Nice looking/sounding fork! Quick take on bleeders... they should be on every fork. Few years ago, had a Yari (still one of the best performance for dollar forks), and over a year, it annoyingly suffered from the trapped air phenomenon 4 or 5 times... which can really ruin a ride/s, especially the first couple of times when it takes you some time to figure out what's happening.
My next fork was an MRP Ribbon Air (w/ bleeders). I'd tap the bleeders every once in a while and never heard much happening (side note... I don't think you can actually hear the relatively low pressures being released from these bleeders, but they are still doing something). Never experienced any "trapped air" events with that fork.
This year, I'm on a 2020 Fox 36 (no bleeders like the 2021 version). 20 rides or so in and during a trip to a bikepark no less... over a few rides my fork feels like it's getting harsher and harsher and I realize that even hauling ass into super rough terrain I'm not using much travel. Next ride, instead of a 170mm fork, might as well have been a 100mm fork. Finally get it home to try and figure out what's up and finally realize it's trapped air (after not dealing with it for a year, I forgot what it looked/felt like). So I take the pressure out... add a little pressure and then reef on the arch (downwards, because trapped air makes your fork suck down at low pressures) until I hear the familiar "squelch" and it releases... all is back to normal.
How long until happens again on this bleeder-less fork? And... I don't seem to hear much of this from many people... I know I'm not the only one, but how often is this happening to people?
Anyway... point being... all my future forks will have bleed ports.
Aug. 24, 2020, 11:56 a.m. - IslandLife
Nice looking/sounding fork! Quick take on bleeders... they should be on every fork. Few years ago, had a Yari (still one of the best performance for dollar forks), and over a year, it annoyingly suffered from the trapped air phenomenon 4 or 5 times... which can really ruin a ride/s, especially the first couple of times when it takes you some time to figure out what's happening. My next fork was an MRP Ribbon Air (w/ bleeders). I'd tap the bleeders every once in a while and never heard much happening (side note... I don't think you can actually hear the relatively low pressures being released from these bleeders, but they are still doing something). Never experienced any "trapped air" events with that fork. This year, I'm on a 2020 Fox 36 (no bleeders like the 2021 version). 20 rides or so in and during a trip to a bikepark no less... over a few rides my fork feels like it's getting harsher and harsher and I realize that even hauling ass into super rough terrain I'm not using much travel. Next ride, instead of a 170mm fork, might as well have been a 100mm fork. Finally get it home to try and figure out what's up and finally realize it's trapped air (after not dealing with it for a year, I forgot what it looked/felt like). So I take the pressure out... add a little pressure and then reef on the arch (downwards, because trapped air makes your fork suck down at low pressures) until I hear the familiar "squelch" and it releases... all is back to normal. How long until happens again on this bleeder-less fork? And... I don't seem to hear much of this from many people... I know I'm not the only one, but how often is this happening to people? Anyway... point being... all my future forks will have bleed ports.