|   Hey BigRichDL (Tomac204) | SSMike
Oct 3, 2001 5:15 PM | | Hiyas Rich,
I finally got my 204 and was building it up today. I just got back from Interbike, and got to meet and talk to John and Doug about the frame, but I regretfully didn't ask them about setup.
They accidentally sent my frame with the Manitou shock, which I think I'm just going to run and replace when it finally blows up. I installed a 550 pound spring like you suggested, but I think the sag is bigtime excessive. How much sag is ideal, in your experience? With no preload I have like 3-3.5 inches of sag! I'm going to order a 600 and 650 from Fox and play around with it.
On that note, the Fox spring it came with doesnt fit into the shock as precisely as I'd like, it seems to knock around a little. Did you experience that?
Also, it looks like there is an air assist on the shock. What pressure did you run that at, and what compression and rebound settings were you at, approximately? The damn shock came with no manual, and I have no experience with it, obviously.
Thanks a bunch, and congrats on your new family member!! Mike |
| re: Hey BigRichDL (Tomac204) | Mr Tomac
Oct 6, 2001 6:36 AM | | I have a 204('00 model) but shock setup is about the same. Firstly, the 204 is designed to run with a manitou bazooka shock. The rear suspension rate and shock valving are designed to mate and produce correct dampning. Changing the shock will result in poor performance. Fox 2.75' travel shocks are designed for 9' travel bikes - using one would over dampen your'e rear suspension.
Spring rate is determined mostly by you're weight(contact customer support at tomac - www.tomac.com) and if you are an aggressive rider, you could opt for a slightly heavier spring. Don't listen to anyone elces settings unless they are the same weight as you.
Sag should be between 15-33% of the travel depending on riding style and coarses. It should be acheived within 1-2 turns of preload. If not, you need a diffenent spring.
The spring should not knock around at all, however if you do not have enough preload, it will clunk like a bastard. Make sure the spring has 2.75' travel minimum.
Don't dare touch the shreider valve on the shock! it is the resivoir for nitrogen. It is only used when regassing and rebuilding the shock.
Compression and rebound settings - the only way you can set these up is by guess and check. take a peice of paper(i know you couldn't be bothered) and test and write down settings.
Hope this helps |
| re: Hey BigRichDL (Tomac204) | SSMike
Oct 6, 2001 4:06 PM | | While I appreciate your help, Rich and I are about the same weight and that is why I asked him about spring choice. The Manitou Bazooka shock is no longer even produced; for 01 and 02 the Tomac COMES with the Fox shock, so I guess they disagree with you about it messing up the suspension. At Interbike, Doug Bradbury himself suggested I look at a not yet released Fox shock on Marla Streb's bike, which had a new location for the rebound clicker (making it fit the Tomac better), so he must not realize it messes things up, either. Finally, I called Manitou about the rear shock a few days ago, and was told by Tech to just use a regular shock pump and charge it to 200 PSI, a standard setting for the Air-assist. It didn't seem to mess the shock up (there was about 60 psi in there before I pumped it) and actually made the rebound and compression damping feel tons more noticable adjustable. Also, its the interface between the Manitou shock and a Fox spring I was having problems with. It had nothing at all to do with too little preload. ~Mike |
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