What's your damper of choice and why?

Whatever comes on the bike.... I don't even know what's on my Lyriks.. I'm not good enough to notice any difference, so i don't worry about it. Once i set it, i just ride.

I'm impressed with Grip2 - seems to just get better the more its pushed. I wonder how it would compare to TPC plus from back in the day - that was amazingly good (my fuzzy memory thinks) but fell out of favour because it wasn't an in vogue platform damper.

Weeksy has a good point though, how a fork feels is a function of its spring and its damper - its not always easy to isolate the two.

Avalanche.

It got expensive though. Have a Fox DHX 5.0c tuned by them. So good it made the Fox 36 Van on the front feel crap in comparison so I had to upgrade that. Then the Float 36 on the hardtail had to be upgraded as well.

Whatever comes on the bike…. I don’t even know what’s on my Lyriks.. I’m not good enough to notice any difference, so i don’t worry about it. Once i set it, i just ride.

This.

Like @weeksy, whatever came in my Ohlins. After trail and experiment 've got it mostly on minimum settings. I wouldn't go out of my way to find another manufacturer's damper for my fork, I'm not looking for racing splits or marginal gains, and I think what comes OEM (apart from a couple of obvious mis-steps) has increasingly got better and better.

Fork dampers?

Sometimes it's hard for me to untangle the damper and spring in my experience of how a fork rides, but I want to say my favourite was the old Marz RC3 ti forks. The new Charger 3 is very good though. And I like the Charger 2.1 in the Lyrik and Pike.

Shock dampers?

I love the feel of Cane Creek air shocks, the mix of support, comfort and sensitivity. And their coil shocks were always the benchmark damper for me, that magic carpet ride has only really been bettered by the EXT Storia (marginally, now and again). I like both because they don't smother the trail and still let you feel what your wheels are doing, while giving loads of control.

I've had a couple of Ohlins TTX coil shocks, but they are over-damped for my taste, they smother the trail a bit. Would be really good for a DH bike probably though.

My bargain Fox Factory 36 came with a Grip2. The fork is vastly more capable than I am so I just set it as per the guide and left it alone. I will never be able to push beyond the limit of what my hardtail can handle so once my new bar and stem are on I’ll stop fettling unless I kill something.

Got Cane Creek both ends on my RMax.

The Air IL is fine most of the time. The back end I'm generally not too bothered by so long as its not actively trying to kill me, although I did notice it got a bit hot and bothered in the Alps.

Helm2 on the front is overdamped for me. Its bloody amazing if you're going at race pace over steep nastyground - really supportive, but gets fatiguing when riding a bit slower but a lot longer. I've basically got everything wide open - its just not designed for 140lb riders. Having talked to TF about it, they don't reckon the can mod the internals to give more headroom either.

Having talked to TF about it, they don’t reckon the can mod the internals to give more headroom either.

I'm not going to pretend to be familiar with the Cane Creek damper, but is swapping oil for something thinner not an option?

I'm still running a Charger 2 from x years ago. No point in going to 2.1 as the gains would be marginal at best. Would happily have an Avalanche but would be making a fairly heavy (Smashpot) for even heavier. OTOH I'd have a proper oil bath fork - and that is tempting!

Fairly limited with shock options on the rear, so it's a Fox X2 working away there

JonEdwards - Did you get the AirIL because you're light? The DBair or Kitsuma would seem the more obvious choice for a RocketMax.

I have a Helm coil mk1 (which I believe is even more firmly damped) and I find it just about suits me (82kg riding weight) with the compression fully open. Never get full travel but it rides very well.

I suspect the firm damper is somewhat mitigated by the coil plushness giving more comfort, so I wonder if you've considered converting yours to coil? Assuming that's possible.

‘ve got it mostly on minimum settings

Seems to be the way with modern kit.

I’m not good enough to notice any difference, so i don’t worry about it.

Oof, careful now, MTB marketing has always been about flattering punters to tell them they are indeed good enough to notice the difference...

Oof, careful now, MTB marketing has always been about flattering punters to tell them they are indeed good enough to notice the difference…

I've seen me ride 🙂

I’m not good enough to notice any difference, so i don’t worry about it.

I noticed that my Yari with (I think) Motion Control Damper would kind of pack down and stop responding on a fast bumpy descent.

I upgraded it to the Charger 2.1 and it feels much better. That’s about where my ability to notice differences ends.

35 RL Motion control - a win because it does a lot for very little £££, but that's more the chassis, the damper is pretty basic, especially when you ask it to do the kind of things you expect of a long travel fork that weighs 2300g.

"Marzocchi" Rail - you turn a dial and things move differently, for just getting on and riding it's great.

Haven't been able to afford anything more complicated since the Rockshox Mission Control days, the ones that were apparently a bit of a high point compared to the first gen chargers at least. I presume the new ones have caught up but I'm not spending £800 to find out.

