Thank you so much for taking the time to go over this with me!! When I eventually make it out to CO I owe you a beer or two.

Those settings look good. I’ll do the psi & token removal and then go one by one on the others. (I could use a better real world understanding of each setting.)

I’ve gotten a lot better with fork maintenance. The dust wipers were replaced about 4 months ago when I installed the GRIP 2 and I just replaced them again this weekend. Also, gently wiping them down before each ride.

I think I’m good with bar, brake positioning, and lever distance. I’ve spent a lot of time refining it.

Totally agree about preferring the 31mm bar. That flexx bar is intriguing! It looks like a good option too if I don’t want to switch grips. I’ve tried a few grips and really like the Santa Cruz Palmdale. About a year ago I switched to the Renthal Kevlar Push-on as I like them a tad bit more but they are a harsher. I’m hesitant to do the Rev because of the outside clamp and that’s where I like to have the edge of my hand.

-180lbs is riding weight; 5’’10”
-bike is a Nomad 4 (large)
-riding level is average, maybe slightly faster, with the desire to become faster
-no racing though I would like to get to the fitness to do something like the CA or OR Enduro (in a sport class level)
-I’m getting hand fatigue/numbness on high speed descents over 1 mile that have lots of 1”-4” square edged hits; with the old settings I wasn’t having this issue, but with the new settings I now realize how unsupportive the front end was with the “low psi/high tokens“ setup.
-Tire pressure: front = 22psi, rear = 24psi; 2.5 DHF & Aggressor (EXO casings)
-Fork is 170mm, 81psi, 1 token; GRIP2, settings from fully closed: HSC = 12, LSC = 6, LSR & HSR = 5

You’re good with your analysis!

"The only way you are getting away with it (I think) is by riding off the back of the bike. If you get rid of the spacers, increase pressure, you'll ride higher in the more supple part of the travel, but you will be forced to ride more on top of the bike to get any performance out of this setup."

You're correct that I'm riding off the back and I'm starting to think that running the low pressure/lots of volume spacers has reinforced that style. (I did a class with Fluidride and the main critique that Simon had was me being too far back.) I am working to change that but it never felt comfortable. (Probably because the psi was too low.)

"Before you go crazy with buying new stuff, why don't you try taking all your volume spacers out, going up in pressure and staying on the front of the bike? Your current setup would suggest you are running lower in the travel, near the firmer part of the fork's stroke."

After very recently watching a video with Jordi from Fox (Privateer season 2 episode 2?), I realized my psi was too low and did what you're also recommending (58psi to 81psi, all tokens removed except 1; reference riding weight of 180lbs/81.6psi, 170mm fork). I like the setup a lot more as long as I ride more forward/on-top like you recommend. I’m wondering if I should up the psi a tad bit more (82/83psi)?

Regarding the Luftkappe, my hands are getting beat-up a bit more on longer runs with this new setup and I was thinking maybe it would take that initial edge off? Or maybe I just need to toughen them up?

@dirtworks911 @jeff.brines @LTrumpore @iceman2058 and possibly @vorsprung is there a downside to the Luftkappe? Sitting a little lower in the travel and a little more ramp-up (compared to no tokens) isn't really a significant downside, especially when the trade-off is a better initial suppleness. I ask because I don't understand why the manufactures didn't do this initially? I would think they've tested in all kinds of conditions, so there must be a trade off? For background I live in SoCal where the trail conditions are usually slippery (e.g. hard packed covered in sand or lots of tiny pebbles). I've been one of those people that's lowered their psi & crammed a bunch of tokens in. While not ideal in a lot of ways, the fork feels like it's glued to the ground in loose blown-out conditions.

Thanks guys, the comment section on here has been very informative.

Appreciate the responses. Thank you

In what way is it better made? The feedback I’ve seen has said they’re about the same or the TLD is slightly better but I’ve not seen any specific detail. (I’ve not seen the TLD in person.) Regarding weight, the comparison I’ve seen is that a medium TLD is 713 vs 761 grams which is less than 2oz. This doesn’t seem significant in most cases, but I could be wrong. As far as fit, that’s personal preference and a non-factor in making it #1.

The TLD Stage appears to be a near identical copy of the Fox Proframe, less maybe a few grams or maybe not, and it retails for $50 more (even greater difference when looking at street prices), yet it’s the #1? Perhaps I’m missing something but the comparisons I’ve seen people like the Proframe more because the Stage puts pressure on people’s ears. Don’t mean to be a jerk here, just really confused.