# Fox Rhythm 34 max pressure.



## BassistBiker (Jun 29, 2018)

Hey all, it's new bike day!

I picked up a 2020 Trek Fuel EX 8, and I've spent the last 2 days riding and setting up suspension travel, seat height etc..

All is perfect now except....

My fork...I have it set at what Fox says is the max pressure of 120 PSI, and I still have too much sag. I'm shooting for 20% (28mm of sag)...however at max pressure I'm at 35-37mm which is about 25% sag.

I haven't bottomed out, and I don't typically ride aggressive enough to bottom out (no huge drops or jumps), however I'd still like to have as much travel available to me as possible.

After my biggest jump yesterday I used about 90% of the fork travel, I currently have no volume spacers installed, but I'm going to buy a few and try those too.

OK, the facts.

Me: 265 lbs with gear
Fork: Fox Rhythm 34, 140mm travel, Grip Damper.

Has anyone gone higher than Fox's pressure recommendations? (ill advised I'm sure) Are there any other set-up tricks/tips I could try? Thanks in advance!!


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## @[email protected] (Aug 25, 2017)

I'm really close to your weight, right at it actually, and I've had to put tokens and spacers in both front and rear of my 2018 Ex 8.

I run my front at 108-112psi and 3 tokens. It came with 1 token. I think I have the second largest volume spacer (0.8ci) in my rear shock, and I think I run that at 290psi.

I stripped out my rear hub after about 400miles. You might consider replacing that. Otherwise you got a kick ass bike.


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## Shark (Feb 4, 2006)

First, great looking bike. Absolutely love that color and how it fades from black to purple.

If you are not using all the travel, then I would not worry about trying to go less sag/more pressure. Ideally you should be using almost all the travel at least once/ride especially if you are doing jumps etc.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk


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## BassistBiker (Jun 29, 2018)

@[email protected] said:


> I'm really close to your weight, right at it actually, and I've had to put tokens and spacers in both front and rear of my 2018 Ex 8.
> 
> I run my front at 108-112psi and 3 tokens. It came with 1 token. I think I have the second largest volume spacer (0.8ci) in my rear shock, and I think I run that at 290psi.
> 
> I stripped out my rear hub after about 400miles. You might consider replacing that. Otherwise you got a kick ass bike.


Thanks I'm REALLY loving this bike, and you've got a nice looking rig there too!

I've currently got my shock at 300psi, but I think these EVOL shocks will actually handle 350psi, so I've got wiggle room there if I need it.

I just received the Park Tool socket I needed for my fork (26mm) so I'll pull that cap off this week and see how many volume reducers were installed at the factory...I ordered 4, and they should be here Wed or Thurs.

As far as my rear hub, I pulled the factory wheels off and put on my "go to" set...WTB Asym i35 rims laced to DT Swiss 350 hubs, these things have been pretty tough.

One question for you...looking at your pic, it looks like you've got the "RE:aktiv" shock as well....I couldn't find anything like that on Fox's webpage, so I'm unsure what size shaft volume spacers this shock takes, looks like there are a few choices, what did you end up buying?


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## BassistBiker (Jun 29, 2018)

Shark said:


> First, great looking bike. Absolutely love that color and how it fades from black to purple.
> 
> If you are not using all the travel, then I would not worry about trying to go less sag/more pressure. Ideally you should be using almost all the travel at least once/ride especially if you are doing jumps etc.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk


Thanks! Yeah that fade is sweet, Trek hit this one out of the park for sure.

Yeah, I don't do a ton of jumps/drops, and the ones that I do are sub 24" so nothing serious (not as young as I use to be :nono.

I rarely use anywhere near all my travel, It's just I've watched so many youtube vids telling you to hit 20% sag up front I was shooting for that, but at my weight, and the forks limited max pressure specs, I'm having a hard time hitting that number...I think I'll just add a few volume spacers to help control my ramp up, and just ride the hell out of it...plus, if I lose some more weight, I won't have anymore fork sag issues. :thumbsup:


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## @[email protected] (Aug 25, 2017)

BassistBiker said:


> Thanks I'm REALLY loving this bike, and you've got a nice looking rig there too!
> 
> I've currently got my shock at 300psi, but I think these* EVOL shocks will actually handle 350psi, *so I've got wiggle room there if I need it.
> 
> ...


Look at your shock body, all three of mine say 300psi maximum. I went through this a few years back, because the 350psi is advertised somewhere, but the actual shock body shows 300psi. So I don't know.

As far as the spacers, I think that those were a pain to find too because they needed to be a specific cut with a relief in the top or something. I have three of the original five installed in my shocks. The ones that I have that I can hold are 0.95ci 233-00-354, 0.2ci 233-00-350, and then I have those others installed and I can't get the numbers. I think I have 0.8 in mine, and I put one of the spacers in my spare shock, and I think I put one in my wifes ex8 shock cause she's a big gal, and only seems to be getting bigger.


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## @[email protected] (Aug 25, 2017)

the fox 34 spacers that I'm using say 10cc 234-04-953 and have 34 embossed in them too.


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## BassistBiker (Jun 29, 2018)

@[email protected] said:


> Look at your shock body, all three of mine say 300psi maximum. I went through this a few years back, because the 350psi is advertised somewhere, but the actual shock body shows 300psi. So I don't know.


This is from the Fox setup guide...it says EVOL have a max pressure of 350psi, but who knows how old this guide is, maybe the info isn't accurate anymore?

I just looked at my shock, I don't see any pressure spec anywhere on it.


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## @[email protected] (Aug 25, 2017)

BassistBiker said:


> This is from the Fox setup guide...it says EVOL have a max pressure of 350psi, but who knows how old this guide is, maybe the info isn't accurate anymore?
> 
> I just looked at my shock, I don't see any pressure spec anywhere on it.
> 
> ...


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## BassistBiker (Jun 29, 2018)

@[email protected] said:


> In white letters, "warning 300 psi max"


LOL gotta love inaccurate info!

My decals are slightly different than yours, but they definitely don't show me the max pressure spec.

I'll just err on the side of caution and keep it under 300psi...I don't really see a need to go higher than that anyway.

Thanks for the pics!


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## @[email protected] (Aug 25, 2017)

This is what I have this collection of spacers right here

https://www.worldwidecyclery.com/pr...RpCuS6IRxXt6La6gB7jhXxoC59EQAvD_BwE#cyc-modal

For the rear


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## BassistBiker (Jun 29, 2018)

@[email protected] said:


> This is what I have this collection of spacers right here
> 
> https://www.worldwidecyclery.com/pr...RpCuS6IRxXt6La6gB7jhXxoC59EQAvD_BwE#cyc-modal
> 
> For the rear


Thanks! That's exactly what I was looking for!

I emailed Fox several days back, asking for shock spacer info, and have yet to hear back...


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## @[email protected] (Aug 25, 2017)

Check the shaft diameter of yours. It might be different than mine but it's probably the same.


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