TBH, whilst I enjoyed being able to set up the Lyrics perfectly for any given track, in the real world just pointing the Marzocchis at the same obstacles doesn't feel like you're being held back all that much. After a decade of "how f****** much!" fork development we seem to be finally getting some trickle down again. Time for RS to play catchup and figure out how to make a budget charger for the Rev/Yari?

Seems to be the way with modern kit.

I do wonder if lots of forks are tested at Whistler on bikes being ridden by (ahem) larger sized Americans and Canadians?

but is swapping oil for something thinner not an option?

Helm2 comes with 2.5wt oil from stock, so there's nowhere thinner to go.

Did you get the AirIL because you’re light

Its a Gen2 RMAx, so not quite as Enduroey as the current version. Its pre Kitsuma and Cy steered me towards the AirIL, I think as it's less linear than the DBAir which suited that frame iteration better but I can't really remember. I don't regret the AirIL at all.

I wonder if you’ve considered converting yours to coil?

I can convert to coil, but its a one way thing - I can't try it then swuitch back as the coil knackers the internal surface of the stanchion. I really don't want the extra weight (or cost!). I was hoping to flog them and buy some Lyrics with the proceeds, but no one wanted them, so I'm living with it.

Helm2 comes with 2.5wt oil from stock, so there’s nowhere thinner to go.

Well that fairly backs you into a corner. I'll scrub Cane Creek off my possible fork list too

I don’t regret the AirIL at all.

I wasn't suggesting you'd got it wrong, just curious. I really love the Air IL on my short travel bike and we all used to have dinky little Float RP23 shocks on our long-travel bikes 10 years ago, eh?

I really don’t want the extra weight (or cost!).

Fair enough. I think it's just 200-odd grams extra, but then it's not guaranteed to fix your issue anyway so I get that.

I'm a big fan of the Charger 1 damper. Just felt right for me. The Charger 2.0 felt too harsh on another bike.

Also a big fan of Cane creek rear shocks with their adjustment range with supporting app. Their app really made it easy to get it feeling just right after a few rides.

Just switched to Fox's Fit4 damper with remote so will see how that goes. Not ridden it yet. Might even be tempted to see if I can get a remote kit for the Fox DPS rear shock without sending it off.

just 200-odd grams extra

"just"!!!
LOL! Do you know how much money I end up spending to save 200g?????

EXT Storia or E-Storia would be the superlative damper. There’s a good reason with Chris Porter at GeometronBikes took it on for his bikes and as importer. Their ethos is to build for performance to to a cost. Quite a recommendation I’d say.
My intro was with a Geometron G1 which also allows for spherical bushings. Those make a BIG difference to reducing shaft stiction. My earlier G16 had a Fox X2. I thought that was a great damper til I tried the Storia. . A coil settles at the sag point with more stability than an air shock. Nice to pedal. Grip superb.

Just put one on my Kenevo SL (yeah I know, my excuse/reason? Spine injury, 26 months in = nerve damage = weakness, the light assistance 30nm feels pretty natural and gets me out on the hills)

Motion control is fine for a basic damper but the limited compression adjustment can make it it difficult to set up especially if you're a light or heavy rider - it just felt harsh for me over rougher stuff.

I replaced the MC with a Novyparts Splug and it feels like a big improvement. I'm not good or clever enough to say why but it just feels...better - less harsh and doesn't dive as much over chunky stuff. Not sure what that translates to in bike journo marketing speak - something, something...small bump sensitivity...blah, blah....mid stroke support.

The Suntour R2C2-PCS damper is also really good and probably quite underrated - loads of adjustment.

Roughcut HLR seems good to me.

I'm not a fan of the dampers in my left leg. They seem creak unexpectedly and often result in unpredictable cornering to the left. Right hand corners seem to be fine.

the damper that comes with my fork (mezzer). It actually works well with the air spring, LSC and HSC actually do something, it is easy to service, tune yourself and has a wide range of damping adjustment.

Another vote for the EXT storia coil. It absolutely transformed my bike.

its just not designed for 140lb riders.

Is there anything that's particularly suited to lighter riders. Both MrsP & I are at the lighter end of the spectrum, and she is probably running just a tiny bit more pressure than the minimum needed to get the fork fully extended under static weight but then has loads of tokens to stop it bottoming when she's riding. Wondering if there's a better solution

Another fan of the EXT Storia here.
So much grip from it and relatively easy to set up.
Got three bikes with them fitted now and they've all been problem free.

Conversely the EXT ERA fork I had was a nightmare to set up and I was never 100% happy with it so sold it.

(mezzer). It actually works well with the air spring, LSC and HSC actually do something, it is easy to service, tune yourself and has a wide range of damping adjustment.

I looked at the Mezzer as a replacement but a mate fitted one a couple of weeks back and it's got play in the bushings already.
He liked it when it was new and play free though.

thepurist
Full Member

Is there anything that’s particularly suited to lighter riders. Both MrsP & I are at the lighter end of the spectrum, and she is probably running just a tiny bit more pressure than the minimum needed to get the fork fully extended under static weight but then has loads of tokens to stop it bottoming when she’s riding. Wondering if there’s a better solution

Coil spring, if she can get one soft enough

Coil spring, if she can get one soft enough

And if the fork's not known for firm damping, as per the CC Helm above.

