Lets talk X Fusion dampers...

[honns]

Forward: I'm looking to piece together a new AM rig over the summer. Frame is bought and takes between 140mm and 160mm forks.

I am trying to decide between the X-Fusion Vengeance HLR and the new yet-to-be-released Slant RL2. There are differences outside of the dampers (obviously) but I am curious what people think about the more tunable HLR vs the RL2. My research as turned up basically no issues with either damper longevity-wise, so is the extra tuning worth it?

Thoughts?

On a side note, the Vengeance is a 170mm but has an internal travel ladder that allows the stroke to be shortened. It is worth debating whether I should bother carrying around the 36mm stancheons and the extra travel when I more than likely would not use it. The Slant comes with the 34mm and 160mm out of the box.

[honns]

*crickets*

[tacubaya]

HLR is a superior damper plus the Vengeance has 20mm axle and 36mm stanchions.

[tacubaya]

No, Slant has 15mm axle.

[honns]

I think they both have the 20mm QR axle, and the stiffness of the 34 vs 36 can't be that noticeable. I don't weight much more than 130lbs so I don't really put much value in the stanchion. I think the through axle will provide more rigidity (but I might be wrong).

I am leaning towards the HLR though, it would be nice to have high and low speed adjustment.

[tacubaya]

I ride a Vengeance HLR.

[honns]

I won't doubt you. I probably misread.

So i'll take it the HLR is something you'd be happy to ride yourself?

[honns]

That answers that :-)

Now to wait until they clear out the 2012 inventory...

[honns]

For anyone that's interested:

X-Fusion Vengeance HLR Suspension Fork 170mm 1-1/8" Black

Great price on the 2012. I am looking for white, but I thought i'd pass this along.

[magpies14]

Just wondering if anyone had the Vengeance DLA without the gold knob low speed compression ? mine came only with blue knob (which is the high speed compression)...

[magpies14]

Just to add....here are the pictures :





From the 1st picture, you can see the right knob is the DLA, but the 2nd picture is only the blue knob (high speed compression which has abt 15 clicks)...my dealers says that his stock of Vengeance DLA are without the gold knob (low speed compression)....

[nightnerd]

my dealers says that his stock of Vengeance DLA are without the gold knob (low speed compression)....

I have HLR DLA and I have both High speed and low speed compression adjustment.

[randan]

Does the X-Fusion Slant only come with a RL2 damper (rebound damping adjustment and an on-off switch for lockout)?

[tacubaya]

Just to add....here are the pictures :





From the 1st picture, you can see the right knob is the DLA, but the 2nd picture is only the blue knob (high speed compression which has abt 15 clicks)...my dealers says that his stock of Vengeance DLA are without the gold knob (low speed compression)....

Looks like you have a Vengeance RC DLA

[tacubaya]

Does the X-Fusion Slant only come with a RL2 damper (rebound damping adjustment and an on-off switch for lockout)?

Yes.

[randan]

Yes.

Thank you. So no adjustable compression on this fork?

[monty797]

I have two of the Vengeance forks. I have a HLR and a HLR Coil set up.

They replaced a clapped out Float 36, and Vanilla 36. I would recommend the X-Fusion products pretty much every single time due to fork performance, support (call and they answer the phone!), and ease of set up.

I had my HLR Air set up in under 5 minutes once it got out of the box, XFusion gave me some great initial set up recommendations and just fine tuned it from there. The fork is pretty awesome, stiff in the turns, no flex that I can feel, great suspension feel, easy to adjust, adjustment knobs make a difference ( go slow turns on the dial actually mean something) and lastly you just sort of forget about the fork being on the bike!

[grnbkr]

The compression circut on the slant (and velvet) fork can be adjusted internally by modifying the shim stack, not a very difficult just takes some time.

With the new midstroke valving the need for external compression adjustments isn't quite as necessary as it can be on a larger fork with 170mm of travel.

I have a slant coming in in a few weeks to go on my new 150mm bike, looking forward to riding it a lot!

The vengeance is a fantastic fork, super adjustable, and a fantastically stiff chassis. In my opinion it is the ultimate bike park fork, and can handle nearly everything short of 35mph rock gardens (dual crown fork territory) (the dampers do take that riding with aplomb)

Hope this helps!!
matt

[magpies14]

Yeah just confirmed that mine was indeed the RC DLA....

Anyone knows how much clicks shud i turn for the compression ??

[honns]

Increase until you are happy with the amount of brake dive the fork allows.

[grnbkr]

compression adjustment has a lot of variables, trails you ride, body weight, preload, and how strong you are.

If you ride mostly machine built trails, or trails that aren't really rough you will want slightly more compression damping.

If you ride rough, bumpy, rooty, rocky and nasty you will want slightly less damping, but enough to keep the fork from diving under braking, or riding too deep in its travel.

If you are really strong, and can hold on to nearly anything without fatiguing even if its really rough, you can run more damping to keep the fork riding on the tops of the bumps. (think gwin at val di sole)

then there's personal preference, but I can't help you there!


Matt

[sneakyt]

I have a slant coming in in a few weeks to go on my new 150mm bike, looking forward to riding it a lot!
matt

How's your Slant? Thinking about it for my Heckler build. Thanks.

[honns]

I think the slants have yet to be released, so you might have to wait a little while longer to hear some feedback on them.

[trojan08]

Heard the Slant is due in December. I'm curious too. Currently running a 2012 Velvet RL 140 on my 5.Spot and really like the feel, although I know the Spot would feel better with a 150 or 160 fork. The Slant RL2 is on my very short list. According to XF most of the 2012 Velvet RLs got the new RL2 damper with the secondary compression circuit (what XF has marketed for 2013 as "Mid Valve"). Pinkbike's February 2012 review talks about it. IMO while the RL2 is solid, effecient, and easy to set-up, the Slant RL2 might leave riders (of that caliber fork) looking for more "tunability". I could be wrong....but probably smart of XF to launch a new fork (new class) with a proven damper then upgrade the damper later with more adjustability if that's what the market wants...but I'm def stoked on X-Fusion.

[mullen119]

(what XF has marketed for 2013 as "Mid Valve")

Mid Valve is not a marketing term. A Mid Valve is when the check valve on a rebound damper is replaced by a weak shim stack, allowing the rebound damper to contribute to the compression circuit. Its something that is used in a few different applications including some PUSH fork tunes and Avalanche damper cartridges, but can lead to cavitation problems when not executed properly.