Ohlins RXF Fork Setup

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Any tips for setting up the RXF 36? Back to a 2 chamber air fork like old school RockShox! Manual is pretty vague to be honest. I’d like good small bump compliance. Feels like low speed damping barely changes the feel (albeit from me compressing fork in the lounge!).

 

[ccrdave]

my wife has just bought a spesh enduro fitted with those forks, we set it up as the manual says, bottom air chamber first then top chamber pressures according to the weight chart rebund and low speed compression set about half way, Sag was bang on but 10-15% as recommended is a bit small in my book.. Fork rode quite hard so we backed off the low speed compression which improved it a bit but no where near as good as my lyrics.
there are some reviews that say they think its over damped, there is an expert at sprung suspension at pedalabikeaway in the forest of dean I will talk to him soon as hes back of Holiday, his name is Jake worth giving him a call if you struggle

 

[Japuserid]

Hey Rob

That'll teach you to own such exotic fork's not many people to help you. ( Apart from Ccrdave ) Al Boneta probably has experience of this fork.

I did find this from Pink bike, its a pretty in depth review the 34mm version's but probably a lot of the setup tip's would transfer to the 36's.

Öhlins RXF 34 - Review - Pinkbike

I'm sure they will be superb when you do eventually get them dialed in it's a quality fork.

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Hey @Al Boneta how do you find yours? I think on the S-Works they are slightly different Öhlins?

 

[Al Boneta]

Hey @Al Boneta how do you find yours? I think on the S-Works they are slightly different Öhlins?

There’s not much I can tell you that isn’t in the manual.
I went with the suggested settings for my weight and dialed it back from there. It’s not my favorite fork by any means and the setup can take a few rides to get dialed.
I have had to set a bunch of these up for customers and we start with the suggested settings.
I put one of these forks on my Orange Levo last year, it took a day to set it up at my local trails behind my house.
It takes me significant trail and error to get it to feel not harsh.
I went back to my Pike after a dozen or so rides. My new S-Works is getting the coil version. So I have two Öhlins forks for sale if anyone wants them.
I’ll have my suspension tech chime in when he has time. He’ll have a more detailed answer than me.

 

[MTBJason]

I was doing some "Googling" regarding the Ohlins RXF 36 and ran across this thread and thought that I would share some information with you guys/gals that I imagine will solve all of the above issues...

Recently I purchased an Ohlins STX 22 AIR (tech came with my frame) and a Ohlins RFX 36 27.5 Fork to go with my 2017 Specialized Stumpjumper FSR S-Works frame. Prior to making the purchase I did a great deal of research online and found that like many of you the more "professional" reviews also indicated that large square edge hits were amazing with the RXF 36, but small bump compliance was an issue. One issue that I have had in the past particularly with Rockshock is that due to my low body weight 126lbs I fall outside of the adjustable range of most forks/shocks. Knowing this and the information from the many reviews regarding the RXF 36 I reached out to Ohlins support for more information. After speaking with there support team I felt very confident that if I had any issues with either the fork or the shock that they would be more than willing/capable of correcting said issues.

I went ahead and purchased the S-Works frame that came with the STX 22 AIR and purchased the RFX 36... The shock was perfect, very easy to tune and setup, rides like your on a cloud. However the fork like many reviews had suggested would take large square edged hits like they were not even there it was amazing I have never used a fork that could do that in the past. Small bump compliance however was harsh... the bike was very controllable, but fairly harsh.

I went ahead and reached out to Ohlins support via e-mail... Explained to them that I was very happy with the forks ability to soak up large square edge hits, but found that small bump compliance was harsh. Informed them that I initially set SAG to 15% per the manual and later tired 25% SAG, but this did not give me the small bump compliance that I was looking for and required me to increase the air in the ramp up chamber so that I would not blow through the travel on the larger hits. I than gave them my complete setup rider weight, bike frame that I was using, main chamber PSI, ramp up chamber PSI, rebound setting , hi speed compression setting, and low speed compression setting. I also informed them that while the hi-speed compression offers a very noticeable difference in fork performance that both the low speed compression and rebound adjustments seem to be much more subtle.

The MTB Product Manger reached out to me directly via e-mail and indicated... That on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being the softest the damper could be set to and 5 being the hardest that it could be set to, the RXF 36 is set at a 4. He went on to explain that this is done on purpose by Specialized due to the forks being optimized from the factory for Enduro Racing.

