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Suspension SETUP, a 'how to' guide...

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Suspension SETUP, a 'how to' guide...
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flag Stuart12342
Posted: May 22, 2009 at 14:40 Quote
Is it normal to put vasaline on my Dj3's 09 i find them very stiff and they compress like 4-5 cm. To stiffFrown
flag rstwosix
Posted: May 23, 2009 at 5:20 Quote
Grease on the tubes isn't going to give you more travel. If your fork has air preload - let some or all of the air out.
flag Muttley
Posted: May 23, 2009 at 6:31 Quote
ctd07 wrote:
undercoverfreak wrote:
Is it possible that more compression damping on the shock makes my bike lose less speed over rough ground? It seems completely counterintuitive but thats what I'm experiencing.

It's possible if you have it cranked up enough, that you are simply bouncing and skimming over the top of the rough stuff instead of absorbing it all, this is basically what the pro downhillers do and why they can run stiffer shocks.

- If you watched the Vallnord dh this weekend on Freecaster, Rob Warner mentioned this very thing, saying that the slower riders fall into all the ruts, whereas guys like Sam Hill skim over the top of them all, your suspension setting may well be allowing this to happen, this is why I recommend having as much low speed compression damping as your knees/hands can tolerate on the first page, as I believe you can gain more speed through better pedalling and stability and being able to 'keep it light' over the rough stuff, than if your suspension is moving for every little bump and keeping your tyres on the ground the whole time.

I spent a few months trying different compression settings on my session, from a very soft setting, through to almost rock solid compression.

Throughout this, it SEEMED faster running harder shocks, but then i read some stuff from someone who did a placement at K9 Industries (if you dont know who they are, a bunch of ex F1 suspension engineers) who did a huge amount of testing, and found that though it seemed faster skipping over, having a properly set up shock/fork actually resulted in faster runs, ive now got myself sorted with a few clicks of low speed on the 40's, a fair amount of high speed, and no preload, the rear im running at a slightly firmer side of soft, with fairly fast rebound (you have to do this with sessions to get them to pop out of corners better).

The forks are fantastic, i havnt lost my front end, despite pushing alot harder since changing them, issue is the DHX really isnt that good a shock.
Due to it not having any real low speed, or high speed for that matter, it rides lower in its travel, and to stop this, you have to run it firmer, meaning that you either have cornering efficiency, or small bump efficiency. Having talked to Elka about this, they have a tune for the stage 5 for the session that allows for the shock not to dive past the first half of the travel without impact, keeping it high and fast for corners, but in that first half, small bump is fully compliant, which i believe SHOULD solve every problem with the session, except it being a tin can. due to this, i hopefully will be buying myself an Elka stage 5 in august-ish, and will report back then!
flag Stuart12342
Posted: May 23, 2009 at 8:56 Quote
There is no air preload. Just a little adjust thing which if have almost fully out.
flag Stuart12342
Posted: May 23, 2009 at 8:58 Quote
Muttley wrote:
What?
What?? My fork doesn't have one i think. There dj3's
flag Muttley
Posted: May 23, 2009 at 8:59 Quote
oh right ok yeah.

Try and source a soft spring, windwave should be able to help you out.
flag Stuart12342
Posted: May 23, 2009 at 9:00 Quote
Is that the problem?? Had them for 20 days. and there soooo stiff.
flag Muttley
Posted: May 23, 2009 at 9:01 Quote
well there is obviously a break in period, how much do you weigh in lb's?
flag Muttley
Posted: May 23, 2009 at 9:02 Quote
youll be needing a soft spring.
flag Stuart12342
Posted: May 23, 2009 at 9:03 Quote
I still think i will get them checked at my lbs. There could be something wrong with them.
flag Muttley
Posted: May 23, 2009 at 9:04 Quote
No.....you need a soft spring, the amount of people that dont change their fork springs...jesus. waste of money.
flag Stuart12342
Posted: May 23, 2009 at 9:05 Quote
Ok. Where and what do you suggest.
flag Muttley
Posted: May 23, 2009 at 9:05 Quote
Go to your LBS, they will have an account with windwave, and they can order you a Soft DJ series spring.

 


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