Advice on setting up a dual air Revelation fork?

[BuickGN]

I purchased this fork a while back but still haven't got the setup right. I'm 220lbs, about 240 with gear and the bike is a fairly heavy one.

It's a Revelation dual air fork. I've experimented with the extremes of positive and negative chamber pressure but can't get it where I want it. Right now I'm running much less pressure than is recommended for my weight yet still only using half the travel. That's the first problem.

Second is I get little to no sag when I sit on it. I thought I'm supposed to see 1/4 of the total fork travel in sag. I get maybe 3/8" with ultra low air pressures.

It also has a lot of brake dive. I assume this is due to the frame's angle.... This bike came with a cheap but too stiff coil spring fork. To me it looks like it has too much rake but it's about the same as my friend's Specialized Epic with a cheaper fork and better ride.

I've even tried it with no negative pressure. Is there some magic balance beteen the positive and negative chamber that I'm not getting? I've searched and been on mtbr.com for a month now trying different things.

One other thing, if I set the air pressure really low to where it uses some appreciable travel, it's too soft when I go to pedal hard. I have the option to lock it out of course but that's not always possible in some areas.

 

[JOD]

sorry, I wish I had some better advice besides "buy a Float RL", but that's what I did. I simply couldn't get the dual air set up to where I like it.

Just for laughs, you may want to play around with the rebound/motion control damper to make sure it's actually functioning, as they've had some issues.

Lastly, you may want to just give SRAM a call. Just don't call on a Monday morning... There are some smart folks there and you may get some help from them on set-up.

 

[SLCraig]

I've never setup a Rev, but I've setup a Reba (same design, less travel) and had no issues. I found just setting the neg. chamber to recommended pressure, and adjusting the positive for overall feel, and just using the rebound dampening to dial in the rest. I loved the feel of my Reba after only 2 rides on it, had it dialed in the way I wanted. I now have a Float RL (140mm) and I gotta say, I think I like the feel of the RS more. I love the Reba and Rev... Hope you can get that thing dialed in the way you like it, they are super plush and reliable when dialed in.

 

[BuickGN]

Thanks guys. I tried messing with the rebound for the first time last night. Air pressure is what they recommend for a 160lb rider. Maybe I'm not challenging it enough. I'll try some different terrain and more aggressive riding.

One thing to get straight, you want to use most of the available travel for the conditions without bottoming, right?

 

[SLCraig]

Originally Posted By: BuickGN
Thanks guys. I tried messing with the rebound for the first time last night. Air pressure is what they recommend for a 160lb rider. Maybe I'm not challenging it enough. I'll try some different terrain and more aggressive riding.

One thing to get straight, you want to use most of the available travel for the conditions without bottoming, right?


That's what they say, and I used to not follow, thinking if you were on non-harsh terrain, why would you want to near bottom out? but the fact is, the ride is so great on a tame trail with lower air pressure, its just so plush. That's what I do now Riding with Float on the front, and a Float on the back, you don't feel a thing

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: SLCraig
Originally Posted By: BuickGN
Thanks guys. I tried messing with the rebound for the first time last night. Air pressure is what they recommend for a 160lb rider. Maybe I'm not challenging it enough. I'll try some different terrain and more aggressive riding.

One thing to get straight, you want to use most of the available travel for the conditions without bottoming, right?


That's what they say, and I used to not follow, thinking if you were on non-harsh terrain, why would you want to near bottom out? but the fact is, the ride is so great on a tame trail with lower air pressure, its just so plush. That's what I do now Riding with Float on the front, and a Float on the back, you don't feel a thing

What I do with my XC air fork is set it to bottom on the largest reasonable hit I'm going to take on it, like a 2' drop, it still give me a bit of sag but is firm enough not to wallow around in a berm. I leave it that way all season as I'd rather have a consistant firm feel than mushyness, but that's a personal preference and on a hardtail it makes sense to me atleast.
I also don't like the constant head angle changes with soft fork, having it go super steep under hard braking isn't confidence inspiring...