Originally Posted by
ZeCanon
To put it really simple, the positive chamber "pushes" while the negative chamber "pulls" on the fork travel. So the positive is holding the fork up, while the negative is trying to pull it down. Increasing negative pressure makes the fork more compliant. Increasing positive pressure makes the fork stiffer, and harder to use all the travel. If the negative pressure goes over the positive pressure, you will actually shrink the fork since it is 'pulling' more than it is 'pushing.'
I'm not sure what you are talking about the positive being on both sides. There is no valve on the top of the right leg of a SID. The two chambers (positive and negative) are in the left leg, accessible from the top (positive) and bottom (negative).
Rebound is simply how fast the fork pops back up. It's an individual preference, so just play around with it.
On my SID Race on top, there is a Schrader Valve on each side, I was able to pump each side up
and get an air pressure reading off both. That alone made me not trust the manual after that, it completely flies in the face of what the stupid book tells you. Go figure. That's right, on the top of the SID Race, TWO valves, one on either side. On the bottom, only one valve. By the way, what's 'right' and 'left' on an MTB suspension fork? Right/Left as I stand
facing the bike or as I stand over the top tube as if I'm about to ride the bike??
Thanks by the way, very lucid explanation. Maybe
you should write the manual for the Idiots @ Rock Shox. Good grief, who writes this crap for these guys? Are they trying to confuse the new owners even more? They are succeeding. Somebody tell SRAM. The little booklet that came with the SID would make nice fire kindling of course.