rock shox dart 3 - tuning rebound/preload advice needed

dubcat

Hi - my new mountain bike came with rock shox dart 3 SL forks. This is my first mountain bike and my first bike with suspension.

I have read that preload should be adjusted such that with me sitting on the bike the forks sag by 25% of the total travel of the fork. Problem is that the spec of my bike says the fork is 80/100mm so I am not sure how much sag I should have. I figure it needs to be either 20mm sag or 25mm sag right? My bike is 19" if that makes any difference...

I have no clue as to how to choose what rebound setting to have. Can anyone advise me on this? The manual i downloaded from SRAM site has no info about tuning at all.

Finally, a lot of user reviews of the Dart 3 forks on another site say they are rubbish. Is that really the case? I'm kinda feeling down about my choice of bike because of those reviews Maybe i should have gone for the next Rockhopper up which has better forks

Cheers,
Dub

Torres

Hi Dub
Preload first, 25-30% of travel is about right, if you're not sure about how much travel you have, measure your stanchions (the shiney bits that slide inside the lowers) with a ruler/tape measure. 80mm of travel will measure around 85mm and 100mm of travel will measure around 105mm, give or take.

Secondly, rebound. This controlls the speed at which the fork extends back to ful travel after compression. Too fast and it's like riding a pogo stick, too slow and your forks will wollow in their travel [this would be most noticible over multiple hits, such as rock gardens]. Set up is completely personal, so the best way to find what you like is to set the nob to the middle setting and ride it, making small adjustments to suit your prefernce.

Despite the dart 3 not being a top flight race fork, it's perfectly usable. My advice would be to just ride it, and then if you feel like it's holding you back; or just splashing out on something gucci, change it then. Don't feel bad about what you've bought; just ride it and enjoy it, the Rockhoppers are ace bikes.

Hope this helps dude

cavegiant

Finally, a lot of user reviews of the Dart 3 forks on another site say they are rubbish. Is that really the case?

Yah they stink, but as you are new to riding it doesn't matter. This means after they stop working properly (6-12 months) you can get the exact second pair you want, not just what spec say you should have.

When you learn on shite, you will appreciate a better fork later on.

The Tora 318 is a great fork, and if you can stretch to the Reba you will be very happy.

The Dart is crap, but don't let that get you down, and don't just buy something new now.
Most people have suntour, they are even worse than the Darts!

mac_man

hey dubcat... don't feel too bad. The Hopper is a great bike. My son has an 09 model with the same fork. And yeah... it's not that adjustable. My bits of twiddling to it seem to have no effect whatsoever.

Like others ahve said... just ride it into the ground and a Reba from On One bikes (if they're still doing them).
Having dais that there's been a lot of positive reviews about some of budget kit from Suntour and Manitou... like the Epicon (Suntour) and Manitou Drake. You should have plenty of choice when it finally gives up the ghost

dubcat

Hi guys

Thanks for the setup advice and especially the encouragement. Also sorry to sound a little whiney. Its just that for me the bike was a hefty investment and i was starting to feel a little paranoid about my purchase as I bought it in relative isolation with little advice. Reality is that the forks are probably way beyond my skill level anyway. I will just get on with it and enjoy the bike as you suggest. It definitely made me feel better to hear you say that the rockhopper is a decent enough bike

Dub

kaytronika

Forks are way better than what I use and I get by!

Enjoy the bike, I love the Rockhopper, it's a cracking looking piece of kit.

In my experience, with maintenance, even the most budget Rock Shox will get you from A to B reliably.... and the budget ones are generally fairly easy to maintain too.

cavegiant

I should add they are terrible compared to modern Forks like the Tora or Manitou Drake, but not bad compared to forks ten years ago.

The issue with them is the are VERY flexy. If you ride them hard (like roll off a step) they are liable to twist, jam then spring back.

The rest of the bike is awesome, as much as Specialised is the Microsoft of biking, they know how to make a bike.

I had forgotten the Drake, very nice kit for the price.

This fork will be fine for a while, not good, but fine.

supersonic

The Dart 3 is definitely the pick of the bunch - gets lighter magnesium lowers, and seems better built than the others. For a lighter rider on a budget they many not feel much flexy. But I come from a world of Judy and Indy ;-)