When you buy a new mountain bike, shock or suspension fork, you will usually find colourful plastic spacers (Rockshox calls them tokens) next to the operating instructions. They reduce the air volume of the suspension elements. What is the benefit? The smaller the air volume of a suspension element, the more progressively it works. The volume spacers mainly influence the last third of the spring travel. If the fork or shock often bottom out despite the correct air pressure (sag), the suspension elements can be tightened towards the end of the travel without responding less sensitively. However, if you never use the full travel, you should remove any volume spacers. We measured a Rockshox SID fork once with the maximum permitted number of volume spacers (three) and once completely without on our test bench. The recorded characteristic curves clearly show the differences. We show how to install volume spacers in a Rockshox suspension fork. The Differences to Fox suspension forks such as a 32, 34 or 36 are so small that you can also adapt the air chambers of Fox forks with our instructions. The Work steps remain the same.
Tuning MTB suspension forks with volume spacers: the video guide
The benefits of volume spacers - different characteristics
Tips for converting volume spacers on the chassis