In the end I ended up sending the fork to Ohlins where they preformed the following...
- C20 and R20 revalve
- Sized the bushings to decrease friction
- Decreased the negative spring air volume to make it more supple off the top
- Sized the piston band to decrease friction
- Changed the compression (low/high) settings
- Changed the rebound settings

After getting the fork back and setting it up I can say that this fork is amazing! Its like riding on a cloud and it still manages to take those large square edged hits like a champ. I will say even after the tune this is very much a fork that needs to be setup correctly and its something that is going to take you some time to do, but once you get it setup correctly its like a dream.

Let me know if you guys/gals have any questions.

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Hi @MTBJason thanks for the incredibly detailed post.

That is super helpful and interesting to read.

How long did it take and would you mind sharing costs to get something like this done?

Rob.

 

[MTBJason]

Sure @Rob Hancill.

Timing...
It took 2 days for Ohlins to receive the fork after I shipped it (I used FedEx Ground). Ohlins than kept the fork for 8 days and it took UPS 3 days to get the fork back to me. So in total I went without the fork for 13 days... your timing may vary due to the weekends and how shipping times work.

Cost...
I am a little reluctant to talk about cost due to the fact that Ohlins "worked with me" and cut me a deal, but in the end they charged me $100.00 for the service/labor and they charged me $36.85 for return shipping. Total charge from Ohlins was $136.85 however like I said I am sure that its going to vary as they cut me a pretty good deal which I believe they did due to the fact that I had talked to them prior to purchasing the fork/shock and they knew that it was brand new. I also had to pay about $40.00 to ship the fork to Ohlins via FedEx Ground.

Regarding cost the RXF 36 has to have lowers done every 50 hours which you can do at home or have the local bike shop do. However every 100 hours it is has to have a full service on the damper performed this has to be done by Ohlins. During conversations that I had with Ohlins prior to purchasing the fork they mentioned that this 100 hour service and there "tuning options" can be combined together to aid in cost savings. Unfortunately I do not remember the exact pricing for that 100 hour service, but I want to say that it was something like $180 + parts if any were needed. Also while we are on the topic of maintenance Ohlins also informed me that its best to order the parts required for the 50 hour maintenance directly from them as they charge way less than Specialized does for the same parts.

 

[Cyclone]

Am I right in saying that if I buy a bike with Ohlins shocks I have to service the the ship the shock to online after every 100 hours for a service, but the rockshocks etc don't require such extreme measures?

 

[MTBJason]

@Cyclone you are right and somewhat wrong, let me explain.

I cant speak for all brands and all models within each brand so I will stick to brands/models that I am familiar with and/or can easily look up online.

The Ohlins RXF 36 27.5 Fork has to have a lower leg service done every 50 hours which can be performed by either the user or a local bike shop. Every 100 hours it has to be sent to Ohlins or Specialized for a full service of the damper. The Ohlins STX 22 AIR Shock has to have a full service every 100 hours that can only be performed by Ohlins or specialized.

The 2019 Rockshox Lyrik RC Fork has to have a lower leg service done every 50 hours which can be performed by either the user or a local bike shop. Every 200 hours it has to have a full service which can be performed at local bike shop that has been certified by Rockshox. The 2016 Monarch RT3 Shock has to have a full service every 100 hours which can be performed at a local bike shop that has been certified by Rockshox.

The 2019 Fox 36 27.5 Factory Fork does not indicate that a lower leg service needs to be done at all... However every 125 hours or once per year whichever comes first they do recommend a full service of the fork which has to be performed by Fox. The 2019 Fox DPX2 Factory also has to have a full service every 125 hours or once per year whichever comes first which has to be performed by Fox. It is also worth noting that this is the "recommended minimum" service interval for the above Fox fork/shock and that service may need to be done more often.

Adding to the above...
In regards to Ohlins it is my understanding that they use a lot of proprietary internals that would make servicing them at a local bike shop impossible and would ultimately void the warranty. I also at one point reached out directly to Fox's service department for clarification on this matter and was informed that Fox does not certify any local bike shops to perform a "full service" or warranty work on any of the Fox forks/shocks and that any bike shop that was doing so was voiding said clients warranty.

