Suspension school · Brand-Specific Technology

Which Damper Do I Have?

Identify any fork damper in a minute from its dials and caps

Before you can set anything up you need to know exactly what you are adjusting. Every damper in this section can be identified without tools, just by looking at the top caps, the dials and the stickers. Work through this article first, then open the matching brand article for the detail.

Check the Serial or ID First

Fox forks carry an ID code on the back of the crown which Fox's website decodes into the exact model, year and damper. RockShox does the same through the serial number on the back of the crown, and the Trailhead app goes one better by returning recommended base settings for your exact fork. If the sticker is intact, this beats guessing.

The Colour Code

Almost every brand anodises the rebound adjuster red, and it almost always lives at the bottom of the right leg on a fork. Compression adjusters sit on top of the right leg and are usually blue or black. If you only remember one convention, remember that red means rebound.

A Sweep Lever or a Single Dial

• A continuous sweep lever on the top cap plus a rebound dial: Fox GRIP (Rhythm and Performance, up to 2024) or Marzocchi's RAIL damper on the Z1 and Z2
• A lever with three marked positions (Open, Medium, Firm): Fox FIT4 (up to 2024) or Fox GRIP SL (2025 onwards, look for the GRIP SL lettering)
• A FIT4 lever with a small dial in its centre is the Factory version, which adds low-speed compression fine tuning in Open mode
• A simple lockout lever or bar remote on an XC fork: RockShox Charger Race Day, SR Suntour lockout dampers and similar

Two or Three Dials

• Two dials (one compression, one rebound): entry and mid-range dampers such as Fox GRIP Performance or RockShox Charger RC
• Three adjusters marked HSC, LSC and rebound: Fox GRIP X (2025 onwards), RockShox Charger 3 and 3.1 RC2, Manitou Mezzer MC2, EXT Era
• Three adjusters where the high-speed compression is a lever with three positions rather than clicks: Öhlins TTX18 forks
• RockShox Charger 3 family caps are easy to spot because the compression dials carry a 0 in the middle with plus and minus either side

Four Dials

On a single crown fork, four external damping dials almost always means Fox: GRIP2 (model years 2019 to 2024) or GRIP X2 (2025 onwards). Two concentric compression adjusters sit on the top cap and two rebound adjusters sit at the bottom of the leg. The top cap lettering tells you which generation you have.

Air Valves Are a Clue Too

• A second air valve on the spring leg means a multi-chamber air spring: Öhlins RXF (ramp-up chamber), Manitou Mezzer and Dorado (IRT), EXT Era (plus and plus-plus chambers)
• Formula Selva R hides its second valve at the bottom of the left leg, filling an independent negative chamber (2Air)
• A 5mm hex socket at the base of the air leg with no valve is DVO's OTT negative spring preload
• One valve only means a conventional self-equalising air spring, tuned with volume spacers instead of a second pressure

Instant Brand Tells

• Reverse arch behind the stanchions: Manitou
• Bright green dials and hardware: DVO
• Gold crown badge and two air valves: Öhlins
• Small bleed buttons on the back of the lowers: RockShox Pike, Lyrik or Zeb from model year 2023 (moved to the back of the crown on the 2027 Zeb and Lyrik)
• Coil shock with an external adjuster ring near the end of the body and Italian styling: likely an EXT with hydraulic bottom-out control

Once you know what you have, the calculator can give you weight-based starting settings in the correct click convention for that damper, and the rest of this section covers each brand in depth.