Ahh, the RC cartridge. I got one on my last full bike. I went with a lower spec since I was swapping over my nicer parts anyway and I'd heard the Lyrik RC was great.
The real story with the RC. I'm expert rider, 195 lbs, aggressive, but not a top level racer by any stretch. The fork feels great on rough stuff up to mid-speed, and faster stuff that isn't too rough. It worked great 95% of the time. I hated it.
Generally the fork felt lightly-damped and plush, with little low speed compression. You could turn the dial up for more damping and control, but then you're prone to harshness (spiking) when going hard on DH-type sections of trail. This is the only situation it was unacceptable, but this is really the only situation when I need my fork to really be great. I almost got blown off the bars a few times pushing my limits on faster, chunky trail (Predator, for you SEA folks) - even with the damper close to full open.
A fork with the RC cartridge would be great for most of the Shore, most Whistler valley trails (or anywhere not fast), and great for all intermediate and most advanced riders. Experts going fast on chunky trails drop the $$ for the RCT3 cartridge or a 36.
July 8, 2018, 9:13 a.m. - JVP
Ahh, the RC cartridge. I got one on my last full bike. I went with a lower spec since I was swapping over my nicer parts anyway and I'd heard the Lyrik RC was great. The real story with the RC. I'm expert rider, 195 lbs, aggressive, but not a top level racer by any stretch. The fork feels great on rough stuff up to mid-speed, and faster stuff that isn't too rough. It worked great 95% of the time. I hated it. Generally the fork felt lightly-damped and plush, with little low speed compression. You could turn the dial up for more damping and control, but then you're prone to harshness (spiking) when going hard on DH-type sections of trail. This is the only situation it was unacceptable, but this is really the only situation when I need my fork to really be great. I almost got blown off the bars a few times pushing my limits on faster, chunky trail (Predator, for you SEA folks) - even with the damper close to full open. A fork with the RC cartridge would be great for most of the Shore, most Whistler valley trails (or anywhere not fast), and great for all intermediate and most advanced riders. Experts going fast on chunky trails drop the $$ for the RCT3 cartridge or a 36.