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[Meconium]

Strangely, the fox Speedframe fit excellent. On me and kids rounded head. Done, I might go back and pick one up for myself. Bell was horrible, I think that's for more of a round and pancake flat top head. Skulls are weird.

[XXX-er]

Bell was horrible, I think that's for more of a round and pancake flat top head. Skulls are weird.

Yup flat with corners ^^ on my second bell XL now, before that it was Giro

I wouldn't mind finding something with a chin bar

[nickwm21]

Tailgate pads and modern geo bikes…

Am I the only one with this issue?

Larger 29” rear wheel + longer wheelbase is putting the center of gravity higher / further back - making the bike more prone to flopping over on the tailgate. It’s fine for a 30min drive to the trailhead. But a long drive or a rough road - I need to run a strap to keep the bike stable…

I thought it was my old company truck. Reg cab long bed that I had horse mats in to make it drive not like complete shit (mats raised the bed height, changing the tailgate pad geometry). But… same issue on my new company truck without the mats in..

Anyone have a smart solution? I was thinking about framing a wheel pocket out of 2x4. I can’t bolt anything down to the bed (company truck I don’t own, that actually gets used for truck stuff so solution has to be quickly removable)

Edit: this is on modern F150s (2016,2024). Maybe not an issue on other trucks…


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[toast2266]

Tailgate pads and modern geo bikes…

Am I the only one with this issue?

Larger 29” rear wheel + longer wheelbase is putting the center of gravity higher / further back - making the bike more prone to flopping over on the tailgate. It’s fine for a 30min drive to the trailhead. But a long drive or a rough road - I need to run a strap to keep the bike stable…

I thought it was my old company truck. Reg cab long bed that I had horse mats in to make it drive not like complete shit (mats raised the bed height, changing the tailgate pad geometry). But… same issue on my new company truck without the mats in..

Anyone have a smart solution? I was thinking about framing a wheel pocket out of 2x4. I can’t bolt anything down to the bed (company truck I don’t own, that actually gets used for truck stuff so solution has to be quickly removable)

Edit: this is on modern F150s (2016,2024). Maybe not an issue on other trucks…


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Yup. I've spent a fair amount of time combating this exact issue.

This thing made out of scrap 6x6 helps a lot. It's not bolted in - just sits in the bed. Tires go in every other slot (fits up to 6 bikes).



I also went fairly overboard and built this rack that has slots for each bike. Keeps everything completely stable even on rough roads without needing any straps. That build was a bit more involved than tossing together some 6x6's though.



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[XXX-er]

My old tennant has a 90's chevy and so he put a frame in the stake holes in the ends of the back of the box which effectively raised the back of the bed by a foot and he covers the 2x4 with old carpet

some of the new trucks don't have holes for stakes

I would probabaly run a strap over whatever I carry

[nickwm21]

Yup. I've spent a fair amount of time combating this exact issue.

This thing made out of scrap 6x6 helps a lot. It's not bolted in - just sits in the bed. Tires go in every other slot (fits up to 6 bikes).



I also went fairly overboard and built this rack that has slots for each bike. Keeps everything completely stable even on rough roads without needing any straps. That build was a bit more involved than tossing together some 6x6's though.



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Nice - I’ll build a wheel pocket like yours…

Out of curiosity - what is the tailgate side assembly made out of. Looks like some rigid foam?


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[toast2266]

Out of curiosity - what is the tailgate side assembly made out of. Looks like some rigid foam?


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The bike cradles are made out of molded expanding foam. The rearward part that covers the actual tailgate is just an old Yakima tailgate pad that I cut up. And then everything attaches to a chunk of aluminum that straps onto the tailgate.

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[nickwm21]

Wow - A lot of effort for sure


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[Dromond]

Will any of the subset of people here who seem to be obsessed with Manitou forks please explain why? I haven’t known anyone with one for 20 years.

