RP23 Custom Valving

simonp123

I have my shiny new Trance X frame now waiting for me to swap bits from my old bike.
Also waiting for some bit from CRC Do they EVER actually dispatch the same day like they "aim" to? Not happened to me in the last 2 years :evil:
Anyway the point is I'm wondering if it is worth sending the Fox FP23 shock off for custom valving before I build the bike up? I'm currently the wrong side of 100Kg, and my existing Float R was massively better with custom setup, the pro-pedal in it didn't really work before. I'm wondering if the extra pro-pedal settings of the RP23 will mean it will work for me and I can use it OK until service time when I can get the custom valving, or whether I will struggle and should do it now?

benpinnick

Custom valving is only really useful if you can describe what you want to change about the way the shock works. Therefore I would ride it first and make notes on what you don't like (if anything) and then look at what you can do.

simonp123

Hmm, yes I suppose it is more than just the pro-pedal threshold and damping that are set with custom setup. I’m guessing in reality the cost will be the same whether it is done on a new or used shock anyway.

.blitz

simonp123 wrote:

Also waiting for some bit from CRC Do they EVER actually dispatch the same day like they "aim" to, not happened to me in the last 2 years

The trick is to order all the bits separately then they get picked and packed very quickly. Case in point: I ordered some post-ride casualty bits on Sunday and an hour later ordered something else I'd forgotten. The first order is still 'processing' but the second order has been delivered

Anyway...my take on shocks is that none of them work properly from new and a (relatively) inexpensive routine rebuild is all they need.

simonp123

I foolishly thought that choosing the Special Delivery option would mean it got done ASAP (like Wiggle's priority postage), but no, so you get next day transportation, but not actually sent any quicker, seems pointless.

.blitz

Don't forget they also have a list of people they don't like

simonp123

.blitz wrote:

Don't forget they also have a list of people they don't like

I think I'm on everyone's list like that :roll:

IBISMojoHDamon

I got my RP23 on my Intense 6.6 (since sold) Pushed and to me it felt better, I only did it as it needed a service and I thought, whilst it was off, it was a good idea.... Seems expensive seeing as the RP23 get's good enough reviews when tested as a standard shock.

simonp123

IBISMojoHDamon wrote:

Seems expensive seeing as the RP23 get's good enough reviews when tested as a standard shock.

Trouble is these tests are always done by 11st whippets

jairaj

The RP23 has much adjustabilty than a float R. I'd give it a go first and let it bed in and get used to it before changing it. You'll be able to give the suspension tuners better feedback on what you want to change.

Anonymous

simonp123 wrote:

I foolishly thought that choosing the Special Delivery option would mean it got done ASAP (like Wiggle's priority postage), but no, so you get next day transportation, but not actually sent any quicker, seems pointless.

It's worse. Next day etc options actually make them take longer to ship it out the door! More complicated option for them I guess. Not that in my experience they ship anything at all for me the same day.

.blitz wrote:

Don't forget they also have a list of people they don't like

I'm certainly on it.

But anyway, there's been many a thread on this

On the original point, if the shock comes with the frame, in theory it's been tuned specific to the frame and shouldn't need changing. Do the custom tunes people do in these cases actually make a difference or is it perceived as better just because money has been paid and it comes back nice and shiny?

Not that I really understand what's the right set up with mine. It bounces and seems fine, but could it be better? Don't know.

lawman

It depends on just how bothered you are with the bikes performance, I've said from day one with the Mojo that it lacks abit of mid-stroke support... its just how bothered you are by it, and if you even notice it at all.

Anonymous

I wouldn't know what mid-stroke support is or how it should feel anyway. Think I'd need to compare a lot of suspensions to see what the difference is. I just know it feels plusher on the new bike with the RP23 compared to the RP2 I had on the old bike, though the main thing for me is the front suspension.

lawman

deadkenny wrote:

I wouldn't know what mid-stroke support is or how it should feel anyway. Think I'd need to compare a lot of suspensions to see what the difference is. I just know it feels plusher on the new bike with the RP23 compared to the RP2 I had on the old bike, though the main thing for me is the front suspension.

plush suspension isn't always a good thing in my book, too plush just feels soft and bouncy, I like to have good small bump compliance, to take the vibrations away, then a progressive rate to bottom out, to take big hits and hold speed through corners. A lot of people don't know what their suspension should feel like or how they like it, they just pump it and set the rebound and go, which is a waste of all the options that are available. off the shelf bikes and frames have shocks tuned for the masses, and people run into traits they don't like pretty quickly. Its the yanks that piss me off, over on MTBR they really do eat marketing shit for breakfast... Just because they don't like the feel of say a stock rp23, they'll go out and buy an inferior shock and get it tuned, rather than just getting the existing shock tuned for their weight and style, most common one is swapping 2012 kashima rp23's for monarch's, the monarch is a good shock, but a tuned rp23 would blow it out the water! even saw an intense carbine Sl the other day on there that weighed 22lbs with a fox 36 and mega light wheels... try and work out how that makes any sense?!