Help setting up a new bike/ moving from HT to FS

ben306

Hoping I can get some help, Ive recently just bought a specialised pitch 2009 to replace my hardtail. Ive managed to get out twice on it this week on the local stuff but it feels so odd to ride compared to the hardtail.

This is my 1st full suspension bike and Im a heavy rider (110+kg) and at first its taken some setting up, I think Ive got the rear shock set right now with the correct sag but the forks are a different story. They are Pike U turns (Coil) and previously Ive always had air forks so adjustment was easy.

It feels almost like Im riding 'over the front' too much and the sag in the front end is too much. Is it work upgrading the spring to an X Firm? Or should I keep a look out for some secondhand air forks. I know Im getting use to it and this will take a while but I want to get it right.

My previous bike had quite a slack head angle and I was comfortable riding like this. Im on a tight budget (saving for a wedding) and wanted to up my riding, hence picking up the pitch in the hope it would be a good base to upgrade over time and get me out on the hills and trails more.

Any help, pointers, info etc so I can get this set up right and get enjoying a full bouncer for a change would be much appreciated.

This is my Norco hardtail that I built up




And the Pitch Ive just picked up (With the addition of a new seatpost)

1mancity2

Not a massive job to change the spring, get on sram website download manual and service guide.

May be just a simple job of setting them up correctly.

Northwind

Nice bike! How heavy are you? x-firm is pretty damn stiff. Changing the springs is dead easy but you can waste a bit of money chasing the right setup if you're not reasonably sure... Especially since Rockshox settings are a wee bit dubious (they say i need a soft at most, maybe an extra soft in my Lyriks, so why is it i spent every ride with the soft in the bottom 2 inches of the travel bouncing off the ends?)

Do you know for sure what's in it now? Worth having a look if not.

cat_with_no_tail

Yes you'll need the x-firm spring in there.

I had the same forks on my old 456 (454 Coil u-turn Pikes) and I had to go for the x-firm spring on that. I weighed around the same as you too. At that weight, anything else is just much too soft.

With the x-firm spring in, they'll perform a million times better. As for wether or not you should go for air forks, well that's more personal choice than anything else. Certainly worth the £20-30 for a new spring to find out imho.

ben306

Cheers,

Weight wise with all my gear on Im about 115kg. Ive looked at the manual, looks straight forward to swap the spring. Sping is a tad over £40 from CRC.

Is there anything else I need to look at for the set up of this or is it just a matter of getting use to the different riding from a hard tail, fining popping a wheelie or bunny hop is even a little more difficult!

freeagent

I've got Rockshox recon Silver TK forks on my bike, I'm a heavy lump aswell (just over 100KG) and swapped my spring for an X-Firm, and the ride is so much better, however I still manage to bottom it out if I get airbourne.
Spring is easy to change - followinstrctions in manual, downloaded from SRAM website

Northwind

Oh, sorry dude, I didn't notice your weight there.

Do check on Ebay as well and in the classifieds, loads of people have spare springs for the common forks.

Raymondavalon

I am a little lighter than you (95Kg) but also went through the adjustment from a HT to FS bike. My bike also has Pike forks.
I got the PIke HD spring kit from TF Tuned Shox and they also have an instruction manual available on line too. It's not a big job, but does require a rather large 24mm socket.

My only advice is to make sure you use a hex socket (with six sides), not the cheapo 12 side sockets that can damage the spring cap. (I bought one from Halfords)
Also have some bike grease handy as you need to lubricate the U-Turn spring before fitting it. It is generally an easy task, as stated by other replies