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At 95kg I am running 100psi in a 160mm Yari with no tokens and it feels great. I would experiment with a little more air before reaching for tokens.
Debating if to get this upgrade on my 160 Yari as it's so cheap. To be fair being 15 stone, plenty of support in a stock Yari for me with two tokens. They also are pretty plush on slow trail stuff and I don't need to run more than 1 click of LSC. Hoping the upgrade will make things a little plusher on small to medium hits (general fast trail chatter).
Anyone else's fork making more rebound whoosh noise ?
They also seem to be sucked down 10mm into the travel.
Not sure it's made a massive difference to my 160mm Lyriks as they were good before I had it fitted.
60psi and 3 tokens before
75psi and 1 token after
Still trying to get the setup right tho
Possibly grease blocking wee transfer port? Common with pikes, not sure about lyriks though.
Mine suck down about 9mm too, but I have included the lost 9mm when setting sag and they ride really well. Since they ride higher in the travel now it ia a non issue, not noticed any noise though.
Finally got around to fitting mine at the weekend. Simple 20 minute job. Was running 65psi and one token before with zero tokens after. However I've had to stay at 65psi to keep the sag at 30%.
I've still got the full 140mm travel - although there's not much spare stanchion when they bottom out. Adding the air bit by bit and pushing down slightly to allow the chambers to balance seems to ensure any travel loss in minimised.
Rode mine again yesterday - no tokens, 100psi and two clicks of LSC and they felt really good. This gives me 21/22% of sag. I found I was using more of the travel yesterday but not quite bottoming out.
Given my general dislike of Rock Shox forks, I've been impressed with the Yari's and Luftkappe so far.
Did the old cable tie down the seals trick on both sides and got my missing travel back.
So I've Luftkappe'd both my bikes and it did take a while to hone in on the best set-up for me but I'm always quite fussy about fork set-up. Both bikes have Pikes. On the hardtail I was running 140mm with 2 tokens and 15-20% sag. On the full-sus 150mm with 1 token and 15-20% sag. I've previously had the hardtail at 130mm with 3 tokens and the full-sus at 160mm with 0, 1 & 2 tokens and sag everywhere from 10-30%.
As recommended I started out with slightly higher pressures post-Luftkappe and thus similar sag. I removed both tokens from the hardtail and left the full-sis with none. Felt pretty good on the hardtail but once I got the full-sus onto some rocky trails they were too harsh and I had about 40mm of travel left after some fast rough descents.
Since then I've gradually lowered the pressures on both and taken the forks out another 10mm in travel, so 150 on the Zero AM and 160 on the Spitfire. I'm now running about 25% sag on both forks - they feel very plush initially but nice and firm in the midstroke - normally with a Pike you can't have both, either being plush but soft or firm but harsh. I'm only getting full travel when hucking the hardtail or screwing up on the full-sus but I'm getting to use most of the travel frequently, which feels like a good balance. The 10mm of extra travel cancels out the extra 5-10% of sag to keep the sagged geometry about the same (the geometry when riding hard is probably slacker due to the extra midstroke support).
Definitely worth adding a Luftkappe when doing a service, especially if you already have 2+ tokens in (easier to find your set-up if you're already used to that much progression on the spring). If you're less of a shredder or like your fork more linear feeling then you may need to run more sag to get a good feel.
Fitted a Luftkappe tonight, as well as taking the fork from 150 up to 160mm with a new air shaft. Test it out tomorrow on a nice big lumpy day, and report back.
How is everyone getting on with these compared to without them? Got one on back order for my 150mm 27.5 Pike.
I've had 3 rides on it now, though tbf the first one I mentioned in my previous post wasn't much of a ride, was more walking my bike along unrideable ridges for a day, in the rain and howling wind..
Anyhow, Noticeably better in the initial first maybe 20mm of travel, best described as having lost it's kinda stiction type feel. In terms of support, aye, defo seemed better, but it was really most noticeable when I took my other bike out last night, which also has a pike fitted, sans Luftkappe.
The lack of support and dive was far more apparent than I've ever noticed before.
I've a bit of fettling to do with the Pike that has the Luft fitted, as I also fitted a 160mm airshaft in there as well at the same time. I may reduce the air a little.
I been running mine for a few months now,had it fitted by TF during a service also upped the the travel to 160mm at the same time, I ran the higher pressure recommended by TF for quite a while , approx 95 PSI no tokens (I was running 85psi, no tokens), although felt great at times when things got really rough you could really feel it,dropped it back 5 psi until I was in my happy place again, Ive now settled back to around 85psi again but running a lot less LSC but still feel pretty supportive despite dropping the pressure.Still a worthy upgrade imo 🙂
With the stock pike my bike felt unbalanced with the coil shock. Afterfitting the luftkappe it was more balanced. However, I still found the pike overly damped in high speed hits. I replaced the pike with a mattoc pro with an IRT and it's much better that the stock pike and better than the pike with luftkappe.