[chicken feathers]

I’ve got a Fox X2 on my bike. Coming up on its first service interval and the shock seems noisier than I remember.
Aside from taking it to my lbs, how do I tell if this is the aeration issue?

[Benneke10]

Are there any XC shoes with a decently rearward cleat mounting position? I’ve got a pair of Pearl Izumi X-Alps that have a great rearward position and now I can’t stand riding my old SWorks shoes but I would like something more XC style

[zion zig zag]

I'm hesitant to come back here and ask another fork question since I was so dumb last time, but hey, I learned a better set-up, and besides, where else am I gonna ask?

So got to a decently happy place with the fork, Fox 36 Grip2. Fork had 82 psi, suggested high and low speed rebound, high speed compression all the way open, and 4-5 clicks of low speed compression. Local trail that I ride frequently was using all but maybe 30mm of travel, it has high speed chunk, some 2-3 foot jumps to flat but nothing big, so that seemed right. Hands felt pretty good.

Rode the trail yesterday and hands went numb halfway through, traction felt poor/off, and I just felt slower. Got to the bottom and had only used half of the forks travel. I had made no changes to the fork. Any reason for that to happen?

[XtrPickels]

Stiction from dry seals?
Air need to be bled from the lowers? (Either with the bleed button on newer Fox forks or a zip-tire between the stanchion and the seal

[XtrPickels]

Are there any XC shoes with a decently rearward cleat mounting position? I’ve got a pair of Pearl Izumi X-Alps that have a great rearward position and now I can’t stand riding my old SWorks shoes but I would like something more XC style

What Year Specialized?
My SWorks Vents are further back than my Sphryes and PI Shoes.

[zion zig zag]

Stiction from dry seals?
Air need to be bled from the lowers? (Either with the bleed button on newer Fox forks or a zip-tire between the stanchion and the seal

I’ve tried the bleed button, didn’t hear any air escaping. Definitely time for a service and new seals but losing more than an inch of travel seems weird just for seal stiction?

[sfotex]

I’ve tried the bleed button, didn’t hear any air escaping. Definitely time for a service and new seals but losing more than an inch of travel seems weird just for seal stiction?

Let the air out of the leg and see if you can feel the damper binding up. My Fox 36/Fit3 needed a bleed and when I let the air out I could feel the damper hit a wall 1/2 way thru the travel.

[toast2266]

I'm hesitant to come back here and ask another fork question since I was so dumb last time, but hey, I learned a better set-up, and besides, where else am I gonna ask?

So got to a decently happy place with the fork, Fox 36 Grip2. Fork had 82 psi, suggested high and low speed rebound, high speed compression all the way open, and 4-5 clicks of low speed compression. Local trail that I ride frequently was using all but maybe 30mm of travel, it has high speed chunk, some 2-3 foot jumps to flat but nothing big, so that seemed right. Hands felt pretty good.

Rode the trail yesterday and hands went numb halfway through, traction felt poor/off, and I just felt slower. Got to the bottom and had only used half of the forks travel. I had made no changes to the fork. Any reason for that to happen?

Dry seals seems the most likely, not sure they'd dry out that quick though. Any evidence that the oil in the lowers leaked out (either out the bottom, out past the wipers, or out the bleed valves)? Could also crack open the air chamber and make sure there's still some oil floating around in there.

Aside from that, and pure speculation, but maybe some bit of debris shook loose inside the damper and gummed one of the ports up?

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[zion zig zag]

Let the air out of the leg and see if you can feel the damper binding up. My Fox 36/Fit3 needed a bleed and when I let the air out I could feel the damper hit a wall 1/2 way thru the travel.

Thank, I'll check this out.

Dry seals seems the most likely, not sure they'd dry out that quick though. Any evidence that the oil in the lowers leaked out (either out the bottom, out past the wipers, or out the bleed valves)? Could also crack open the air chamber and make sure there's still some oil floating around in there.

Aside from that, and pure speculation, but maybe some bit of debris shook loose inside the damper and gummed one of the ports up?

