|   Imagine you are a 100 pound woman... | mr_spin
Oct 13, 2003 2:40 PM | | This is a strange question, but what's a good shock for a 100-pound woman?
I'm sure any shock will do, but at that weight, it doesn't seem like she activates very much of the shock she has (2001 SID SL). She's getting a new bike, and I'm thinking it doesn't make sense to drop a lot of cash on a high end fork if she's only going to get an inch of compression out of it. Plus, she's not into technical stuff anyway.
Am I wrong? |
| OK, speaking from personal experience.... | FM or MF
Oct 13, 2003 3:02 PM | | the best fork for a 100 lb woman, is whatever her husband/boyfriend rode last season! |
| I would contact GoRide.com and ask them same Q... | Destroy
Oct 13, 2003 3:59 PM | | ..the tech guys there will know what make frt forks come avail with super soft springs. I would not go air shocks btw. |
| coil with air assist would be the ticket... | zedro
Oct 13, 2003 4:36 PM | | i havent heard of any stock spring setup that would be soft enough. The usual solution is to use one coil on a dual coil fork, and perhaps use an air assist cap on the non-coil leg (Marz forks have those options). |
| My 100lb girlfriend is riding a Manitou Black Comp with | DIRT BOY
Oct 13, 2003 4:58 PM | | soft springs. She can bottom out the travel on a decent hit.
I got the springs from speedgoat for $30.
These forks can be had very cheap now.
DIRT BOY
 Largest Gallery of Light Weight Bikes |
| My girlfriend is 110 and riding a Judy... | Mario
Oct 13, 2003 6:20 PM | | Had to install the lightest springs and 2.5 weight oil. Works fine, she uses most of the travel while riding technical singletracks.
Good luck, please let us know what you buy, we want to change her fork soon. |
| re: Imagine you are a 100 pound woman... | Dougal
Oct 15, 2003 12:48 AM | | Pretty much any fork can be setup properly for a lighter rider. If she's currently only getting an inch from the sid, why not lower the air pressure?
As the guys said below, lighter springs and thinner oil will do the trick to almost anything. But pick something reasonably light first, she won't need a 5lb fork.
Dougal.co.nz |
| re: Imagine you are a 100 pound woman... | bikerx40
Oct 15, 2003 7:30 AM | | The one exception that I've found is on my wife's 2001 Sid 100. This fork uses air for the positive spring and a coil negative spring. The problem I have is that the negative spring is too stiff. At the low pressure that my wife requires (around 30 psi) the negative spring pulls the fork into compression and effectively makes the fork a 63mm travel model.
When I add air to the fork so that I can test ride her bike, the extra air in the fork overcomes the negative spring and the fork raises up significantly. At 80-90 psi, I am able to achieve the full travel. I am kind of disappointed that I can't get full travel for her 120lbs, because it would balance her suspension better if she could get at least 80mm (it's a santa cruz juliana). My only thought is to look for a lighter spring to replace it (rock shox doesn't make one as far as I know).
-Ryan |
| Another option.... | Lucky
Oct 15, 2003 10:19 AM | | for both you and Mr_Spin would be the Total Air Cartidges, if they are made for those forks. I have those in an ancient RS Quad 21R, and they made a reasonable fork out of it. They are also the stock internals for White Brothers' air forks. Unfortunately, I forgot the manufacturer's new name. They used to be called Englund. Maybe someone else remembers....
Kathy |
| Maybe.... | Dougal
Oct 15, 2003 2:27 PM | | I think I remember those sid's having a negative spring in each side. If you remove one it may solve the problem.
Dougal.co.nz |
| Keep the SID | Low_bias
Oct 15, 2003 8:36 AM | | I'd try to get that SID SL adjusted with maybe some lighter negative springs and see if she can stick with that. It is the lightest fork available, and all she'll ever need structurly. Weight is very important for a 100 pounder, as bike weight is a bigger proportion of her own weight. Having her on a 25 pound bike would feel about the same as a 50 pound bike feels to a 200 pound guy, or a 37.5 pound bike for a 150 pound guy. Every gram counts double for somebody so small.