For rear dampers, EXT storia is the one for me. Simple to setup and very reliable. Have one on the G1 and one on the KSL, bith setup pretty similar and slightly different spring weights for travel/leverage ratio.

For forks its a bit more tricky, as often the bushings have a lot of binding. Everyone raves about the charger3 being great, my experience is the polar opposite, the zeb 2023 I've just sent off for warranty has very sticky bushings and a creaky steerer. The 2022's on the other hand are perfect. Little bit annoyed that the forks arn't checked for stiction at the factory or at TF and have the bushings adjusted as required.

Waiting for the EXT Era V2 LT's, more bushing overlap and better damper tunes. Will be demoing a pair once they are available.

Everyone raves about the charger3 being great, my experience is the polar opposite, the zeb 2023 I’ve just sent off for warranty has very sticky bushings and a creaky steerer. The 2022’s on the other hand are perfect. Little bit annoyed that the forks arn’t checked for stiction at the factory or at TF and have the bushings adjusted as required.

I mentioned the Charger 3 damper being good so far, not saying it's amazing - but it does offer a lot more support than the 2.1. This was confirmed by my pal who got a warranty replacement Zeb with the new damper but old airspring (which a lot of us blamed for the old Zeb's divey-ness).

My 2023 Zeb was a bit harsh on small bumps at first but has broken in nicely now and I'm riding without having to think about it (the highest compliment).

Totally agree about disappointing QC issues. My Zeb arrived with half the oil leaked in the box. It sounds like yours were with things other than the damper though?

Everyone raves about the charger3 being great, my experience is the polar opposite, the zeb 2023 I’ve just sent off for warranty has very sticky bushings and a creaky steerer

The issues you mentioned aren't damper related, or was there also something up with the damper performance?

The issues you mentioned aren’t damper related, or was there also something up with the damper performance?

Its more that there are probably good dampers in forks, but masked by shitty bushings and air springs.

I'll await what Sram find and see how they go about fixing it. See if they are any better.

JonEdwards - I've got a mk2 coil on the front of my Banshee and at 60kg am a bit lighter than you. Running the yellow 40lb Ohlins spring in there and working very nicely for me. I can't tell you what my settings are without fishing a piece of paper out of a box at the back of the garage, but I do know that they're not wound all the way off.
IMO certainly worth a go - I decided a few years ago to just not bother with air as it always felt like I was on the dge of things working correctly and then after a few months it would get stictiony and because of the really low pressures the impact of that was disproportionate.

I can only comment on forks I've ridden for a 70kg rider and anyone's idea of betterer is going to change.

The old FIT 4 (pre NA2) in my 36's was good for big hits .. a bit pants for small but improved a lot with a neg air conversion. Not much else to do....but possibly the best out of the box settings being decently medicore and never improved on them.. it got worse at small bumps for lower (35kg) riders...

Tried a charger 3 yesterday and very nice - noticeably better than a stock 2.1RC on small bump but not so I'd pay the money and npot as good as a RC2 2.1 and coil spring.
The owner (83-84kg) is going to fit a coil anyway but we were out tuning and he wanted to see how they felt compared to his 38's and they provided more midstroke by far he said.

I had a go but was reluctant to fully test them on someone else's bike I could never hope to replace.

For my (limited) money I'd go RC2.1 at the moment for price/performance unless you are really looking mainly at big hits.

After 4 Fox forks (100 RLC, 150 RLC, 36 Fit4 and 36 Grip2 VVC) I'm quite sure that other brands make better dampers for me. The 36's have been excellent on bike parks and fast downhills but I do that only 4-5 days per year so it makes sense to get something that works for slow speed mincing around for most of the year.
For previous bike I bought one of those cheap DT 535s which was good everywhere except parks and currently have DVO Diamond which is still too new to give opinion on.

For shocks I like ones with separate valving for slow and fast rebound and compression.

Helm2 comes with 2.5wt oil from stock, so there’s nowhere thinner to go.

Try Redline Like Water. Then there's nowhere thinner to go.

https://oldhallperformance.com/products/like-water-suspension-fluid

https://www.peterverdone.com/wiki/index.php?title=Suspension_Fluid

I'd advise getting some thicker Redline fluid that you can mix with it because I suspect the Like Water will be too thin.

Careful though. Mixing your own damper fluid can become addictive. It's a gateway drug that can lead to making your own shim stacks and eventually your own pistons if you go full nerd.

Never go full suspension nerd.

I picked up a Factory 36 to get the Grip 2 damper for my Z1 coil on my banshee Rune.
But ended up giving it a run & actually preferred it.
At first I tried to run it really plush, but it never felt right.
But then I started again from factory specs & it was bang on when you're getting into it. Sitting back & cruising is a bit harsh though.