# Fork not giving full travel on new bike.



## lotusdriver (Sep 15, 2013)

I have just got a new Mondraker Foxy R and it's fitted with a Fox 34 fork.
Despite reducing the air pressure below what's recommended for my weight the fork does not give the full travel of 140mm, it manages about 110mm on the biggest hits.
After reading about "bottomless tokens" l took off the air cap and there are two of these "tokens" in the top of the air chamber.

Should l remove one or both of them? I am not very heavy (70kg) and l assume it's got to cater for all weights of rider.


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## rangeriderdave (Aug 29, 2008)

There more to it than air pressure and tokens,you might either take it back or post in the suspension forum.


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## lotusdriver (Sep 15, 2013)

What more is there to it? I assume because l am light weight the fork needs adjusting.
I am happy to do this myself but just need some advice.
The store is a 150 mile round trip away so l don't want to take it back unless it's actually faulty.


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## rangeriderdave (Aug 29, 2008)

Compression,sag, oil level ,oil viscosity preload. If you are light enough you may need to change the springs,yes there are springs in a air fork. You can look it up on line in the service manual for your fork.


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## miweber929 (Jan 12, 2015)

It's a Fox 34, ANY local shop that deals with that brand of fork should be able to help you set it up. 

Just a thought......


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## One Pivot (Nov 20, 2009)

Take one air spacer out and try. Sounds like both need to come out.

You're on the right track. They're made to be easy to remove the volume spacers.


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## lotusdriver (Sep 15, 2013)

Thanks for that, l removed both spacers and set the air pressure to 70psi, the lower recommended level for my weight.
A quick ride showed more of the 140mm travel being used.

Although l go fast on descents, l don't do jumps or big drop offs.

I'll see how it goes with no spacers or "tokens" in the fork.


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

Just for the sake of knowing, try letting all the air out and compressing it. That'll let you know if it's physically capable of moving through its whole travel.

Air forks ramp up as they compress. Even more so with volume spacers in place. So even if you started with relatively low but reasonable pressure, you might not get full travel. Along with thinking of heavier guys, they're thinking of people letting the bike run on chunky descents. The full travel case is typically going to be riding into a g-out at speed or landing a drop in a too-flat transition.


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## lotusdriver (Sep 15, 2013)

I did let out all the air and the fork easily compressed through the full travel.

I'll try it out and see how l go. I can always refit one of them.


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## cjsb (Mar 4, 2009)

what is the biggest thing you have hit? The tokens may be doing just what they are supposed to do and you need to hit something bigger or harder to bottom.

On 5-6' foot drops my Pike uses all 150mm, but on stuff below 5' there is room to spare.

How long have you been riding the fork as in hours? you may find that it uses more the more the oil is used.


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## trekninja (Oct 22, 2007)

i removed one from my 34 and it got me 100% of my travel, i wasnt 30mm short though. you might try removing the token, its super easy to put back if you dont like it


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## mountainbiker24 (Feb 5, 2007)

If the fork is set up properly and feels good with the exception of not reaching full travel, you don't need that much travel. People buy more travel than they need all the time. If it doesn't feel plush enough, then try lighter damper fluid, lighter compression settings, and/or lower air pressure after removing the volume tokens.

It sounds to me that the bike is more than you need for your trails and riding style.


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## trekninja (Oct 22, 2007)

mountainbiker24 said:


> If the fork is set up properly and feels good with the exception of not reaching full travel, you don't need that much travel. People buy more travel than they need all the time. If it doesn't feel plush enough, then try lighter damper fluid, lighter compression settings, and/or lower air pressure after removing the volume tokens.
> 
> It sounds to me that the bike is more than you need for your trails and riding style.


This is true, sometimes. When you hit good size drops, clear tables and blast through gnar but still come up short on travel it means you need to tune your fork. They put adjustments and tokens in there for a reason


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

If he doesn't need the ramp up from the tokens for his riding, why not take them out? It could give the bike a smoother feel on the biggest things he does hit.


