Avalanche Suspension, who had their suspension tuned by them?

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Avalanche Suspension, who had their suspension tuned by them?
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flag eshew
Posted: Jan 2, 2022 at 12:48 Quote
The hybrid uses the standard air piston, the damper side gets the coil and cartridge.

I've had mine for a season in my '19 160mm Lyrik 29". Love it but it's time for fresh seals, going green SKF this time and ditching the foam ring on the damper side.

Also going back to the B1 debonair instead of the C1.
flag Danzzz88
Posted: Jan 2, 2022 at 15:07 Quote
I thought it is open bath...is it a good idea to remove the foam ring?
flag Ramvet78
Posted: Jan 2, 2022 at 16:53 Quote
Yeah, i have only 50 psi in my air chamber now. And the coil in on the open bath damper. There is really no stiction. If i haven't used the bike in a day or so you feel very slight stiction on the very first compression when picking it up/moving it. The bike settles like 5 mm so you can feel it on the first movement of the bike. Then there is none when you ride at all. I chose this over the other setups because Its an easy conversion to make and is reversible. I think i could do it on the bike at this point. Its really an awesome setup. I got the high speed blow off valving also. This setup on the front and the ext in the rear has made the bike awesome. Having everything setup for my weight and type of riding has been a game changer, no more broken X2s or 36's! Craig is super helpful but can have a strong opinion. He really knows his stuff and sends you in the right direction even if it isnt his product.
flag eshew
Posted: Jan 2, 2022 at 18:57 Quote
Danzzz88 wrote:
I thought it is open bath...is it a good idea to remove the foam ring?

It is open bath on the cartridge spring side. There is plenty of oil to keep things lubed, guessing the foam ring is not necessary. If anything it's just another point of potential drag. I'll be keeping one on the air spring side.
flag Ramvet78
Posted: Jan 3, 2022 at 6:23 Quote
Im no suspension expert but most times i service my forks, the foam rings have some dirt on the top. I'm pretty sure they act to catch the dirt that makes it past the seals. I'd imagine that especially w an open bath its important to keep the oil as clean as possible to keep things from wearing and scoring on the damper internals. Just a thought.
flag delta5
O+
Posted: Jan 3, 2022 at 7:45 Quote
Ramvet78 wrote:
Im no suspension expert but most times i service my forks, the foam rings have some dirt on the top. I'm pretty sure they act to catch the dirt that makes it past the seals. I'd imagine that especially w an open bath its important to keep the oil as clean as possible to keep things from wearing and scoring on the damper internals. Just a thought.

This, esp with an expensive aftermarket cartridge.

I also did the green SKF seals on my 40 when I switched to gold oil, but only because I got them for half the price. Same thing as the Fox ones, which are made by SKF anyway, but different color.

Edit: I'm a big fan of Craig and his honesty. I have a Woodie shock, cartridge for the for 40, and a BOS Stoy rebuilt and tuned by him. He spent way too much time on the problematic BOS rebuild, (parts availability,) and made sure to make the transaction right for me. He has a certain... personality though. Plenty of folks can't stand dealing with him because of the long phone calls and his "attitude". If you just want your shock tuned with minimal effort and communication on your part, I don't know if I'd recommend him. If you're ok with spending an hour on the phone hearing about his views on shock construction frame design, totally worth it. Can be a fun chat and you'll get an amazing product out of it. Also, he doesn't think his product is the only good one and everything else is crap. Was quite candid about all the things BOS did right, and why he only did rebuilds on their products rather than mods like for Fox/RS/Marz/etc.
flag Danzzz88
Posted: Jan 3, 2022 at 7:53 Quote
Yea the green I think nowadays are not better.. in fact I switched to green skf and they felt tighter abd had more friction than the oem ones...although they are fine now they have bedded in and plenty smooth. They are cheaper than the official seals though.
flag eshew
Posted: Jan 3, 2022 at 9:29 Quote
Regarding the foam ring removal on the damper side, you guys could be correct.

