Project Frankenbike Pt 2 | TF Tuned action
April 20th, 2016
By Adam Wight in Features
Frankenbike PT 2 – TF Tuned sort out the shock
Last month we visited TF Tuned – one of Europe’s leading mountain bike suspension specialists.
In a couple of hours, I had the forks from my newly appointed Mondraker Crafty r+ #frankenbike fettled, to get them feeling better for the way I ride.
Check out Part 1 of our visit detailing TF’s fork fiddles right here
The Crafty r+ came with a very basic Rockshox Monarch Plus rear shock, which despite going in and out effectively made the bike feel a little underdamped and wallowy for the way I like to ride. With limited adjustment and tuning available, I swapped it out for the more tuneable Fox Float X with EVOL air can.
Murray – or the suspension wizard as I’m now calling him – was pretty excited about this change as it meant some real push tuning trickery could begin.
Coffee quaffed and stock shock removed, Murray pulled up the Crafty’s suspension kinematics on his Bench mounted flat screen. Despite the various scribbles on the backs of hands, there’s no guesswork done here – by examining linkage graphs and progression curves, TF can ensure your shock gets the perfect tune for your bike, body weight and riding style.
Mondraker’s proprietary ‘Zero’ linkage system is pretty progressive as standard, meaning it’s well suited to the natural ‘ramp up’ offered by air shocks. That said, big g-outs or gas-to-flats can still create a firm bottom-out, so a decent sized volume reducer was sought to further increase ramp-up.
A nice trade-off to this is that you can get away with running a bit more sag, improving small bump sensitivity.
TF Tuned are Europe’s only Push certified service centre. Push Industries have been in partnership with TF for over 10 years, allowing continued development of top-end suspension products and services and truly bespoke fork and shock tunes.
The plan for the Crafty was a Push fettle to improve small bump sensitivity and initial breakaway, increase end stroke ramp up and improve low speed rebound and high speed compression – resulting in a shock which resisted bottom out and offered more mid-stroke support.
Custom shim stacks can be chosen to produce the specific ride characteristics you would like – if like me, you need your hand held a little, the guys will be more than happy to help and explain exactly how the different shims offer different qualities.
Essentially, it’s all about moving oil through holes and past shims that deflect – you put thinner shims in and they deflect more and easier. Bigger holes let more oil through, faster, and smaller holes provide resistance. Subtle differences make a big change to ride feel.
Push re-valving options offer more bleed holes in different places to the stock versions which increases the speed at which the shock reacts to changes and ultimately keeps the temperature down – which alters the way the oil performs in the holes and shims.
Everywhere you look in the TF Tuned workshop, there are bits of kit and machinery installed to do a precise job, from the hand operated shock dyno, to the Nitrogen gas filling machine and the industrial sized coffee maker – all designed to make suspension better and engineers happier.
It’s a joy watching the guys at work – repetitive actions are completed with consummate ease, and more technical adjustments are approached with the utmost confidence. A plethora of cheeky little ‘pro’ tips and homemade tools all help where necessary – all learnt from decades of experience.
With both the forks and shock of the Crafty now fettled with, its time to get out there and ride some rough stuff to see how the custom tuning has helped. Keep an eye on Factory Jackson for the next instalment of the #frankenbike series to see the outcome.
In the meantime, head over to TF Tuned and get your bouncers booked in for some love – you genuinely won’t be disappointed! Excellent service chaps!
Anyone else had their forks or shock tinkered with?
How did you get on?
Let us know in the comments below!