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Don't see any signs of oil leakage, but I'll open things up and check it out. Thanks for the ideas.

[Spencer123]

A friend of mine who is a somewhat casual rider is looking for a solid trail bike that can do some occasional light duty up at the Targhee bike park (blues and blacks, but not pushing it at all). He missed out on all the amazing deals on the nice builds of the stumpjumper EVO, alloy sentinal and others what were around. This Switchblade popped up on Jenson which seems like a pretty good deal. He rode and really enjoyed the Ripmo, the sizing is very similar on the chart, the major differnce I see is a steeper headtube angle, which should be ok for him. Has anybody ridden it, good reccommendation at this price? Does it feel relatively capable downhill compared to other bikes in the category ? Thanks!

https://www.jensonusa.com/Pivot-Swit...tion=sfdetails

[Roxtar]

A friend of mine who is a somewhat casual rider is looking for a solid trail bike that can do some occasional light duty up at the Targhee bike park (blues and blacks, but not pushing it at all). He missed out on all the amazing deals on the nice builds of the stumpjumper EVO, alloy sentinal and others what were around. This Switchblade popped up on Jenson which seems like a pretty good deal. He rode and really enjoyed the Ripmo, the sizing is very similar on the chart, the major differnce I see is a steeper headtube angle, which should be ok for him. Has anybody ridden it, good reccommendation at this price? Does it feel relatively capable downhill compared to other bikes in the category ? Thanks!

https://www.jensonusa.com/Pivot-Swit...tion=sfdetails

That is a stupid-good deal on a great bike. That bike will work very well for what he's looking for.
Granted, it's the model before this years new version but still a killer deal on a decent component spec.
Tell him to grab it.

[ASmileyFace]

I have a friend who demoed that era switchblade a while back and loved it... Damn good deal

[zion zig zag]

Dry seals seems the most likely, not sure they'd dry out that quick though. Any evidence that the oil in the lowers leaked out (either out the bottom, out past the wipers, or out the bleed valves)? Could also crack open the air chamber and make sure there's still some oil floating around in there.

Aside from that, and pure speculation, but maybe some bit of debris shook loose inside the damper and gummed one of the ports up?

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So I opened up the air chamber and the oil inside looks congealed. Bits of it are clung to the inside chamber instead of flowing like liquid. I assume this isn’t normal? It seems like one of those chunks could be blocking a port damper like you suggested. When I let the air out and pressed the fork it seemed to go through its travel smoothly, didn’t notice any hangups.

Also, when pumped back up to 82psi, I put both hands on either side of the stem and bounced all of my weight on the fork and I could only get through half or less of the travel. Fork also wheezes like an asthmatic. So what are we talking here? Pull it off and send to Fox for full service and damper rebuild?

[Spencer123]

Thanks for the input!

[toast2266]

So I opened up the air chamber and the oil inside looks congealed. Bits of it are clung to the inside chamber instead of flowing like liquid. I assume this isn’t normal? It seems like one of those chunks could be blocking a port damper like you suggested. When I let the air out and pressed the fork it seemed to go through its travel smoothly, didn’t notice any hangups.

Also, when pumped back up to 82psi, I put both hands on either side of the stem and bounced all of my weight on the fork and I could only get through half or less of the travel. Fork also wheezes like an asthmatic. So what are we talking here? Pull it off and send to Fox for full service and damper rebuild?

Yeah, probably time for a rebuild. You could send it to fox, or better yet, pretty much anyone else that does fork rebuilds. If you're not looking to re-tune anything, I'd just see if any of your local shops are set up to do it.

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[beaterdit]

If it were me I’d get it serviced locally at Suspension Syndicate down here in Salt Lake. Other thought on the current state of it: grease or other shit can clog the negative port in the air spring and prevent it from filling, or equalixing. Does it feel stiff off the top? A lower service will take dare of that. Clean, regrease, re-oil.