[url= http://www.drpidgeon.co.uk/blog/fly-luftkappe-airways ]I've don an 'ickle blog of the fitting process..[/url]
..if you're interested!
Not ridden it yet as last night the wife was out, and kids in bed, so it was "red wine and fettle night" for DrP!!!
DrP
I just installed one of these into my 160mm Pike on my Capra,took the bike out for a quick 'urban' style test and really like what I'm feeling so far. Definately softer and easier to get moving into travel over smaller bumps and what I really like is now being able to run more pressure the end front of the bike is much easier to energize off the now more responsive and supportive feeling mid stroke and pop up for bunny hops etc etc .
I've gone from around 170psi with 2 tokens to 180 psi with none achieving around 25% sag.
Early days but I'm really impressed so far.
Do you mean 70 and 80psi?? 180 sounds an awful lot for a fork!!
180? Really?
Yeah good spot guys,bathing in my freshly aquired Luftkappe enthused RADness I did indeed add an extra digit -that digit is '1' before you ask 🙂
Went of r aride last night on my newly lufwaffere'd forks...
Really good..very supple in the first few cm of travel, but feel firmer mid stroke.
I normally lock (or at least mid click ) the RCT3 dial when climbing - didn't feel I needed to.
Plus in the singletrack and over jumps the forks just felt 'better' - hard to explain, but lovely!
Well worth it!
DrP
I've had a Luftkappe installed for a few weeks now - so far so (very) good. Noticeable reduction in chatter over the small stuff. Haven't really had much opportunity to test larger hits but I'm off to Morzine on Saturday so will report back on how that goes!
fitted mine today, not had chance to get out and test it yet. is it right that i can lift the wheel of the ground and then push the wheel down untill the fork tops out with a clunk? it takes a little pressure to make it clunk but i had just assumed the pneumatic top out would prevent that.
pumped it up as per intructions and have full travel its just when i push it down past full travel where the old top out bumper would of stopped it.
I wanna get one, and I also wanna increase my travel with a longer air shaft. is there somehere that can do the whole job in one hit?
Aye, you.
I did mine a few weeks back, it's really not a tough job at all, watch the vids for both a couple of times, and take your time.
I concur about taking your time and watch the video a few times. I had a first crack at it but missed the bit about putting the fork back together fully extended. Instead I accidentally ended up creating a negative air chamber and the fork sucked slightly down into it's travel. Took the fork apart, and put it back together exactly as per the video and all was good.
I wanna get one, and I also wanna increase my travel with a longer air shaft. is there somehere that can do the whole job in one hit?
I got TfTuned to fit luftkappe & 160mm air shaft when I sent them down for a service.
Finally got around to ordering the Luftkappe. Now scratching my head around Locktite, nailvarnish or other thread lock. Is the blue stick 248 OK to use? i can nip in to Halfords and grab that easy enough
I didn't bother tbh.
I used this
https://www.granvilleoil.com/prodInfo?pID=151
4 quid from halfords, had mine in for 6 months or so, not exploded yet
I used some from a blue stick, could well have 248, I can't remember. It was all I had and been going strong for a good few months.
Cheers chaps, will go with whatever is easily to hand.
All fitted, removing the old piston was a ball ache even with the golf grip clamp. In the end careful wrapping with an inner tube and a hair dryer sorted it. First ride tomorrow, removed all tokens and kept same PSI to set a base setting to work from
Well I got to say, it does exactly what it says on the tin. Small bump sensitivy massively improved over standard pikes, seems like more mid travel support and a nice ramp up even without tokens. Well chuffed, looking forward to playing with tokens and air pressure now to see how good I can make them
Still loving mine.
Stripped my fork for a service a little while ago - Kappe still safety in place and tight, used the blue glue stick.
Been running a single token, going to try token-less as soon as I can find the time to whip it out.
I still like mine too-I've found I have to run a fair bit more pressure though, to keep the front end ride height to where it was prior to fitting it.
I've gone from around 70 to 90 psi (160 pikes) to regain a standing sag of around 25%
I would like to try one, but i really dont want to be without my fork for a week or so when i inevitably phuckitup, nor be without it while its in transit to TF or wherever - Does anyone know of a good LBS that will sort it, either in Greater Manchester or Surrey area....
