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My 2c after three months / over 500 miles on the Essential: it feels almost too good to be true initially, but the performance of the fork doesn't degrade over time and as you get used to its slightly different feeling (and a longer offset in my case), it just rides better and better. I too have had problems with hands going numb and the Essential is giving me the best riding comfort of all forks I've ridden so far without sacrificing performance and stability.
For a 160mm fork trail bike, would it be best to just go straight for the Intend Edge for improved stiffness or will the Hero be more than good enough for normal trail riding?
I'm going deaf over hearing constantly about flexing and all of that with these inverted forks, so I have to ask given the price difference is negligible. Both can do 160mm travel, and it would be nice with less weight, but I'd rather have performance over weight loss any day.
My plan for next season is EXT Storia V4 coil in the back and smashpot V2 in my Fox 36. If I can't get to grips with the coil conversion, then the Intend is my plan B.
The grip 2 seems to choke and end up a bit harsh no matter how you set it up. Bumps just felt sharp in the hands.
If you’re considering making the 36 2.5kg might as well go straight to the Edge without looking back.
Even the Flash would be lighter than the 36 with the Smashpot
The Smashpot conversion is something I'm willing to commit to only because I've never tried a coil fork before, and it's a fairly inexpensive conversion for a fork I already got. It may be I really like it and then I would be willing to accept a weight penalty. That said, Ideally I would want a lighter fork so when it comes to the Intend route I just wonder how much this torsional flex debate is really of importance for someone who do normal trail riding. I just don't want to sit there regretting an expensive purchase like that, so I only want the most out of the purchase and saving 180 grams is of course welcomed if I in my case won't really notice the difference.
sell 36 and buy edge its superior in every aspect to binding "factory" fork. U dont need coil anyway intend is so smooth with its minimal friction compared to big2 forks.
It's 3 years old and it's of a lot more value to keep it as a backup + experimentation device than to get a few bucks. If something happens to that expensive Intend fork and I need to ship it back, I may be stranded in the middle of a short season which I refuse to end up in. I need to be able to ship it back any day of the year or it's just not an option. The same goes for the EXT shock, I will still keep my Fox Float X as a backup so if anything happens, I am back on the trails in no time.
Having a backup is king.
I'm so glad you brought this up - my Edge had been lying around for a while and I just put it back on my bike and noted to achieve my preferred sag I was 18 psi below the last time I had it on the bike (usually I'm 68 psi for 21% and yesterday I only pumped it up to 50), and it just didn't feel right. I unscrewed the 10 mm bolt on the airside and voila, I huge amount of air came out. Is this leaking from the negative chamber into the uppers? So odd...
nope, its just air trapped , same thing happens with RSU forks.. that's why you got all of those bleed ports these days
On the Smashpot thing, personally I wish someone would make a simple coil conversion that is just the coil. I feel like ACS3 and Smashpot overcomplicate the whole system, adding weight, complexity, and inconsistency to something that is already heavy but has the benefit of simplicity and consistency when done without those mechanisms (e.g. RXF36/38, Cane Creek Helm, Formula, etc). Every fork I've ridden with a coil had enough progression from the air trapped in the lowers and the damper was capable of controlling the movement without these other things needed.
Maybe do what Ohlins did and add a spacer at the bottom of the seal head that reduces volume in the lowers, but other than that - I just wish there was a simple coil conversion for the air forks that didn't involve an airspring or second damper.
I don’t necessarily agree - I fart my lowers all the time on other bikes (Zeb and Lyrik) and never hear a thing. Additionally, It’s only a problem on the air side for me, and looking back, when I remounted the fork this time, the air side almost seemed locked out. I didnt think much of it and just depressurized and pumped it back up, but looking back, perhaps the negative chamber just emptied into the uppers.
Yes it sounds like you have a leaking negative spring. There shouldn't be a large amount of pressure in there at all, there might be the faintest hiss from the fork being assembled fully extended and compressed down, or from huge changes in temperature/altitude but what you describe is a leaking spring, especially the way it felt almost locked out
I had similar thoughts. Where the f did that air come from. However if it would be a leak there will be more air regardless of your fork is sitting around or beeing riden. So id say lets recheck later and if there is constantly air trapped there must be something wrong. Thats what i wanted to do originaly. However the fork has since then performed flawless and at one point i decided to not touch a running system.
Oh man, I guess it depends on riding style, but without the Smashpot’s HBO, I’d be bottoming like crazy (paired to a charger 2.1 and another with Avy cart). The trapped air isn’t nearly enough, especially on the ebike with the HBO fully closed
last time i checked, there was no smashpot for inverted single crown forks so could you discuss this somewhere else?
needed to save todays story from Intend
@Skunk Works Suspension did you already have the chance to try out the flash? i am very eager to hear your opinion on this one, also compared to the edge. cheers
Unfortunately not yet, other than in the driveway. There are a few other projects to take care of first, but soon!
There are some slight updates between forks; the brake hose guide is now a compression molded carbon piece instead of simply being cut from a carbon plate, and the rebound knob is bigger and easier to turn.
Compared to the Edge, the Flash crown is larger and has more overlap on the legs.
Hello! One of my friends that got the same fork wonders what air pressure do you typically put into the fork and what’s your weight? I understand that might not be super relevant to anything, but still interesting. Thank you
Also, Spomer, spam is a real issue indeed, but you’re cutting off new users from registering - not all countries have access to us of a payment systems
start with weight in kg = psi
it’s all on the website:
www.intend-bc.com/fork-setup/?v=d88fc6edf21e
Yes, the kg to psi is a good starting pressure.
It also depends on what air cap you are using, I weigh 175# and run around 80 psi with the max volume air cap.
With the "linearizer" dynamic 3rd chamber, I was running 10-15 psi less (and around 120psi in the linearizer).
Travelizer or Linearizer? 😂 I swear, Cornelius just fuck with us with those names.
I also add more air pressure with my max++ volume air cap setup.
Yes, linearizer. ☺️
"kg in psi"
Man we do like to mix our metric and lunar freedom units in mountain biking.
they could have done a table and put it on a sticker but why should they if you have a simple to remember ballpark figure?
Kg x 6.895 kPa just doesn't have the same ring to it.
That's not even close to the worst one! Fox currently mixes metric and imperial sized shims in the same shim stack...italian threaded bottom brackets were/are 36mm by 24 threads per inch....no one is truly all metric or all imperial
please do not reply in this thread, just PM me or email sspomer@vitalmtb.com - i don't want this thread derailed.
- but to address "not all countries have access to us of a payment systems" (did you mean USA?). can you elaborate more? specific country or payment type? afaik our system takes any kind of credit card (a global form of payment) for the signup process. thanks!
(for those who don't know b/c they've been here for a while, a few months ago we implemented a one-time $1 fee for new signups to prevent spam. the spam was so out of control no matter what we did. now, the spam is done (aside from the spammer who actually spent $1 yesterday only to get shut down LOL).
AGAIN, please don't discuss this any further in this forum thread...stick to rad fork talk...i'll delete this in a couple days.
Kg x 51.716746 mmHG is so much easier, since my shock pump reads in mmHG already.
I just find it funny how much we mix metric and standard measurements in MTB.
There's nothing wrong with it
I also enjoy when I do climate testing and I can just state "tested at -40°" since it's the crossover between F and C. I'm tempted to use Kelvin just to mess with my boss. Yes, I am that big of a nerd.
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