RockShox Sektor silver 140 / Monarch RT help

Nik Gnashers

Hi all,
New to the forum, it looks a great community.
I am returning to biking after a long break, but used to ride a lot in the 90's.
I have just bought a 2015 Felt Virtue 50, which I am happy with
I am slightly out of touch with modern suspension, so asking kindly for some advice on setting up my Sektor Silver 140mm front fork, and Monarch RT rear.
I am buying a shock pump tomorrow, but the adjustments on both front and rear are a little confusing. There is a lockout level which doesn't seem to lock the fork stiff, also a grooved knob on the top (not sure what it does or which way to turn it for what adjustment), also something on the bottom of one of the fork legs.
The rear is also confusing me, with a hare/tortoise adjustment ? and lock lever.
I cannot find anything online that explains the adjustments, so I am hoping you guys can help out an old timer
Many thanks for any replies,
Nik

cooldad

The dealer should have given you the manuals. Ask for them.
Lock out doesn't lock the forks.
Knob on top is presumably preload if coil or compression damping if air.
On bottom rebound adjustment. Hare for faster (less damping), tortoise for more damping.

Nik Gnashers

Thank you cool dad,
I have twisted the knob on the top of the front fork, and it is simply a cover for the valve (for the air chamber), so that now makes sense.
Lockout is a cable from the other top front fork leg, to a lever on the bars, but I was confused as it doesn't lock the fork. Am I to assume lockout doesn't lock the fork, and if so, what actually does it do lol ?
The flat plastic knob on the bottom of the fork (thanks for the info) is the rebound then, sweet. Not sure which way to turn it for fast/slow but I will work it out, thanks.
The bike came from Wheelies, and had the manuals for both front and back shocks, but there is no info on what any of the adjustments do, as the guide is simply a general sram forks guide, and doesn't detail one particular model.
The hare/tortoise now makes sense for the rear shock, and the lockout lever doesn't lock the rear shock either, so still not sure what it does exactly
Thanks for the reply though, helped me a lot,
Nik

cooldad

Firms them up, but doesn't lock them up. They still have a bit of movement, and a blow off so they don't break if you forget to unlock and hit a big bump.

As for the rebound, looking from underneath, clockwise should increase the damping (slow the rebound).

Set the sag with the air (20/25%) then set the rebound roughly in the middle, and experiment. Too little damping and the forks will pogo over bumps, too much and they'll pack down (not return quick enough) over a series of bumps.

Nik Gnashers

Thank you, very helpful

Roll on Sunday, when I can get out and set it up !

Nik Gnashers

Looking at the bottom of my front forks, one side is 'open' and just had the nut inside to hold them together, but the other 'leg' has a plastic knob which is flat and doesn't look like a rebound adjustment.
Has anyone any idea what it is for please ?

I have looked on the sram website, and there is no option to email and ask advice !
(The website also has a 'security error' too lol).....

Thanks for any help,
Nik

The Rookie

The rebound damper is on the right hand leg (as you sit on the bike), by convention spring is in the left leg, damping the right leg.

Nik Gnashers

Many thanks Rookie !

I had a good look this morning, and there is a very small hare/tortoise sticker on the inside of the fork leg !
So it is a rebound adjustment, but just different to the older style gnurled round knob adjusters. It is a long flat plastic thing, bit flimsy really, but it did click a few times each way, so I have set it

I also pumped the front and rear up with my new shock pump, I weigh just over 13st, and put 110psi in the front, and 170psi in the rear, and got a 23% sag for both.

Many thanks for all your help guys, now I am actually going to ride the damn thing

Nik

Rear shock system is a work of art for a cheapish bike :

Nik Gnashers

Just an update to this

Managed to get out for a few rides now, and the bike has been very good no issues with reliability of any of the parts so far.
I did notice, on the first couple of rides, that the riding position was slightly cramped. This, coupled with the slight design fault of fitting a long dropper seatpost into a frame which has a kink in the seat-tube, thus not allowing it to go into the frame enough for the dropper to sit anywhere near low enough for me to reach the pedals. And being a cheap none-remote post (e-ten) I didn't trust it sitting 'halfway' up (and it weighed a ton too), prompted me to replace the seatpost with a standard one (a Thompson layback).
This has had two benefits, 1) it's a LOT lighter (about half a Kilo), and 2) the layback has given me more room in the 'cockpit' if you'll pardon the expression.
I also replaced the shitty pedals with some Shimano saints, put the longer bolts in, and all is good.
It rides great in my opinion, the front/back suspension is very even/balanced and seems to work in unison now I have dialled in the right sag & rebound speeds. It seems to climb well too, not much 'bounce' at all.
The only thing I would change now, is the gearing. I have not used the 'granny ring' yet, as the middle ring coupled with the large end of the cassette is extremely low geared anyway, plenty for any climb. I may ditch it and go 2 X 10 ...
Glad I made the choice of the Felt now, it suits me great, I am McLovin' it 8)

rockmonkeysc

2x10 keeps the granny ring and middle. If you never use the granny go 1x10 and ditch the front derailleur.
Big rings are useless off road and just end up getting bent or broken.

Nik Gnashers

RockmonkeySC wrote:

2x10 keeps the granny ring and middle. If you never use the granny go 1x10 and ditch the front derailleur.
Big rings are useless off road and just end up getting bent or broken.

Thank you for the advice.

If I am honest, the granny ring is useless, but even off-road the middle ring is useless unless I am climbing.
In an ideal situation, I need the middle ring on the inside of the chainset, and the large ring on the middle as a 2 X 10.
I suspect, where you live, the terrain is a lot more challenging and fun, but where I live there are no really extreme trails and it is mainly fast singletrack with large sweeping / rolling jumps, and so the large ring is NOT an issue for my situation at all. In fact, I could quite happily go larger on the big ring ........