NoWhammies

Just bought Mrs. NoWhammies a mountain bike. The bike came with RockShox Revelation RL front shocks/forks. In looking at the front forks, there appears to be the ability to change the motion of the sock from free (for downhill) to solid (for climbing).

Yet there is no lever to move back and forth, as there is on other shocks that I'm familiar with, to set the damper on the shock. Am I missing something here? Or does this particular shock not have the ability to be adjusted?

Thank you.

dsaul

There should be a knob on top of the right(drive side) fork leg with a small lever extending from it. That is used to turn the lockout off or on. The only other adjustment on that fork is rebound, which is probably located at the bottom of that fork leg.

cobba

This link will tell you about the fork.

https://trailhead.rockshox.com/en/

cpach

Are you talking about a remote lockout? Remote lockouts are relatively uncommon features on the market currently on forks outside of the XC race market. The compression damper for your wife's fork is adjusted by turning the knob on the top of the drive side leg and is intended to tune low speed compression, which not only is used to stiffen the fork for climbing, but also is useful as a tuning tool for things like compression under braking and cornering while descending, although they generally have a fair amount of compression dampening in the fully "open" position. As the Revelation is a trail bike focused fork, core enthusiast riders are mostly less concerned about a quickly accessible hard lockout and more concerned about tuned downhill performance, and generally will only jack up compression dampening on very extended climbs or paved sections. In contrast, say, XC racers will use a remote lockout to stiffen the bike for out of the saddle sprints.

Honestly I think most riders are over concerned with having hard lockout settings. If the fork is set up to avoid excessive compression during downhill braking and in corners, the front suspension really doesn't compress that much in seated climbing and leaves the fork in a state where its responsive to obstacles while climbing, improving traction. The rear end of a full suspension bike in my experience benefits more from having a switchable compression platform depending on the design of the frame, but even then a really motionless hard lockout is mostly unhelpful in most real world trail situations for most riders.

If you really want a remote platform/lockout switch on that fork it's a relatively significant change--you need a kit with a new compression damper and a remote and someone to swap it out, which is probably 30 minutes of billable labor at a shop at least. Probably in the range of a couple hundred bucks in total.

I'd get used to it. Most people are way too worried about a little suspension movement.

NoWhammies

@dsaul Thanks. In looking at the right, top side of the fork, there is what I would call an entry point for a lever. But no lever is present. And there is no way of moving the dial without the leaver (I guess?). I'll see if I can post a photo the top of the fork when I get home from work.

@cobba Thanks for that link. The website says for 2018 and new forks. My wife's back is a 2017 so I could be out of luck. But I'll check it out anyway.

@cpach Thanks. Your explanation of what I'm seeing on the fork makes sense. I cannot turn the compression damper though. I thought there would be a way to just 'push and turn' the knob but no go. Seems like you need a lever or a tool to change the dial. My wife will not be bombing down the hills with any great speed, and she's not a XC racer. I wanted to set the bike up for her so that she was able to climb ok and descend in a controlled manner. The bike and forks/shocks really need to be setup for her too, but I'd like to get the bike somewhat tuned for her to ride as best I can.

dsaul

It should have a knob like this on it. https://www.amaincycling.com/rocksho...47.020/p347107

If it doesn't have a knob, it may have fallen off. Did you buy the bike used?

NoWhammies

Negative. No knob like that. I'll post a picture of what I'm seeing later tonight. And yes, the bike was bought used.

NoWhammies

So here's the look from the top of the fork. I am unable to move the dial at all. Thank you.

Canker

I'm no expert of remote lockouts but what it looks like you have there is a remote lockout setup missing the cable. Do you have an extra shifter looking dohicky on the bars not being used?

https://www.worldwidecyclery.com/col...017-revelation

cpach

Oh, yeah, picture's worth a thousand words--that's intended for a remote lockout. I work at a Giant retailer so when you said you bought it recently, I assumed it was a model from the last couple years. You can order a poploc lever if you want, although they're honestly a little overpriced. I honestly dislike those fork setups--I'd rather have tunable compression damping rather than a lockout (high end forks don't make you choose). If the bike is set up 1x you can sometimes get a left shift lever to actuate the lockout, but you won't be able to get it to fit if there's a left shifter. For what it's worth those forks in the open position are reasonably damped as it is. Were it me I'd just leave it be.

NoWhammies

@Canker Negative. No extra shifter on the bars not being used. Thanks for the link.

@cpach Ah. Ok. That makes sense then. I could have been more clear. Yes, I bought the bike recently, but the bike is a 2017 model. I bought the bike for my wife. I agree with you about the tunable compression damping. I'd prefer that as well. I think the bike is setup as 1x. How can I tell?

My wife has only done one or two rides with the bike as is, so I can't comment on how the bike/forks work for her yet. I do like the suggestion to 'leave it be' as that will keep things easy. And if she's happy with how the bike is setup, that works for me.

cpach

1x means there's a single chainring up front with no front derailleur and no left shifter.