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## mountainbiker24 (Feb 5, 2007)

AndrwSwitch said:


> If he doesn't need the ramp up from the tokens for his riding, why not take them out? It could give the bike a smoother feel on the biggest things he does hit.


Did somebody say not to?


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## lotusdriver (Sep 15, 2013)

OK so l have just been out again, although with the rain we've been having l might have been better taking my boat.

I did twelve miles through mud, water and a howling gale!

Without the tokens it feels more "plush" as mentioned above. I am getting nearer to the full travel but still a little to spare.

I think it's alright now. The biggest drop offs on my ride were rock steps 12-18" high.

I guess the fork has to cater for riders who do a lot more than that, so it has to have something in reserve.
This bike is sold as "All Mountain" so will be set up for more extreme stuff than my Kona Tanuki.

It was just that my previous fork, a Sektor TK130 Solo Air, would have used all it's travel once or twice on a ride, so l thought this is how it should be.


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## mountainbiker24 (Feb 5, 2007)

I think you have it figured out. That fork is capable of much bigger impacts than you're putting it through. Nothing wrong with having some extra travel in reserve.


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## lotusdriver (Sep 15, 2013)

So an update on this thread.
I realised that it is a mistake to try and achieve full travel at the expense of everything else.
In order to make the fork deliver full travel on normal (not extreme) riding l had to drop the air pressure to 60psi and remove both tokens.
This gave full travel but the fork packed down on rooty/rocky trails and was not plush.
I replaced one token and increased the air pressure to 70psi.
Full travel is not achieved on my rides, but l don't do jumps etc. Although l do ride fast.
However the fork is much more plush and soaks up rocks/smaller hits really well.
So now everything is great! Thanks everybody for the advice.


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

Did you reduce your rebound damping when you reduced pressure?

Did you try 70 psi and no tokens?


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## lotusdriver (Sep 15, 2013)

Yes l reduced the rebound damping along with the pressure.
I did try it at 70psi with no tokens and it was alright but on the occasional drop off or hard hit the fork went through the whole travel and hit the stop.
With one token at 70psi (and on the same piece of trail) l found that the O-ring ended up 10mm from the top of the fork.
With two tokens fitted there was about 25mm travel not used.
So l guess if l was a harder rider l or weighed more (l weigh 70kg) would need both tokens or maybe more.


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

Sounds like you need half a token. 

Also sounds like you've found "your" air spring setup. Not that you need us to tell you that.


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## lotusdriver (Sep 15, 2013)

I think the lesson l learnt here is, that it's not just about getting the fork to deliver full travel.
If you don't hammer the bike it may be necessary to compromise in order to get the best performance from the fork for the type of riding that you do.
So maybe it hardly ever delivers full travel, but it works better through the rest of the range.


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

There's no prize for getting full travel.

For me, it's pretty much always a limiter. I'm really glad RS made tokens available for solo air, because without it, I was having to run more pressure than I'd like in my XC bike's fork. And I may need to do a little more research into getting more of a ramp from that bike's shock...

I think people are idiots for compromising on ride feel in order to have a little extra travel in the bank. But if you nailed your ride feel and happen to have some extra travel, sounds like a win to me. And you may find you start using it...


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## TSpice (May 15, 2015)

The only time you should ever get full travel is if you hit it so hard that it is about to bottom out. 

Considering you mentioned 12-18" drop? You can do that with a fully rigid bike. If you are expecting to see full range of motion on that small of a drop, what do you think will happen when you hit something 24-36"+? Your suspension will instantly bottom out and you may even destroy the fork.

Your fork is essentially designed to damper the bumps/drops, not fully absorb them. The only time they would fully absorb them is as mentioned above, is when it hits so hard it is about to bottom out. Considering a 140mm fork? That is likely around a 6ft drop with a 185lb rider. Even then, a lot of that is just so your body weight doesn't taco the rim.

The average rider should only end up using about 60-80% of their full travel. If you want it more plushy, get more travel so you can still stay in that 60-80% range. Flirting with bottoming out the suspension is a recipe for disaster in my opinion.