My personal thoughts...
While yes you can by a Rockshox fork/shock and have it serviced at virtually any local bike shop I personally view this as a negative and it was ultimately one of the major factors that made me not purchase another Rockshox fork/shock. The first reason for this is that due to the inability to send a Rockshox fork or shock to the manufacture for servicing you also lack the ability to be able to have said component tuned to your weight, bike, and riding style. While that may not seem like a big deal all forks and shocks for example come from the factory with the assumption that the riders body weight is going to fall into some pre-determined range by said manufacture. This is something that both Fox support and Ohlins support confirmed regarding there forks/shocks and in both cases I fell out side of the range. If you happen to be a rider that falls outside of this weight range or is to one extreme of the range you are going to run into a situation where the internal damper basically doesn't work or at the very least is not working nearly as well as it should. I dont know about you, but if I am spending $1,000+ on a new fork I kinda want it to work to its full ability. The second reason why I view Rockshox service strategy as a negative is I know that in 100 hours when I send my Ohlins fork in those guys are going to completely tear that fork tear down and check everything... If there is anything in there that is remotely damaged or not working correctly they are going to be able to tell and let you know. Your local bike shop in most cases is simply going to lack the time and skill required to be able to do that.

Hope that clears things up for you or at the very least give you a better idea as to why I choose to go with Ohlins.

 

[Cyclone]

I was utterly unaware of this
Even my current Stumpy has never been serviced since I bought it years ago. I just keep the bike clean, usual oil and air etc.

how does this work for communters? Let's say you commute around 2 hours a day and ride for fun/etc for 2 hours a day after work / lunchtime etc then you ride for 10 hours on a weekend or so on average.

That's 30hrs a week riding. Would that mean that every 3 weeks or so I need to strip the bike and send my forks to ohlins for 8+ days to service the fork?

OR are we talking about 100hrs of hard core downhill riding?

My old stumpy fork is working fine but it's never ever been serviced other than what is mentioned above. You've got me thinking now that I'm a bit of terrible person

 

[MTBJason]

@Cyclone you bring up some very good questions... I would assume that most service intervals are based around the assumption that most of the riding will be done on beginner to intermediate level single track/cross country/general mtb trails.

For example on Fox's site they indicate the following...
"For those who ride lift-accessed DH, Park, or Extreme Freeride or in extremely wet/muddy or dry/dusty environmental conditions where trail debris is sprayed onto the fork or shock while on the trail, FOX encourages riders to perform maintenance earlier than recommended above as needed." They also go onto say, "Pro Tip: To maintain a level of performance achieved by Factory Pro Riders, more frequent maintenance than suggested above can be performed, if desired."

Ohlins manual for my fork indicates the following...
"Extreme riding in adverse weather conditions or lack of cleaning will reduce service intervals."

For me I will be sticking with lowers every 50 hours and full service every 100 hours. I would think that daily commuting on greenways/roads would not count towards the service interval or at the very least would have an insignificant impact on it. On the other hand if you were hitting downhill trails everyday/weekend that may cut down your time between service intervals significantly. Like anything these are simply recommendations and not the end all be all answer... at the end of the day Ohlins is not going to know if I put 100 hours on that fork or say 125 hours. Since I dont feel like I have a good answer for you regarding this and have not actually asked Ohlins/Fox this particular question I would recommend reaching out to your corresponding manufacturer to see what they say. As far as the stumpy goes maybe its time to get a service... might be surprised at how much better it is afterwards might not lol.

 

[skiboycey]

Hi

I finally got these forks to work after hours of adjustments since i got them on my specialized 2018 carbon turbo levo. For info i weigh 95kg, bike is about 25kg I'd imagine with water, tools and extender battery on board so 120kg rolling weight.

The fork has always been harsh and the small bump compliance non existent. I think this is because i ride "normally" not like a 25 year old hooligan doing very fast enduro runs jumping everything in sight. I get about, mind, I'm an ex national level Moto enduro rider but I'm also now a bit porky, 51 years old and don't need any new injuries to my already fairly broken body...

So i chucked out the awful Ohlins recommended settings, clearly made with aforementioned 25 year olds smashing it out in mind and went with the following

Main chamber 120psi
Ramp up chamber 40psi
Compression open (full left on dial)
Rebound 3 clicks from full open

Result is finally a reasonably plush fork where i get close to full travel on most rides. It's about 15% sag, perhaps 20. I may drop the ramp up chamber to zero psi but haven't experimented yet. These settings are so wildly different from those recommended by Ohlins you can see why it took a while to find them. I think they recommend something like 140 main chamber and 220 ramp up. At these settings my old manitou elastomer forks from about 1990 felt more plush.

