School me on Fox Tune IDs. CTGN Vs CG5R

[NeoNasty]

Heres whats happened.

My 2015 Spec Enduro 29er came with a Fox Float Evo shock with a tune Id of CTGN.

I have since purchased a 2nd hand Fox Float Evo shock with a Vorsprung Corset. It originally came with a tune ID of CG5R.

Ive looked these codes up on the fox website (http://www.ridefox.com/help.php?m=bike)

and come up with these results.

CTGN: 2015, FLOAT-A E-S, CTD SV Autosag Strut, Specialized, Enduro 29in/650B, 8.500, 2.250, 0.2 Spacer, SBC Custom CL
VS
CG5R: 2013, FLOAT-A E-S, CTD LV Autosag Strut, Specialized, Enduro 29, 8.500, 2.250, 1.1 Spacer, D SBC CM, SBC CML

I don't really understand what these mean, obviously theres some travel measurements, and diameter in there. But, what does the 'spacer' part mean exactly and what effect will it have?
Is one better than the other?

I have fitted the new (2013 with the Vorsprung) on it and took it out and I've noticed a difference but I'm not sure if its better or not.

Lay your knowledge on me!

-Shaun

 

[moorey]

The spacer size increases or decreases the air volume. Larger spacer, shock ramps up more without running higher air pressure. Like tokens in pikes, for example

 

[NeoNasty]

Ah huh,

I assumed as much. So, with the extra spacer and also the Vorsprung corset, I should expect a firmer ride off the bottom with more mid travel support?

On the ride today, I noticed that it was smoother on jumps and drop offs, but noticeably tougher on climbs with more pedal bob (maybe slower rebound will assist this)

 

[moorey]

I confess, I haven't looked closely at what the corset does, and don't understand it well. It increases the volume, which is the opposite of what tokens do in forks, and 'bands' do in RS shocks. I'll leave that one to someone else.

 

[shmity]

Corset/Debonair/EVOL cans all increase the size of the negative chamber as well as the overall volume of the can. Typically what happens with standard can is we set our sag to 20-30 percent of the overall travel of the bike, but the spring rate at the start of the stroke is MUUUUCH higher than the rest of the stroke (untill you get towards the end of the stroke as most people understand). So we set our sag based on that and we end up with it sitting at a pressure somewhere compromising between soft enough to over come the initial harshness of the stroke and having it hard enough not to wallow. Set it harder to not wallow and you end up with with a super hard initial stroke, set it soft enough to compensate for the super hard starting stroke and you get molasses in the mid stroke. The improved cans change this to be more linear. You can set an appropriate sag that doesn't have to deal with this initial stroke harshness and as a by product you end up with excellent mid stroke support. They still ramp up like an air spring should, and you can still add spacers to tune that as you like.

 

[NeoNasty]

Awesome, thanks.

I guess I'll have to play with it a bit to workout what suits me best then.

Time to read up on correct setup re: spacers and oil

 

[mitchy_]

the last bits refer to the compression and rebound tune i believe... but buggered if i can decipher them, presumably just says they are a 'custom tune'

the 2015 spec closely resembles what comes up when i put in the ID for my 2016 shock, so i'd argue that's the better one as the 2014 i demo'd was ratshit.

as for the spacers and corset, you're probably better off with the corset on the 2015 shock as it has a smaller spacer (corset runs ~25% higher pressures typically, so less ramp up required) however my experience with a corset on an Enduro 29 closely matched that of yours... it was nice and plush, but it blew through the travel regardless of pressure (i had up near 300psi before i switched back to the autosag can)
is it the enduro specific corset as well? the standard one fits, but they made a specific one which was supposed to help reduce bottoming out.

i've since gone back to the stock can and whilst it's a little chattery in small fast stuff, it handles climbing and general trail riding so much better than the corset equipped shock could ever do.

 

[NeoNasty]

Thanks. That was very useful info. I'm. Gong to service the shock and play with the settings before I give up on it.

---------
Edit:
I don't know if it was one for the enduro or not. I put 275 in it today so Ill go up to 300 and see how it feels. I gave it a fairly hard ride today and while it was using its full travel I never felt a harsh bottom out so I think I've got that dialed. I just want my pedalability back.
I've decoded some more info.
2013, FLOAT-A E-S, CTD LV Autosag Strut, Specialized, Enduro 29, 8.500, 2.250, 1.1 Spacer, D SBC CM, SBC CML

Date of manufacture, model, CTD Large Volume (or Small Volume as is my 2015 one) bike it was made for, eye to eye length, stroke length, Spacer size in Cubic Inch, unknown, unknown

So i have a large volume model (2015) and a small Volume (2013) with a corsette that increases the negative air spring volume.

The Vorsprung website has some good info regarding the tuning of these springs:

Taken from here: http://vorsprungsuspension.com/pages/corset-air-sleeve-installation-setup

Setup & Tuning:

Start with the recommended sag (28-31%). This is more than you would typically run with a Fox air sleeve, AND will still require a substantially higher air pressure than you previously ran. Once you've worked out how much sag (and therefore air pressure) you prefer to run for bump absorption purposes in the middle of the stroke, the next step is to tune the end of the stroke. If you need more bottoming resistance, install a volume spacer (or a larger spacer than you currently have). If you can't use full travel, install a smaller volume spacer than you currently have (or remove altogether).

Fox SV (Small Volume) sleeve: These are found on certainFloat RP series (R/RP/RP2/RP23/Triad) shocks and certain Float CTD shocks. These are fairly progressive, particularly in the longer stroke applications.
Recommended beginning volume spacer: Medium (approx 0.4ci). Increase or decrease spacer size as necessary.

Fox LV (Large Volume) sleeve: These are found on some Float CTDs and all Float Xs.
Recommended beginning volume spacer: None, or 2 sizes smaller than the one that came installed on your bike. (In some cases we've heard of people finding their bike is much too easy to bottom out with the stock Fox sleeve. In this case, leave whatever spacer you already had in there).

 

[Flow-Rider]

You need to get the shock retuned to suit your weight, send it in to NSD and tell them you have too much pedal bob. You could turn up your rebound a bit but it's just masking the real problem. .