You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I've got one of these previous generation Lyrik Ultimate's on my Druid. It's not doing it for me anymore.
On the plus side, it's very smooth and supple. It rides light and lively rather than being slow and heavily damped. It works very well on small bumps and tracks the ground perfectly.
The downside is that it rides really low in the travel. It was originally 160mm with the old style air spring which sits at 10% sag at rest. I've fitted the correct length shaft for the bike (150MM) with the updated air spring which is supposed to increase mid-stroke support. Now it sits at zero sag unloaded but I can't feel any difference in support. I still feel like I'm using all of the travel all of the time.
I've tried all the volume spacers. I feel like it just reduces the usefulness of the available travel. It still dives but then crashes into a wall of progression which makes it feel harsh on big hits. I might refit the 160mm shaft but keep the new piston to regain a bit of ride height.
When I got this fork (it came fitted to another bike) I was recovering from a lung infection and a hip injury. I was an absolute cabbage with a limp. I thought it was fine but now I'm getting fitter and I'm going back to steeper, rougher trails and uplift days and having the fork diving everywhere just feels dangerous. Or I can fit volume spacers and feel like I'm crashing into a bumper all the time.
If anyone is aware of any mods or upgrades available to make the Lyrik more supportive I'm all ears. Not like Smashpot money. Above a certain price bracket I'd rather just buy a new fork.
Alternatively: What is the best trail/lightish air fork available to mankind and where can I find one with 40% discount?
For context: I really miss the Ohlins RXF36 from my Privateer 141. I wish I'd kept that and sold the Lyrik. It used to ride much higher in the travel and take big hits with ease. I have the RXF38 on my party bike and that's the same. It's supple and supportive and takes drops and g-outs like a champ. They're both the best air forks I've ever ridden.
The new Lyrik in red looks mint but they're bloody expensive and I'm not convinced it'll solve my problem. I've always been Selva curious, maybe it's time to try one. There is a new RXF36 but there's no reviews anywhere yet. I'd have to wait for Black Friday and hope for the best if I wanted one of those.
On my 2020 170mm lyric I ended up using the foot nut off the C1 air shaft on the B1. I preferred the feel of the B1 but wanted the extra 10mm the C1 claimed to offer and mixing the two seemed to give the best of both. Might be worth a try before you spend any more money
My broken record response to fork dissatisfaction is to try custom tuning before shelling out four figures on new forks.
I've got some Charger 2.1 Lyriks and J-Tech's custom tuning transformed them. I've not ridden Ohlins to compare, but I can't say my Lyriks suffer from dive or lack of mid stroke support at all. Maybe at least worth a quick email to J-Tech or any other decent suspension specialist of your choice saying what you're looking for and enquiring if they can assist?
Of course, it might just turn out that you like Ohlins best, but maybe worth a try
I presume you’ve tried just adding more air so it’s firmer? Tokens only affect the end of the stroke so they never help with diving.
How much for the Lyriks ?
I presume you’ve tried just adding more air so it’s firmer? Tokens only affect the end of the stroke so they never help with diving.
Yes, I can't remember the numbers but I'm over what's recommended for my weight. I've tried higher and it ruins the initial sensitivity before it gains any useful support.
I'll look into custom tuning, I've never gone down that route before.
Sorry Weeksy, they're not for sale just yet!
I’ve got the older red 2021 Lyrik Ultimates which might be the same ones you have. I didn’t overly think it was divey but I fancied trying a Luftkappe in them. I’d say that has allowed me to run higher pressure (with no tokens in) which means they run higher in the travel, but the bigger negative spring means they are still supple over small stuff. I only have Pikes Ultimates of the same vintage to compare to and clearly the Lyriks are more plush than those are.
It’s easy to find a Luftkappe to buy I found, but you need to track down the original debonair air shaft to bolt it on - I.e not the B1 or C1 with the red anodised bits. TF Tuned managed to locate me one last year.
CC Helm Coil is very supportive and not much heavier than an air Lyrik IIRC. Works really well for medium-to-heavier riders and when ridden fast.
Which damper version Lyrik do you have? I found the Charger 2.1 Lyrik with the original airshaft was a fab fork, if I kept on top of lowers services.
I miss when forks had user adjustable negative air chambers.
I like this idea...
https://diazsuspensiondesign.com/shop/rockshox-pike-non-boost-2blxj-8wxdn-s864a-ylare-w3ry2
This turns the air leg into a dual chamber positive/negative set up. Graphs look good in terms of improved support.
