My Alfalfas are too soft :( What to do??

[Ev]

Don't try to compensate with excess preload, preload only adjusts the amount of sag u will be running.
Try adjusting the compression damping. If this doesn't work, try replacing the oil for a heavier fork oil, usually the have about a 5weight oil in it, try changing to a 7.5.
If that fails as well, try changing the spring weight up 50 - 100 lbs.

Hope this helps

 

[Rik]

:shock:
Compression damping will not help if he needs stiffer springs.

And if you're going to make a spacer, use solid alu rod, not tubing, you're asking for trouble putting a tube in the spring stack as it'll end up warping/crushing or otherwise destroying itself.

 

[Jared]

yeah gus is right mr plow, chuck em, i know u got anothet set for real cheap, but a 2nd hand set of boxxers will serve u much better, easy to get spares work a lot better and there would be 2nd hand one around for super cheap as well, wouldnt be hard to find.
There was only 1 reason i kept running the alfalfas... i couldnt afford new ones at the time. they gave me the shits how much work they needed, and the forks feel nowhere near the standard of boxxers.
thats just my opinion tho, but i dont think it will be easy to get stiffer springs a nd stuff like that, unless u go get some made

 

[wombat]

:shock:
Compression damping will not help if he needs stiffer springs.

Well no, it won't solve the problem, but either will adjusting the preload. People, winding up the pre-load on the fork WILL NOT make it stiffer!!! (I'm talking about spring rate there)

Pre-load is exactly that: it is the amount of pre loading on the fork spring; that is, it effectively compresses the spring a little bit. This makes it harder to get the fork moving into it's travel initially, but as soon as you have broken past the threshold of movement (which on a properly set up fork isn't hard to do) it will behave in exactly the same way that it would if you didn't have any pre-load on it.

I'd say that upping the compression damping would probably do more to compensate for soft springs than winding excess pre-load on would. You'd have to be careful you didn't put in oil that was too heavy, but on the same note I wouldn't recommend making up a spacer to allow you to create more preload, as you'll increase the strain on the spring and in the extreme case you'll end up with coil bind.