If you get rid of the SID, give me a call- I'll get it for my wife if the price is right and the steerer tube long enough. |
| I'm a little more than that... | Lucky
Oct 15, 2003 10:10 AM | | and have an '00 Sid XC on my Titus RacerX. I know a few women lighter than me that use the same fork with good results. No problem with travel, but it's got the hydra-air internals. The XC uses air for positive spring only, so it's not quite the same thing as her SL. Still, I'd play around with the air in both chambers before I'd give up on the Sid SL. Go by sag and not by the tables in the manual. She may be off the chart at 100 lbs. I have a Fox Talas on another bike, and have to run the air pressure below the recommended pressure for my weight in order to get the sag correct and get full travel. BTW, I definitely wouldn't recommend a Talas for anyone under 120lbs.
Kathy |
| I'm a little more than that... | bikerx40
Oct 15, 2003 10:58 AM | | My wife's fork is actually the 2001 Sid 100, which is not a Sid SL. The Sid 100 is the longer travel version of the Sid XC. It also used the Hydra-coil system with air only used for positive chamber (spring rate). The negative spring is not adjustable- it's just a coil spring.
I spoke to a former Rock Shox tech guy (Hippie Tech, here in boise) and I asked him if there was a way to convert the negative spring to an air negative spring. He didn't think that would be possible without completely changing all/many of the internals. Not exactly cost effective.
My wife gets the proper amount of sag, but the problem is that the negative spring is overpowering the positive air pressure and pulls the fork down to 60-70mm of max possible travel.
I haven't really tried searching for a lighter spring to replace the negative spring, but maybe I'll get ambitious this winter.
-Ryan |
| Should be an easy fix. | jw25
Oct 16, 2003 8:44 AM | | At the low positive pressure you're using, you could probably lose the negative spring entirely without much ill effect. I think it serves as a topout buffer, so you might want to put something in there, like a piece of Manitou topout/bottomout bumper, or go with a lighter spring.
While the SID 100 is pretty light by most standards, what other people have said about light parts for light riders is very true. You can cruise Ebay and probably get a SID SL or Race for very little, and both of those have an air negative spring. Put the 100 up for sale, and you'll probably recoup your investment.
Or check swap meets - I recently got a newly rebuilt, shop-tech owned 2002 SID SL for $30. Crazy, no?
Forgot to mention, it might be worth it to change the oil weight as well. I think the 100 used 15 weight oil stock, same as the 2000 SID XC I own. I used 10 weight oil when rebuilding it, and found compression to be softer, but rebound can be adjusted back to a slower speed pretty easily. At 100 lbs, you might try 5 weight oil. The softer compression will allow her to use more of the travel, and gives you more setup options.
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| Should be an easy fix. | bikerx40
Oct 16, 2003 11:09 AM | | Thanks for the recommendations. Her fork is due for a rebuild anyway, so I might try to gain a better understanding of how it all works. I think a little experimentation may be in order.
I'll try and take it apart today and see if removing/replacing the negative spring is even possible.
-Ryan |
| Should be an easy fix. | bikerx40
Oct 17, 2003 9:09 AM | | Okay, tried some experimenting yesterday. Went to the hardware store and bought a lighter spring rate spring to replace the stiff negative spring. Filled the fork with 10w oil (instead of 15w) and put 30 psi of air in the fork.
Result was too much stiction. The replacement negative spring was unable to overcome the positive pressure and it felt really sticky. I tried to lower the pressure to 25-30, but it still felt sticky. With the lighter neg spring, I was getting full 100mm travel though!
So, I pulled the fork apart again, removed the light neg spring and put the stock spring back in. Put the 10w oil back in, and air at 30psi. We went riding last night and she got 82mm of travel. Much better than the 67-70mm with the 15w oil. The rebound feel lighter too- much better tuneable range for her weight.
One interesting effect with the 10w oil was that the axle to crown height was about 10mm higher?! My only thought is that I had too much oil in the bottom of stanchion for the cartridge side, which caused a hydraulic lock and prevented full extension?
Anyway, I am going to leave it like it is and see how it goes. She said that the fork was noticably smoother on the descent, so the extra travel was noticable for her.
-Ryan |
| My comments on the Sid SL were for Mr_spin. | Lucky
Oct 17, 2003 6:40 AM | | The suggestion to change the oil sounds like it would be worth experimenting with. Another source for info would be www.angryasian.com. He's got lots of info on a variety of forks.
Kathy :^) |
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