Is that similar to what the MRP Ramp Control does? Or was that just effectively an adjustable on the fly volume spacer?
Yeah the MRP thing is like a tuneable bottom out control. Not really what I'm after.
In fact there's a graph that overlays the Runt over the MRP but I can't find it.
TBH I've never used a charger damper fork that I really liked, and Rockshox seem to switch around and tweak their airsprings constantly which seems like an admisison that they never quite get it right... But the aftermarket has a ton of fixes. Luftkappe made my Pikes pretty good when before they kinda sucked. The Runt seems really clever, I thought about it for a long time but just didn't want to invest money in an air spring in the end. And the dampers can be made to perform pretty differently. The trouble is you've got to both know exactly what you want, and also find someone that will actually do it (harder than it sounds, I spoke for about 20 minutes to a suspension tuner once, let's call them "FT" and they ignored every word and sent back the fork worse than it was) and products that actually do what they're supposed to.
IMO every long travel fork ever made can be made better with a coil spring. It's expensive,sure, but imo just totally worth it, we're in a really odd place now where probably more bikes than ever come with coil shocks but coil forks have almost died out, it's just back to front. I'm riding around on what's mostly a 2015 Fox 36, with a mildly tuned damper and a smashpot, and I'd take that over almost any other fork I've ever used, it's about as good as my favourite fork ever the old mission control lyrik was. So yeah expensive in parts but it's meant I've kept a fork for years, I've been through at least 5 frames in the same time.
I also wish coil forks were more available. It does seem backwards.
My Airdrop is Ohlins air front and coil rear and I'm totally happy with it. It's probably improvable but it's so good I'm not bothered.
The Druid however, with it's air shock and high pivot is so good that it makes the fork feel terrible in comparison. It's driving me to distraction every time I ride it. I need to balance it out. If the front can match the rear I'll be a very happy man because the frame is awesome.
To be fair I think coil just doesn't sell well to civilians, and not at all to OEMs, who're really the only customers that matter. The people who buy 10000 forks mostly want them to feel good in an in-shop bounce test, and to work well for fat dentists riding red routes on enduro bikes but who still want to use all the travel, and fair enough really.
I mean, I am about as much of a coil fetishist as you get but I've only bought one new fork in 10 years and that was in a sale, there's no point marketing a coil 38 to me cos I won't buy it anyway, it's maybe just a job best left to the aftermarket who cater better to overly specific nerds. Companies dabble in it but it's probably just not worth it.
I run a Chickadeehill AWK (similar to the Runt but from Germany) in a 150mm 2019 Lyrik with a custom tuned Charger 2 damper.
reasonable money. Easy to fit and lots and lots of adjustability.
25% sag. Very supple and nice on small chatter but lots of support later on.
sounds like it might be helpful getting a similar feeling to the rear of your High Pivot.
What about that magic activated carbon foam thingy? That’s meant to make forks more linear.
(air springs do some absolutely mind-bending thermodynamics as the piston moves)
The Trutune is intriguing and works really well by all accounts. It seems to be about reducing progression and allowing easier access to the travel throughout the stroke. I think I need the opposite of that, without the crude harshness of just packing in lumps of plastic.
Manitou Mattocs and Mezzers have the IRT which sound similar to that RUNT.
There's Zebs on Merlin for £299. Well, there may be as long as they had more than 1 set 😀
I don't want to go any bigger or heavier than a Lyrik really. I've already got a bikepark/uplift bike and I'm trying to keep this as my pedally trail bike and resist the urge to overbuild it.
I don't want to go any bigger or heavier than a Lyrik really. I've already got a bikepark/uplift bike and I'm trying to keep this as my pedally trail bike and resist the urge to overbuild it.
My LBS has an air shaft to take them down to 160 he can throw in, so i'm still within my frames limits.
I don't want to go any bigger or heavier than a Lyrik really. I've already got a bikepark/uplift bike and I'm trying to keep this as my pedally trail bike and resist the urge to overbuild it.
Manitou Mezzer is comparable weight to a Lyrik but is stiffer than a 38 or Zeb (apparently). I've got one at 140mm on a trail bike and it's not out of place, weighs 2030g. IRT allows lots of tweaking from standard and there's lots of aftermarket options for tuning internals. Also (internally) adjustable between 140-180mm travel so future proof potential there too should bikes change - what's what I told myself when buying them.