I have ridden quite a few budget forks, and I can’t think of one with adjustable LSC where adding compression damping doesn’t just make the fork exponentially shittier.
Whether it’s RockShox, or Fox, or X-Fusion, or Suntour, or etc the recipe for best possible performance is the same:
1) Lube lowers out of the box
2) open LSC
3) run Rebound as fast as you can hold on
Actually, one of the best budget dampers is the newer version of X-Fusion’s RL damper. It’s buttery off the top but actually has quite a bit of mid-stroke support thanks to the check-valve in the damper. Open the rebound so it recovers quickly and go ride with your friends on forks that cost double.
I’d much rather invest my money in a really nice chassis than extra knobs that do nothing or make my fork worse.
May 6, 2021, 7:39 a.m. - Andrew Major
I have ridden quite a few budget forks, and I can’t think of one with adjustable LSC where adding compression damping doesn’t just make the fork exponentially shittier. Whether it’s RockShox, or Fox, or X-Fusion, or Suntour, or etc the recipe for best possible performance is the same: 1) Lube lowers out of the box 2) open LSC 3) run Rebound as fast as you can hold on Actually, one of the best budget dampers is the newer version of X-Fusion’s RL damper. It’s buttery off the top but actually has quite a bit of mid-stroke support thanks to the check-valve in the damper. Open the rebound so it recovers quickly and go ride with your friends on forks that cost double. I’d much rather invest my money in a really nice chassis than extra knobs that do nothing or make my fork worse.