Advice on setting up my Voodoo Bantu forks

sk4tec

Hi guys,

I've bought a Voodoo Bantu from lots of research and for my budget it was the best bike in my budget. I've found the ride harder than I would like and and compensating by running lower air pressure in the tyres. The real problem is that the shock 'spring' rate is too high for my body weight.

I've read a lot about sag and have had a look on Suntour website. I get the basic principle on using a shock pump to set the sag and how to measure sag.

The confusion arose when I looked up the manual. This is what I think the Bantu has:

http://www.srsuntour-cycling.com/index.php?screen=sh.detail&tnid=3265

on the RHS of the folk you can see where you might attach the shock pump. But downloading the manual and looking at the exploded views is very confusing The exploded diagrams show a 'main spring' - in that case this shock doesn't have an 'air spring' :? (is it just a case of wrong pdf's on the site?)

In any case on Halfords site (http://answers.halfords.com/answers/402 ... stions.htm) the question gets asked if the shock ("spring") is adjustable - the halfords team responds with a yes, you need a shock pump.

Ok, so the shock is adjustable for spring rate (but the Suntour manual isn't much help on how to do this!). I've read that some air shocks have two air chambers one for spring and another for dampening. Does the Bantu have two or one?

Could someone tell me how to use the shock pump (and not mess it up!) - where does it connect?

Thanks in advance

nicklouse

so what fork is it?

pics of YOUR fork. what does it have on the tops and bottoms of the legs?

that for you linked to is for a 29er and your bike is a 26".

that for comes in two versions coil or air.

sk4tec

nicklouse wrote:

so what fork is it?

pics of YOUR fork. what does it have on the tops and bottoms of the legs?

that for you linked to is for a 29er and your bike is a 26".

that for comes in two versions coil or air.

So the Halfords website states the folks are:
120mm Suntour Raidon air suspension fork with lockout

I didn't know the relevance of 29, but yes you right my bike is a regular 26" wheel'd bike. Which means this is what I think I have:

http://www.srsuntour-cycling.com/index. ... &tnid=3278

The manual is still a bit generic and assumes I know where to attach the pump to. Looking at the exploded diagram I would guess that the pump would attach to the bottom of the RHS folk or (the RHS top but the dust cover seems like its not meant to come off).

Thanks for helping (you know how it is when you have a new hobby everything looks the same!)

The only pic I have of bike at the moment:

sk4tec

duplicate post - sorry!

cooldad

According to the site you linked to the valve is under the cover on top of the left fork leg.

anj132

sk4tec wrote:

Looking at the exploded diagram I would guess that the pump would attach to the bottom of the RHS folk or (the RHS top but the dust cover seems like its not meant to come off).

I've got a hoodoo with a raidon fork although not the exact same fork and I'm assuming it's similar but that dust cap at the top of the fork unscrews and you'll find the schrader valve (car tyre type) to attach the shock pump to (on the halfords website it appears to be on the LHS). The otherside is the lockout.

sk4tec

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll take a look at the dust cap and see if it comes off.

I was starting to feel a bit disappointed with my Bantu and thinking I should have bought a Specialized HardRock Disc. But clearly my shocks aren't tailored for me. It hardly compresses over normal trail riding (only riding off a kerb does it have the energy to compress the shocks).

anj132

Yeah forks were quite hard in the hoodoo too. Don't make the mistake I did and let the air out without a shock pump and try re-pumping with a foot pump, it just doesn't work!

heez29

It'll just have too much air in there.

The Rookie

They are Forks, not folks or shocks.....

The adjuster on the bottom of the RHS is the damper, not air spring.

You cannot adjust it without a high pressure shock pump, a normal pump won't do it.

supersonic

You need a pump! And to work out how the fork works. Persevere, the bike is 100x better than a hardrock, which has a fork out of the dark ages.

Some models do have the valve at the bottom of the leg. Find the valve, set sag, bed in, ride, experiment.

nicklouse

like i said.

We need to see what YOU have.

still waiting for the requested pics.

sk4tec

Right, all done!

Dropped into the Halfords and had a look at other Bantu's. It turns out that some Bantu forks adjust from the top and some from the bottom (stating the bleedin' obvious I know!). The confusion was that I found a knob at the bottom of my forks which I incorrectly guessed was the rebound dampening. I didn't wan't to mess with it as I wanted it left at factory. Turns out it was the dust cap for the air forks and the rebound dampening is a fixed spring :oops:

What took 30 mins of faffing would now take 5 mins. I thought that I could let a 'little' bit of air out manually - wrong! So I needed a second trip to Halfords to buy a shock pump. I've got bang on the sag I need 24mm and its a really comfy ride.

I've pumped the tyres up to 40 psi and the whole bike rides differently. The shocks actually work and the tyres roll better!

Thanks for the help guys, I'm looking forward to going out for a ride after work tomorrow 8)

cooldad

It's FORKS FFS.

Bantu folks would be some negroid people from Africa.

sk4tec

cooldad wrote:

It's FORKS FFS.

Bantu folks would be some negroid people from Africa.

Lack of sleep, sorry

The Rookie

A coil damper.......nope.......

sk4tec

The Beginner wrote:

A coil damper.......nope.......

Thanks

anj132

sk4tec wrote:

Right, all done!

Dropped into the Halfords and had a look at other Bantu's. It turns out that some Bantu forks adjust from the top and some from the bottom (stating the bleedin' obvious I know!). The confusion was that I found a knob at the bottom of my forks which I incorrectly guessed was the rebound dampening. I didn't wan't to mess with it as I wanted it left at factory. Turns out it was the dust cap for the air forks and the rebound dampening is a fixed spring :oops:

What took 30 mins of faffing would now take 5 mins. I thought that I could let a 'little' bit of air out manually - wrong! So I needed a second trip to Halfords to buy a shock pump. I've got bang on the sag I need 24mm and its a really comfy ride.

I've pumped the tyres up to 40 psi and the whole bike rides differently. The shocks actually work and the tyres roll better!

Thanks for the help guys, I'm looking forward to going out for a ride after work tomorrow 8)

Glad to hear it's working much better for you! Yeah letting air out manually just doesn't work that well.

Mix it up with air pressure to see what works for you. I generally run mine at 30 PSI in the woods and sometimes lower if I've not checked them for a while but running at say 20 PSI is risking more of a chance of getting a pinch flat.

Enjoy your wet ride, I'm starting to miss those dry trails!