Old and new - a few things about suspension …

[2manyoranges]

Yep FC them’s the ones……

Gosh I had forgotten about that first generation with the squished lowers and many, many holes.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/22497565...MI1-y-7qmk-gIVAd5RCh3gCwJoEAQYAiABEgLYE_D_BwE

 

[2manyoranges]

Agree that ‘clicks‘ is a shite term but one heard often in the pits at DH World Series. As in ‘How many clicks are you on low speed’ - ‘10’. ’And rebound?’ - ’14’.

 

[novocaine]

the 96+ bombers may have been overbuilt but they were completly bomb proof in a world of folding forks. the flylight series (z5-z2) were lighter but still chunky, the most important aspect of these forks though was air over open bath oil, leaving them fully tunable in the workshop with fairly simple adjustments (air pressure for compression, oil height for progression and oil weight for dampening) later forks also had progression from changing the holes in the piston. none of this was new though, with the star (89) and the XC51 (92?), the first sets of forks out of the Italian brand were both air over oil.

The 97 z1 was a sprung fork (they didn't do an air series in it I don't think) which was heavy as all hell, but it was also 100mm of fork in an 80mm world (single crown).

Marzocchi did a lot wrong, but they also did a hell of a lot right.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Agree that ‘clicks‘ is a shite term but one heard often in the pits at DH World Series. As in ‘How many clicks are you on low speed’ - ‘10’. ’And rebound?’ - ’14’.

I get why it is used, its very descriptive.

 

[kellyrobin]

Hi Everyone,
It's very helpful stuff.

 

[float]

And that is why MAG21 are the best.

Adjustable progressive spring rate, no need for blocks of plastic, just change the oil height. Make it LT or extra LT for improved tweaking and improved sag distance, alter shims and 'clicks*' and modify porting, bypass parts to get the damping you wish. Negative spring you could tweak etc.

(we are in the retro section so none of this 100mm+ travel would be common, also Mag21 have that unique early 90s suspension ability of a rigid fork and twist and flex to dampen the ride too.)

*what a bloody shite term.

Sorry to bump an old thread, but this is what intrigues me about the Mag 21. So many negative reviews of the fork, mainly regarding flex and travel, and yet they are so tunable as to theoretically be perfect for all tastes within reason. Makes me assume the fork is often misunderstood and features underutilized. With that, I would like to know the best way to tune one for a rider who weighs below 60kg. What is apparent to me is that the air pressure correlates with the fork's extension, meaning those who run lower pressures do not get full travel out of the fork and therefore bottom it out quite easily.

 

[Prodigal Son]

That´s why i like rigid bikes: i can´t understand most of this thread.

 

[2manyoranges]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but this is what intrigues me about the Mag 21. So many negative reviews of the fork, mainly regarding flex and travel, and yet they are so tunable as to theoretically be perfect for all tastes within reason. Makes me assume the fork is often misunderstood and features underutilized. With that, I would like to know the best way to tune one for a rider who weighs below 60kg. What is apparent to me is that the air pressure correlates with the fork's extension, meaning those who run lower pressures do not get full travel out of the fork and therefore bottom it out quite easily.

Yes I think there’s something in that…but I had bad problems of stiction with Mag 21s - I’m also light (64kg) and just couldn’t get them to be at all sensitive. Re your take, In an air fork there’s a point where low pressure does equate to blowing through the travel and actually bottoming out, that’s why new forks use tokens. Theoretically the natural ramping up of spring rate in an air fork as it compressed means you can tune for a sensitive start and then higher spring rate deeper in the travel, preventing bottoming out - but with light riders this becomes more challenging.

 

[FluffyChicken]

In the MAG21, you can alter the shims and springs to alter oil flow and alter the ports and/or use later port setup depending on the year of your fork.
Of course, you can tweak the damping oil, since they are open bath, so open it uses the oil to create the air chamber.

the 'LT shim', you just cut it where you want for what travel you want, I think the maximum you get is about 70mm maybe a touch more, but you're leaning on the extremes of the bushing overlap.

You can read about the setups and tuning ideas in the Sutherland MAG guide in the archive.
https://www.retrobike.co.uk/archive...ual-service-tuning-and-parts-information.457/