I would like to try one, but i really dont want to be without my fork for a week or so when i inevitably phuckitup, nor be without it while its in transit to TF or wherever
TFtuned will collect it one day, service it the next, and you'll have it back the next. Amazingly fast service!
yeah thanks, but they want an extra £22 in courier fee's, not to mention £158 to do the job!! i just wanna drop it in somewhere local and pick it a few hours later...
Thats for a service as well as fitting the part, the courier needs to pay their staff as well. Is it really that expensive?
Its not a difficult job to do yourself if you follow the online videos.
My LBS did it along with a basic fork service. It was the first one they'd done so took them a bit of time but they didn't charge much.
i have found a couple of places now where i can take it if i make a disaster of it, but for what they charge its definitely worth attempting it myself first...
just watched a couple of videos, feeling pretty confident.
only thing i dont have is any circlip pliers for removing the airspring - is there a bodge for this?
just watched a couple of videos, feeling pretty confident.only thing i dont have is any circlip pliers for removing the airspring - is there a bodge for this?
TBH removing it is one thing, getting the swine back in afterwards is ever harder even with the correct tool.
No excuse when they're this cheap
https://www.maplin.co.uk/p/circlip-plier-set-a45qw
I've used them on the airspring clip
blimey! £1.35 i bought some earlier for £2.50!
I've had the cheaper circlip pliers in the past, and the QC on mine were so poor they didn't grip/fit in the clips...
Decent ones are about a tenner for a pair set, and worth it..
DrP
Will this help me with my pike rc?
Had the compression tuned so not as harsh but after a few months feel rubbish again. Just back from tf and I just can't get em feeling right. 75psi, 1 token, 5 from full slow rebound, few clicks of lsc and I'm 13st.
willv depends what/how you ride. I run 2 tokens and 65psi 68kg. I specifically want more support in the last bit of travel for jumps/downs etc. Works a treat. Havent felt the Pike to be harsh in the last 4 years 🙂 Id try some more adjustments/less air before blowing more money.
Try 6-clicks of low-speed compression, and 13-clicks of rebound (clicks are from closed). Then drop the air pressure 5psi would be my starting point.
Will this help me with my pike rc?
Had the compression tuned so not as harsh but after a few months feel rubbish again. Just back from tf and I just can't get em feeling right. 75psi, 1 token, 5 from full slow rebound, few clicks of lsc and I'm 13st.
Totally sorted my Pike RC out. Simply could not get it feeling right. Way too divey and spikey.
Now settled on the luftkappe and 1 token. Feels superb. Very plush with great small bump compliance and no dive. I'm 90kgs but not sure on air pressure. Wish I'd fitted it ages ago
all set to install mine this weekend, just one stupid question...
slick honey grease, slickoleum and sram butter all appear to be the same thing and can be used to do job? but i dont have any... i do have a little tub of rockshox dynamic seal grease they recommend using to service the shocks however - but no mention of using this stuff on the forks...
the dynamic stuff appears to be slickoleum with added teflon? can i not use teflon grease in the fork??
Aye, it'll be fine, go for it.
Ok cheers. What about the loctite - will nail polish do?
I didn't bother with any loctite, and had the airshaft back out on Sunday for a wee lower leg service, still rock solid.
I used nail polish, fine so far.
Ffs I just butchered my airshaft trying to release the piston!! Shaft was rotating freely in the rubber golf shaft clamp, so wrapped an old inner tube round it and clamped with some molgrips - bolt came straight out but I’ve got some substantial scuffs of the shaft...
Anyone used the Luftkappe on a 120mm 29er Pike?
Have been quite happy with it, but it needs a full service anyway so considering getting one fitted at same time.
Fitted mine Thursday. Golf camp worked just fine for me (I camped it along the shaft which worked better).
Circlip was worst bit but now have bought proper pliers.
Rode Cwncairn on Friday and notice an improvement already (but need to play with air pressure etc).
Happy to pay more for a set of forks than some do entire bikes and you won’t stretch to a little bottle of thread lock, which will also help stop bits falling off your bike, if you ever ride anywhere a bit mountainous, at any kind of speed.
Odd.
Happy to pay more for a set of forks than some do entire bikes and you won’t stretch to a little bottle of thread lock, which will also help stop bits falling off your bike, if you ever ride anywhere a bit mountainous, at any kind of speed.Odd.
I thought the same! Couple of quid for some blue loctite that'll last years and be useful elsewhere. I think it's very unlikely the screw would ever come loose but if it does it'll probably destroy the inside of the air chamber. I'm sure SRAM use loctite for a reason!