But consider the amount of oil in a standard fork these days is 10-30ml. The avalanche damper is 150-175ml+. Most old Marzocchi forks, pre fox had a similar amount of oil, many with a similar style damper, but much more primitive, most just raw non anodized aluminum. You could run those for years, the dampers would survive in a slurry of grey stanky oil... After a clean, good as new. The Avy dampers are anodized, the oil will most likely be near perfect after years of use visually. I'd rather have dirt settle or float around in oil rather than be stuck against the stanchion...

But that's really a moot point, open bath Marzocchi forks could feel great for hundreds of hours with 150ml+ of oil in both legs. Most modern forks need love at 50-75 hrs (10-20ml doesn't last long) and service makes a noticeable difference. With the standard air spring needing that love so often the Avy is going to get clean fresh oil long before any issues with contamination could possibly happen.

Marzocchi forks did have oil and dust seals compared to the combo single seal in most forks now. So they stayed free of external dirt, but fouled from the non anodized internals.

Skf seals in Marzocchi forks are far superior to anything I've tried. At least on the silver stanchion 55 & 888 RC3 evo's I've installed them on, & an old dual crown Shiver which is insanely smooth, no breakaway force required. Have had good luck on a few older fox 32's but the stanchion coating isn't mirror smooth like the Marz, a harder seal may perform better. Guessing with the lyrics slick black stanchion coating they will perform well. At least I hope so.

Anyway, you guys can do whatever you want, I'll be doing the skf fork seals, b1 swap in & foam ring delete (damper side). If it makes a difference or fails terribly I'll let you know. Trails are snowed in and I like working on forks Smile
flag Danzzz88
Posted: Jan 3, 2022 at 9:43 Quote
I will say initially I was going to just get the damper along with my Smashpot..but then everyone raves about the hybrid. But knowing it still uses the same air spring even if at lower pressure and that two people here have said you still get stiction when the bike has been sitting puts me off. I get no stiction with my Smashpot even if it has sat for a few weeks...it's almost too smooth during initial travel to the degree it can feel somewhat unsupportive. Think I will save myself a few quid and opt for just the damper...sure that in itself will be a huge upgrade over the Select damper I have.
flag eshew
Posted: Jan 3, 2022 at 11:40 Quote
Not a bad idea. Since you already have the smashpot & it's feeling great no sense in duplicating. You might not be able to have a reliable air spring in there as well since it's potentially been compromised from the spring.

Will be interested to see if Craig recommends the hydraulic bottom out or if he is ok with you relying on the pneumatic bump stop in the smashpot.

Regardless should be a massive upgrade. I know it was night & day when I went from my RC.

It's true I do get a little stiction still, not sure if it's from the air spring, or the seals, but after initial break away it's a non issue. Hence the reason I'll be getting new seals & reverting back to the B1 as it sags a little more & has less midstroke support which I feel I have a ton of.

Update: New skf green seals solved the stiction issue. FYI don't grease the external seal face or the top inside of the lowers where the seal sits. Use a Lil rubbing alcohol instead. Keeps the seals from popping out after a fresh install...
B1 air spring also installed, now just have to wait and ride it.
flag Danzzz88
Posted: Jan 3, 2022 at 12:33 Quote
The Smashpot has adjustable hydraulic bottom out too...it's the PUSH that has a pneumatic bump stop. Only issue with the Smashpot is sometimes it can be noisy if the coil slaps against the stanchion...maybe I need to add more heatshrink around it
flag DHhack
Posted: Jan 9, 2022 at 19:22 Quote
eshew wrote:
Not a bad idea. Since you already have the smashpot & it's feeling great no sense in duplicating. You might not be able to have a reliable air spring in there as well since it's potentially been compromised from the spring.

Will be interested to see if Craig recommends the hydraulic bottom out or if he is ok with you relying on the pneumatic bump stop in the smashpot.

Regardless should be a massive upgrade. I know it was night & day when I went from my RC.

It's true I do get a little stiction still, not sure if it's from the air spring, or the seals, but after initial break away it's a non issue. Hence the reason I'll be getting new seals & reverting back to the B1 as it sags a little more & has less midstroke support which I feel I have a ton of.

No HBO if you’ve got a smashpot as that has its own.
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