SEAN’S NUKEPROOF SCOUT 290 PRO
MONTH 12: Sean reveals the secret to dialling in the Lyrik fork’s suspension performance and it starts with the Trailhead...
£2,449.99 / 29in / nukeproof.com
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I’m 12 months in with the Nukeproof and I’ve not mentioned the fork much… is that a good sign, or am I hiding something? Well, let’s dive in. The flagship Scout runs a 140mm-travel Rockshox Lyrik and even though it’s the base-level Select version, it plays a considerable part in the £2,500 price tag. It also sports 10mm more travel than the two cheaper Scout models.
The Lyrik on the Scout uses the older Charger RC damper rather than the latest Charger 2.1 of the higher-spec Select+ and Ultimate models. The stout 35mm chassis and Debonair spring are still standard and when teamed up with the 2.5in Maxxis Assegai front tyre and 800mm handlebar, the Lyrik certainly gives the bike a very purposeful look.
Rockshox forks have a reputation for being straightforward to set up and this was the case here – one look at the chart on the lower leg and I set the air pressure to 90psi, tweaked the rebound adjuster to somewhere in the middle and started riding. With the front tyre at 23psi, it felt like a good set-up, with plenty of grip, support and precision allowing me to push the Scout confidently into rough and beaten-up terrain.
I thought I’d got the fork dialled in from day one, but it was only when I started complaining about the short 110mm head tube that I had a rethink. Was I running too much sag and therefore dropping the height of the front end?
So I fired up the Rockshox Trailhead app for some increased accuracy.
After adding the Lyrik’s serial number, then my riding weight, it suggested a pressure setting of 15psi more than I
WHY IT’S HERE Sean addresses the hardtail imbalance in our longtermer fleet
was running. So I added some more air, and yes, the result was positive. With less sag, the fork sat higher, and helped keep the shape of the bike better, especially when hitting berms hard or dropping into slow, steep descents.
I’ve settled on this pressure but also removed one of the three volume spacers to make full use of the 140mm travel when needed.
It’s the set-up I’ve been using for almost six months now and it just goes to show that even with the relative simplicity of a hardtail, there’s always potential for some fine-tuning to increase performance just a touch more.