Happy to pay more for a set of forks than some do entire bikes and you won’t stretch to a little bottle of thread lock, which will also help stop bits falling off your bike, if you ever ride anywhere a bit mountainous, at any kind of speed.Odd.
Not at all, bottle of the stuff sitting on the shelf when I fitted mine, just decided not to use it, as I don't use it anywhere else on my bike. Correct torque and some lubrication on the threads has always worked for me, and my engineering judgement indicates to me that the luftkappe bolt is not under any more stresses than any other bolt on said bike.
I service my forks regularly, so I'll notice if there is any indication of it coming loose.
So, not really odd.
Fair enough, off the top of my head I tend to use it on pedal pins and the b screw as vibration seems to cause it to wind out.
I’d be surprised if there’s no threadlock on your bike unless you re-built it with new fasteners throughout. 🙂
As for the Luftkappe, I’m very pleased with it. The Pike is my first modern fork and I was pretty underwhelmed by it in every area except weight. It feels better now, just wish I’d fitted it before the summer.
If you lubricate threads and then torque them - it isn’t the correct torque.
But then with your engineering judgment you should know that.....
Aye, okay then.
Lubricating the threads will affect the torque but so will the Loctite, not sure it'll make much difference.
Pretty much every bike part I’ve bought recently has turned up with a Loctite type substance on every bolt. Hence my comment, whether it’s necessary or not I couldn’t say as I don’t design bike parts.
Stop bickering about loctite and someone tell me how these with on short travel pikes.
Anyone would think some were discussing the Space Shuttle.
I used Loctite (purple). 140mm 29er Pike here.
Should still be a good upgrade chaka, the symptoms it addressed in my pike were a slight lack of support, diving if you will, and that initial first 10mm of travel feeling a bit sticky.
If these are traits you notice on your pike, then I'd suggest the luftkappe will help.
Stop bickering about loctite and someone tell me how these with on short travel pikes
my thought as well, I'm interested in this conversion for the same fork/travel
Someone PMed me with positive feedback on that. I'm gonna give it a try.
However Luftkappes are no longer on the Bounce website, so I'll have to give them a bell and see what the score is.
Mate of mine is setting up as a supplier, gimme a shout if ye want one Chaka.
However Luftkappes are no longer on the Bounce website, so I'll have to give them a bell and see what the score is
Bugger !!, that's where I was going for them as well 🙁
Aware that the Luftkappe and the MRP don't work with DP Pikes, are there any upgrades that do? I like the lower setting for longer climbs...
Got mine here last week;
https://www.tftuned.com/luftkappe-upgraded-piston-kit-for-solo-air-pike-yari-lyrik/p3288
Chakaping, I have fitted the luftkappe to a 120mm travel 29er fork, it’s worth doing, I found that the fork was either to firm or I used the travel too easily........until I fitted the luftkappe, now all is good. I weigh about 161lb in the raw, 2 tokens fitted, 72psi, 10 clicks from fast rebound, and 0 LSC...works for me now.
If anyone is still looking for the best way to remove your piston bolt, I've posted a 60 second guide here:
Been reading up on everyone's frustrations and hacks and thought I'd share my own experience.
well as Im tight I sawwped the luftkappe from my old Pikes to my new Yaris
(Yaris seemed good so far, much stiffer, but definitely not as controlled as the charger/luftkappe pikes on fast DHs)
Anyway, brief spin on the Yaris yesterday and wow they are plush!, made a big difference to feel straight away, might put a token back in (took out the 2 it had factory fitted) -
was worried that sealed moco damper would make them too progressive but seem good so far
I will say that the brand new Yaris appeared to have less than 10ml of fluid in each leg and that there was a big blob of grease on top of the air spring, but hardly any on the seals as recommended in servicing video, so plushness may just be lubrication!
Had one fitted in my Pike @ 120mm along with a much-needed full service and damper rebuild.
First ride today was a good test as a lot of the ground was frozen. I am impressed. Yes it's plusher but it also seems to give more composure as the fork is less "bouncy" than even a fully functioning normal Pike.
So have any Lyrik owners on here fitted one and how's it gone? Saw a positive report on here before I think.
Have one sat on the side ready to go into my Lyrik next week.
Will post how it goes next week.
How's are people's rebound damping after fitting these?
I fitted mine to a new set of Pikes, so not sure what they would be like before fitting. rebound and comp damping completely open and no tokens. Rebound is not quite fast enough for my liking, but it's not bad.
My rebound damping was fine.probably a click or so changed, but not at the end of the range by any means..
DrP