It's the ramp up chamber to blame for this and letting all the air out was my eureka moment. This was inspired by the same result i got taking all the plastic volume reducers out of the fox rear shock with similar result. Heavy weight needs big volume and low ramp up to work properly with air shocks.

Ohlins - sort your recommended settings out i nearly got rid of your forks and would have held a bad opinion of them to anyone that asked on the back of your poorly written and explained manual and crappy recommended settings... At least explain what each setting does clearly in the manual with clear instructions as to the steps needed if, for example, the fork is too harsh rather than letting owners work it out for themselves...

Hope this is useful...

UPDATE

I dropped the ramp up pressure to 20psi and it's better again. I will now try zero psi. My other settings are;

Tyres: Michelin E-Wild, 2.8 section, 11psi front, 12psi rear. I may drop these to 10 and 11.

I use the excellent Huck Norris internal tyre pinch protectors to run these low pressures, especially with my carbon rims. Tyres are tubeless, of course.

I'm currently in Majorca where it is super rocky and very dry. No problems with pinch damage to tyres or rims so far after more than 500km ridden in the last ten days...

 

[Jersey Skier]

Hi

I finally got these forks to work after hours of adjustments since i got them on my specialized 2018 carbon turbo levo. For info i weigh 95kg, bike is about 25kg I'd imagine with water, tools and extender battery on board so 120kg rolling weight.

The fork has always been harsh and the small bump compliance non existent. I think this is because i ride "normally" not like a 25 year old hooligan doing very fast enduro runs jumping everything in sight. I get about, mind, I'm an ex national level Moto enduro rider but I'm also now a bit porky, 51 years old and don't need any new injuries to my already fairly broken body...

So i chucked out the awful Ohlins recommended settings, clearly made with aforementioned 25 year olds smashing it out in mind and went with the following

Main chamber 120psi
Ramp up chamber 40psi
Compression open (full left on dial)
Rebound 3 clicks from full open

Result is finally a reasonably plush fork where i get close to full travel on most rides. It's about 15% sag, perhaps 20. I may drop the ramp up chamber to zero psi but haven't experimented yet. These settings are so wildly different from those recommended by Ohlins you can see why it took a while to find them. I think they recommend something like 140 main chamber and 220 ramp up. At these settings my old manitou elastomer forks from about 1990 felt more plush.

It's the ramp up chamber to blame for this and letting all the air out was my eureka moment. This was inspired by the same result i got taking all the plastic volume reducers out of the fox rear shock with similar result. Heavy weight needs big volume and low ramp up to work properly with air shocks.

Ohlins - sort your recommended settings out i nearly got rid of your forks and would have held a bad opinion of them to anyone that asked on the back of your poorly written and explained manual and crappy recommended settings... At least explain what each setting does clearly in the manual with clear instructions as to the steps needed if, for example, the fork is too harsh rather than letting owners work it out for themselves...

Hope this is useful...

Maybe I'll give your settings a try. I'm about your weight and 5 years older. I will say that I sent my fork back to Ohlins to have them upgrade the '18 to the newer Evo parts and it does make it a smoother fork. Cost $120 US.

 

[Tobers]

Bit of a thread resurrection, but this does seem to be the main thread for Ohlins RXF 36 setup.

I’ve got an M.2 coil on my Levo SL at 160mm and 44mm offset. It came with a 65lb spring which according to TFTuned should have been about right for my weight (96kg kitted up). But it was wayyy to firm so I dropped down to a 60lb. This was OK, but still a bit harsh and I had to slow the rebound down a lot to calm things down. It still felt a lot better than the stock fork however.

Having read a fair bit online and on youtube about people going down 2 spring weights from what they were recommended, I put a 55lb spring in yesterday and took it for a long ride today. What a difference. It’s much more compliant (“plush”) and smooth, tracks better and generally feels awesome. No stiction, no jiggling over stones & roots. It soaks up landings (small jumps, nothing mad so far) beautifully. I don’t have any preload on it. HSC is fully open. LSC 9 clicks out, rebound 9 clicks out. It’s probably using 80% of travel from today’s non-crazy ride, so some left for bigger hits if required.

I’m now very happy with it indeed.