Difference between revisions of "Tuning a 2007 RS Reba Team"
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===The Fork=== | ===The Fork=== | ||
| + | 2007 RockShox Reba Team w/ Poploc Adj. Remote. | ||
| + | Mounted on a 17" 2006 Zion 660EBB Singlespeed frame. | ||
===Initial Riding Impressions=== | ===Initial Riding Impressions=== | ||
Revision as of 01:29, 27 November 2006
I have been running Fox forks on my bikes for the past several years. At first the performance difference to what was otherwise available was huge. Each year though, it seemed as if the performance 'bang' was really as great as the increase in cost. After riding the Fox 36 Talas, I was really disapointed in it's ability to perform trail riding and the difficulty to tune.
The difficuly was that other fork companies were really dropping the ball as far as performance went. Rock Shox forks for the last years before being purchased by SRAM were some of the worst peices of junk known to man. Most would suffer from the most extreme hydrolock on fast hits. garbage.
But things seemed to change with models designed after the SRAM takeover. It seemed they actually have pride in what they do now. A Semi-pro racer friend of mine, Olivier Bock, had been using a RS Reba for Pro Cross Country racing, and after getting on a Fox fork, said that the Fox didn't work as well. Around the same time, I borrowed a bike with a RS Pike on it. I was amazingly plush. I was in awe.
In setting up a new hardtail singlespeed, I needed a fork in the 4" travel range that was dirt cheap and worked awsome. I scored a 2007 Reba Team on Ebay for $370 delivered. Half the price of a Fox.
The Fork
2007 RockShox Reba Team w/ Poploc Adj. Remote. Mounted on a 17" 2006 Zion 660EBB Singlespeed frame.
Initial Riding Impressions
Increasing the Travel
As supplied. This fork is configured for 100mm of travel. By removing a spacer, I can increase that to 115mm. Just enough for honest trail riding.
Changing the Damping
Rock Shox, 15W Extra Heavy shock fluid was the same thing as Torco 20W. The ISO viscosity of this oil is 42.8. This may no longer be true, since SRAM is probably looking to streamline their entire range for vendor efficencies. So I need to use something lighter than that. Experience tells me that I need to use something much lighter when working on RockShox forks.
I will first try Red Line (Medium, Red), ISO 30.40. This wil be a good starting point. Red Line Suspension Fluid is like magic. It smooths forks out really nice.
