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Is it true these are basically Bombers Z2's in Fox branding? I've been after some sus forks for ages, and was willing to spend around 400-500 quid. I saw the 32's going for under 250 quid, so have ordered a pair. I thought I was getting a steal but having done research, seems that the rhythms are different to the performance line although I'm assuming they can't be that bad as they ship with pretty decent midrange mtbs. Any tips for setting them up? Any reason I'll be disappointed? The only other shocks I've owned were a pair of Rebas.
In my experience, Rhythms are brilliant. I have had them on various bikes over the years and when they come up aftermarket (which is rare),I tend to snap them up.
No fancy tuning, but if you want to just get out and ride, they are fab. You have binary settings, but the chassis is stiff, they bounce up and down and you can tune enough plenty enough to your weight and ride preference. You lose a little in terms of materials, finishing and coating, but honestly, it's very hard to fault them on the trail.
Set up is easy. Get your air weight right, set the rebound rate according to your weight (always slower than you think when stationary) and decide how active you want them.There are only three setting for that (open, closed and somewhere in the middle). Just set them to open and go out and enjoy!
I got the chance to replace mine with some fancy Factory forks after 1 ride so I happen to have a set of 130mm 34s for sale for £200 if anybody is interested. Just about to post them in the classifieds.
Thanks, really good to know! Sounds like they'll be perfect for what I need them for.
Merlin bikes have 100mm for 250 quid if anyone's interested.
Fox 34 is the equivalent of a Z2, the 32 is slimmer.
As above, Rhythms have the grip damper which is functionally actually pretty good - but compared to the performance line they use different alloy for the upper tubes and the lowers are a simpler heavier casting.
I'd take them over a motion control damped Rockshox (Reba etc).
My rythms have a blue lever with no clicks. I thought clicks was the performance range? Some Googling suggests the z2 is the same air spring but less sophisticated damper
Remove the detents and the grip damper essentially has infinite compression adjustment between open and closed. The indexing off the fit4 damper is actually a bit hit or miss as to wether or not it lines up correctly with its intended mid position.
The downside is the added weight due to thicker (iirc) stanchions and older "squared" lowers but still a great value fork.