(Also, if you hit that bottom of your travel? That is a hell of a shock to your system. Used to a nice flowing rebound of the fork and then BAM it goes instantly rigid and jolts right up your arms. It isn't pleasant.)


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## MtnBkrBob (Aug 15, 2007)

I may have missed it…are you setting air pressure based on the owner’s manual or actual sag?


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## Le Duke (Mar 23, 2009)

TSpice said:


> The only time you should ever get full travel is if you hit it so hard that it is about to bottom out.
> 
> Considering you mentioned 12-18" drop? You can do that with a fully rigid bike. If you are expecting to see full range of motion on that small of a drop, what do you think will happen when you hit something 24-36"+? Your suspension will instantly bottom out and you may even destroy the fork.
> 
> ...


TSpice nailed it.

You should be getting full travel MAYBE once a ride. That should be an absolutely "oh sh!t" moment.

I regularly ride a 120mm/100mm FS 29er off 2-3' drops, and don't bottom out. The only time I DO is when I really mess up the entrance to such a drop and find myself hitting a root or rock at the bottom.


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

Using full travel once a ride is still more than using 60%-80% of my travel. Unless there's something I'm missing?


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## lotusdriver (Sep 15, 2013)

Well, l bought an "All Mountain" bike and l use it for trail riding with some rocky descents.
The bike is designed to do a fair bit more than this, so l am not going to see the full travel unless l reduce the air pressure to the point where l use half of the travel just sitting on the bike.
I think l have it "dialled" now, it's doing great on my rides and working in the upper part of the travel most of the time, so gives a great ride over smaller rocks and roots etc.
A fair bit better than my last bike which had a Sektor fork fitted. That would hurt my arms after a long descent. But maybe l never got that adjusted right! As l was obsessed with seeing that little "O" ring at the top of the fork after a ride.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

AndrwSwitch said:


> Using full travel once a ride is still more than using 60%-80% of my travel. Unless there's something I'm missing?


It depends on the trail. If I am riding a 160mm travel bike on my local trails, I would never expect to use 100% of the available travel with the wheels never leaving the ground. In fact, I'd be dialing the compression damping up a bit because too much suspension motion would be rightly annoying. Same bike on a chunky Pisgah downhill and I'd be using every bit of suspension travel I had.

On my 100mm travel bike, I've played with the settings quite a bit. To get the small bump sensitivity I wanted with an appropriate progressiveness at the top of the travel to avoid bottoming it out, I needed to adjust oil weight in the damper as well as using thinner grease on the internals. I played around with tokens, too. Found out how many it took to blow through my travel too easily, even with an appropriate sag, and how many it took to make it so progressive that it was nearly impossible to use all my travel.

Unless I want to change every suspension setting depending on the trail I'm riding, setting things up right, even my 100mm fork won't use 100% of its travel on smoother xc trails while still having enough travel to handle bigger hits without a hard bottom-out.


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## cjsb (Mar 4, 2009)

Glad you got it sorted. Not getting all the travel isn't necessarily a red flag. it just depends on what you are riding and hitting and whether you are doing it all in control. if the bike is bouncing and you can't keep a line, or all you wait is getting shoved forward on a landing then you may have things to consider. it also varies by bike design and suspension. It was worthwhile to go through this whole exercise but it wasn't necessarily a red flag to being with.

Personally, i bottom out many times on my main trail, but it has features that push the bike and I have my suspension setup so that it is more likely to happen. they aren't bone rattling bottoms either, but the donut is at the top or the bottom. I cane easily set it up so that the fork will have just a couple mms left on a 6 foot drop, but the ride is too harsh for me for the rest of the trail. 

i love the bottomless tokens, i can get the feel I want for most of the ride and the ramp up needed for the big hits.


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

I try to tune mine so I never feel it bottoming out but usually run the o-ring to the top. That's with 100 mm of travel. Tuning out bottoming with air pressure alone made the ride harsh but "my" air pressure and a token works really nicely.


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