So what the swizzle is a 'luftkappe', and why the hell would I want one?! Be warned..what follows is likely to be geeky tech speak....! Well, apparently it's a way of making your Rockshoc Pike/Yari etc feel more supple in the early stroke, but firm out to prevent bottoming out in the deep stroke ("What??!! Oh..it's a bike thing..I'm outta here..") You can add tokens to the Pikes to reduce the +ve chamber air volume, thus increasing the ramp up. The Luftkappe differs as it fits in place of the standard piston, but the 'dome' element of it increases the effective -ve chamber volume, whilst reducing the +ve chamber volume. Wha? You may ask; well, the -ve chamber reduces the force needed to 'get the fork moving'. Thus, a bigger volume -ve chamber should allow the fork to 'start moving' a bit more easily..making it like a coil (but without the coil weight). Does it do that...Well....I don't know as I've jsut finished fitting the Lufthansa and it's now bed time. However, in the next few days I'll be sure to ride the bike and let you know.. However, here's a brief guide of how easy it was to fit... |
As you probably imagined, you'll need suitable forks, the Luftwaffe device, and something to clamp the air shaft with. I went for the £2 eBay 'golf club shaft clamp' and it was fine! Firstly you need to follow the SRAM instructions for lower leg removal. Make sure you keep your work area clean. Just like me... You should then be left with the fork split, jsut like the photos below. |
Then, following the SRAM instructions still you remove the air shaft. Once you've removed the circling it does need a good yank to pull the seals etc out the stantions. Go on..give that bad boy a tug....
You'll then have completely ruined your forks and they are useless. But don't worry..you'll soon put them back together again!
You'll then have completely ruined your forks and they are useless. But don't worry..you'll soon put them back together again!
So..looking at the three images above you have the original air shaft and piston; the old piston being removed (some people had real issues with this - mine came off dead easy); and then the new Luftkappe piston minus the top out bumper.
There's a YouTube video (from luftkappe themselves) showing how to remove the old piston and fit theirs - watch that, do what it says, and you'll be fine.
You then carry on following the SRAM instructions to refit the lowers.
You then go back to the REST of the YouTube video showing how to set the air pressure.
It would be good if you could remember what you were running before. I forgot, oops.
Anyway, I went from 3 tokens, to jsut one. And am running the pressure at (currently) 80 PSI. It's meant to be about 10% more than you previously ran. I guessed.
WHen you first cycle the fork it's odd because there's a really harsh top-out (you took out the top out bumper, duh!). However, after the pressure equalises, it goes and there's a pneumatic top out stop. Basically - it's normal again.
I'm really looking forwards to trying this in anger, as though the pikes ARE great forks (amazing even!) there's meant to be an even better benefit with this; more supple in small hits, with increasing ramp/firmness in the bigger ones.
We shall see..watch this space....
There's a YouTube video (from luftkappe themselves) showing how to remove the old piston and fit theirs - watch that, do what it says, and you'll be fine.
You then carry on following the SRAM instructions to refit the lowers.
You then go back to the REST of the YouTube video showing how to set the air pressure.
It would be good if you could remember what you were running before. I forgot, oops.
Anyway, I went from 3 tokens, to jsut one. And am running the pressure at (currently) 80 PSI. It's meant to be about 10% more than you previously ran. I guessed.
WHen you first cycle the fork it's odd because there's a really harsh top-out (you took out the top out bumper, duh!). However, after the pressure equalises, it goes and there's a pneumatic top out stop. Basically - it's normal again.
I'm really looking forwards to trying this in anger, as though the pikes ARE great forks (amazing even!) there's meant to be an even better benefit with this; more supple in small hits, with increasing ramp/firmness in the bigger ones.
We shall see..watch this space....