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I've not seen anything on STW about the comparison of current damper tech. What do people consider the Damper tech du jour?
I've a new frame on order (Stanton Slackline GEN3) and am looking for a new 27.5" 140mm travel fork. It somewhat depends on what forks are available but I do also want the best option I can get for the money.
1. Are these style of damper better than the rail dampers?
2. Is the upgrade in flexible bladder to solid chamber worth the extra cost?
Marzocchi z2 have the rail damper where as the Z1's have the FIT GRIP as per Fox fox's which is supposed to be better. (Although the Z1's start at 150mm travel)
The RockShox Pike or Lyrik seem to be more available in 140 and 27.5 but the older Charger 2.1 flexible bladder is the most obtainable and at less cost. Am I fixating on this too much. (FYI old Pikes and Lyriks are not upgradable to Charge 3 dampers).
What are you riding and what do you think of them?
How much are you looking to spend? I'm running 34's on my hardtail with the grip damper and I really like them. They don't have much adjustment but they just work.
I previously had Mattoc's (now on my full sus) which were also great but had far more adjustment.
I think any decent modern fork will work well as long as it's set up and maintained properly
I didn’t think there was much in it between the rail and basic grip damper - both are supposed to be ok.
The charger 2.1 is better than both and works well. I have a 140 Pike Ultimate and a 160mm Lyrik Ultjmate both with an rc2 2.1 charger and they’re both decent.
In terms of grip 2 they are supposed to have the edge on the charger 2.1. Not sure vs the charger 3 which has completely changed style of damper (gone from a bladder damper to an ifp arrangement).
Ultimately on a 140mm fork on a hardtail there are some fine margins here between all of them I think. I went with a Pike but a 34 performance elite would probably have been very similar.
If going a rung down in suspension price I’d go fox over rockshox if the RS has motion control damping.
I’d also go fox 34 rhythm over Z2 because the latter has had some bushing problems in some forks and the bushings are molded into the lowers and can’t be replaced.
Currently on a pike ultimate with charger 2.1. Previously had a fox 34 rhythm with the grip damper (and before that a long line of forks with motion control)
One thing I noticed with the pike over the 34 (straight swap same bike same trails) was it felt more supportive. Less divey. I didn’t really feel the 34 was divey before. Could probably have improved the 34 by fiddling with pressure and tokens etc. But adjustment on the 34 was good and useful. Simple enough for me to understand and made a noticeable difference between open and locked out.
The pike ultimate has of course got all the bells and whistles with hsc and lsc adjustment. I’m running it with hsc open and lsc only a couple of clicks from open.
And actually I sometimes think a lockout would be nice. But then I notice it’s not bobbing very much.
So long story short, they may be different in feel but none will be “bad”. I think you are paying more for adjustability which I personally don’t seem to need. Horses for courses of course.
Wouldn’t go near the Z2 myself… too many corners cut. Z1 on the other hand is the fit and forget and ride and ride choice. Grip damper (in Marz & Fox) is great for people who want to just get on and ride, rather than fiddle.
Charger 2.1 and Grip 2 much more adjustable. Do you really care about that? Grip 2 probably more robust… Charger 3 isn’t really a Charger damper, it’s a whole new design, I strongly suspect to give RockShox something more durable to go up against Marz/Fox.
Can’t help with comparisons really, I’ve got a 2.1 charger to upgrade a 2 but haven’t done it yet.
But, just to hopefully help with the build, did you see these from a previous PSA?
https://www.airdropbikes.com/collections/outlet
My recent comparison is the basic fit damper in my fox 40's feels leagues above the supposedly better 2.1 damper in my boxxer.
I’ve gone for the 2023 pikes with Charger V3.
Watching some videos on maintenance and the new internals, the Charger V3 and DeonAir+ Etc look very functional and easy ti maintain.
We’ll have to see how they ride now….better than my knackered Fusion’s!
Grip 2 damper has small amount of damping and a tiny range of adjustment. 2.1 and 3 have basically the same damping.