressure but I have it set up for my weight but they just seem to sag right down while I'm riding alone and I need to stop and get off the bike for the fork to fully extended again. :?

I will have a play around with some different pressures. Looking at the Fox racing site they recommended,

130 mm (5") XCRace firm19mm or All mountain Plush (3/4") 26mm (1")
I will try this.

and for the rear they recommended 12mm sag.

Simon.

stumpyjon

Told you it was probably a stupid question. It does sound like the TALAS side isn't set up properly though, mine wouldn't return to full travel unless I unweighted the bike after I mucked up the settings. It does sound like you've got the correct pressures set up now.

If you can't get this sorted fairly quickly I think you really need to consider taking it back to where you bought it, at the very least they should show you how to set them up correctly. When I bought my Stumpy the guys in Leisure Lakes spent about half an hour setting up the front and rear shocks and explaining what they'd done etc.

s1mon

Hi,

Went out today on it but unfortunatley had a slow puncture on the front :roll: don't seem to be having much luck with the front end of the bike

I have checked and double checked my sag settings and 105psi in the rear gives me the 12mm sag, the rear works great. In the front I need 60psi to give me 1" sag. When I was riding today I had nearly 100psi in the front yet while riding the shocks were still not fully retracting unless I got off my bike or stopped. Obviously with this much pressure in the front I don't get the correct sag.

I think it will be best to pop back to the shop.

Simon.

Splasher

s1mon wrote:

Hi,

shocks were still not fully retracting unless I got off my bike or stopped. Obviously with this much pressure in the front I don't get the correct sag.
Simon.

You may well be best taking it back because it's hard to understand exactly what's happening from description alone.

When you say fully retracting, do you mean as in "topping out"? If so, that's fine, your forks should only top out when you leave the ground (or almost leave the ground). If you're expecting to see a full 140mm of travel used (from topping out to bottoming out) in normal wheels down use, this may be your problem. I would expect you to see movement from the 30mm sag position to 110mm in normal wheels down riding, and from the 0 top-out to 135mm bump stop when doing drops or jumps.

Ignore the above if I've misunderstood!