i just got a (barely used) 2011. Totem rc2 dh coil for my Blindside. im a little confused... most of the reviews Ive read before I bought it said that the totem is quite a linear fork, and many middleweight riders who at first had the med spring then got a firm, because the recommended spring was still soft. I weigh 215-220 geared up. On its first ride, i put in the firm spring with 2 preload spacers and it felt really firm ( even tho rockshox recommends extra firm for my weight).
Next ride, 1 preload spacer, felt a little better but still too harsh; and then today with 0 preload spacers (and both compr adjustments full open)it felt almost right, but still kinda firm on smaller stuff but felt good on some big chunk. Sag seems right, about 30% when I kinda lean over the front. I cant believe i should go down to the med spring at my weight; has anyone else here at my weiight gone down to the med spring on recent totems? Im guessing the "too-soft" reviews were for earlier ones which were different? (BTW yes the right amount of oil is in there). Is the newer totem just a firm-feeling fork except on big chunk/drops, and ill just have to get used to it?
For refernce my old fork was a domain 180 with a firm spring, which felt pretty good. One thing i didnt liek about it was the hi-speed compression was internally preset, IMO too hard; it was very harsh when I hit a fast or square-edged thing. i know some have removed the main shim in the speedstack to open up that circuit; i opted for lowering the oil weight (I made a custom 4.5 w by sucking out a fifth of the oil and replacing that with 2.5w) and that did the trick.. Im thinking about doing that same thing with the totem to soften it up just a tad, and i can still crank up the hi-sp compr for the bigger hits. Has anyone else experimented with differnt oil weights in their totems? any info/feedback would be appreciated. thanks.
Next ride, 1 preload spacer, felt a little better but still too harsh; and then today with 0 preload spacers (and both compr adjustments full open)it felt almost right, but still kinda firm on smaller stuff but felt good on some big chunk. Sag seems right, about 30% when I kinda lean over the front. I cant believe i should go down to the med spring at my weight; has anyone else here at my weiight gone down to the med spring on recent totems? Im guessing the "too-soft" reviews were for earlier ones which were different? (BTW yes the right amount of oil is in there). Is the newer totem just a firm-feeling fork except on big chunk/drops, and ill just have to get used to it?
For refernce my old fork was a domain 180 with a firm spring, which felt pretty good. One thing i didnt liek about it was the hi-speed compression was internally preset, IMO too hard; it was very harsh when I hit a fast or square-edged thing. i know some have removed the main shim in the speedstack to open up that circuit; i opted for lowering the oil weight (I made a custom 4.5 w by sucking out a fifth of the oil and replacing that with 2.5w) and that did the trick.. Im thinking about doing that same thing with the totem to soften it up just a tad, and i can still crank up the hi-sp compr for the bigger hits. Has anyone else experimented with differnt oil weights in their totems? any info/feedback would be appreciated. thanks.