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

PB Forum :: Mechanics' Lounge
Suspension SETUP, a 'how to' guide...
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flag pbullard2017
Posted: Oct 25, 2016 at 10:03 Quote
So I'm considering moving away from my X2, but I am reluctant to get a coil shock because of bottoming out. If I have problems bottoming out on my X2 with max spacers, will a coil be too linear? If it helps, it will be on an evil insurgent
flag shredderIII
Posted: Oct 25, 2016 at 11:36 Quote
scrippsranchDJ wrote:
photo
thanks
flag banana2301
Posted: Oct 28, 2016 at 18:29 Quote
pbullard2017 wrote:
So I'm considering moving away from my X2, but I am reluctant to get a coil shock because of bottoming out. If I have problems bottoming out on my X2 with max spacers, will a coil be too linear? If it helps, it will be on an evil insurgent
You probably should, it's gonna blow.

And yup.
flag WasabiJim
Posted: Oct 28, 2016 at 21:06 Quote
a simple fox float 32, RL, 3 years old, 140mm - can you revalve the default compression circuits to add more lo speed compression? have a shop tweak the shims or something? can it be done yourself?

cheers Beer
flag bikerboywill
Posted: Oct 30, 2016 at 3:41 Quote
Try a heavier weight oil, can't remember what they have as standard think it might be 10wt so try 15wt
flag PhillipJ
O+
Posted: Nov 6, 2016 at 15:15 Quote
WasabiJim wrote:
a simple fox float 32, RL, 3 years old, 140mm - can you revalve the default compression circuits to add more lo speed compression? have a shop tweak the shims or something? can it be done yourself?

cheers Beer


I think those old 32 RLs just have orifice dampers, no shims to tune. If that is the case then increasing viscosity will increase low speed but it will also increase high speed which is probably going to be a problem.

Those forks are under-damped in low-speed because the orifice needs to be big enough that it doesn't choke when shaft speeds increase. However it's a trade off so they do choke at moderately high speeds and increasing viscosity will make that worse.
flag ibishreddin
Posted: Nov 6, 2016 at 21:30 Quote
Thought I'd share my setup for anyone that is thinking about a stiffer setup. On my dh bike I went from 33% rear 15% front, to about 27-28% rear and 5% front sag and the difference is amazing everywhere.

The old setup felt really comfortable and the wheels seemed to track the ground really well. I was running a lot of compression damp on fork and shock to keep it from wallowing and using too much travel or diving. Overall I was happy with this setup and how it reacted on trails, the only thing was I found myself bottoming out which I'd rather not do even on big stuff.

The stiff setup is not as comfortable feeling as soft, but the gains in chassis stability and speed were substantial. Diving into corners I no longer had to move my weight around forward and back to compensate for the suspension movement. Just sit in the middle of the wheels and the support was now there to push the corner rather than momentum be sucked up by the suspension. The speed increase was surprising, over shot a few corners because i had this new found exit speed from the support of the suspension i wasnt used to yet.

Rough terrain was also significantly faster. And more stable. I slowed my rebound on the fork, and WAY down on the shock and also opened up compression in both. The suspension now felt like it had a ton of support that just deadened impacts, and skipped along the tops of rocks and holes rather than the wheels being sucked down into them, but also retained its traction because i was able to open up the compression damp. The suspension feels like it wastes no travel and only uses as much as it needs to to keep the chassis stable. It is much easier now to unweaigjt the bike for rough sections that previously would take much more effort to counteract all of the sag.

Overall (hate to be that guy), but strava times showed a significant speed increase on my local trails that consist of many berms, and rough spots and some fast steep parts. The stiffer setup really wasn't as comfortable as the soft setup at first, but was way more efficient with how it absorbed impacts and allowed me to hit things harder than i ever would have on the old setup becasue of the fear of bottomong out and losing control. If you race, and are on the fence about trying this, I'd give it a go.
flag WasabiJim
Posted: Nov 7, 2016 at 0:19 Quote
ibishreddin wrote:
Thought I'd share my setup for anyone that is thinking about a stiffer setup. On my dh bike I went from 33% rear 15% front, to about 27-28% rear and 5% front sag and the difference is amazing everywhere.

The old setup felt really comfortable and the wheels seemed to track the ground really well. I was running a lot of compression damp on fork and shock to keep it from wallowing and using too much travel or diving. Overall I was happy with this setup and how it reacted on trails, the only thing was I found myself bottoming out which I'd rather not do even on big stuff.

The stiff setup is not as comfortable feeling as soft, but the gains in chassis stability and speed were substantial. Diving into corners I no longer had to move my weight around forward and back to compensate for the suspension movement. Just sit in the middle of the wheels and the support was now there to push the corner rather than momentum be sucked up by the suspension. The speed increase was surprising, over shot a few corners because i had this new found exit speed from the support of the suspension i wasnt used to yet.

Rough terrain was also significantly faster. And more stable. I slowed my rebound on the fork, and WAY down on the shock and also opened up compression in both. The suspension now felt like it had a ton of support that just deadened impacts, and skipped along the tops of rocks and holes rather than the wheels being sucked down into them, but also retained its traction because i was able to open up the compression damp. The suspension feels like it wastes no travel and only uses as much as it needs to to keep the chassis stable. It is much easier now to unweaigjt the bike for rough sections that previously would take much more effort to counteract all of the sag.

Overall (hate to be that guy), but strava times showed a significant speed increase on my local trails that consist of many berms, and rough spots and some fast steep parts. The stiffer setup really wasn't as comfortable as the soft setup at first, but was way more efficient with how it absorbed impacts and allowed me to hit things harder than i ever would have on the old setup becasue of the fear of bottomong out and losing control. If you race, and are on the fence about trying this, I'd give it a go.

gotta say it sounds like a pretty unconventional approach to your set up you got there. but if it works for you...
flag bikerboywill
Posted: Nov 7, 2016 at 16:00 Quote
My theory is you should run your suspension as hard as you can bare. On really rough stuff I just haven't got the upper body strength to run sub 10% sag, I just get shaken around too much but I'm on about 15% front 20% rear and it feels perfect for everything. That's still with compression almost maxed out on my boxxers and vivid
flag brigand
Posted: Nov 8, 2016 at 1:00 Quote
Sounds like a more linear setup, i was running fork like that with more sag and more compression in the rear and it work like that, struggling a bit on the new bike since the weight distribution is not the same, still trying to find that sweet spot.

Experimented with more progression in the air springs and less compression with more sag but it feels harsh and a bit divey in the front.
flag bikerboywill
Posted: Nov 8, 2016 at 1:35 Quote
I've got 3 or 4 tokens in the boxxers (can't remember) and almost the max amount of bands in the vivid air. The compression on the boxxers and the vivid is abit of a joke though, it's pretty soft even on max. Should probably re stack my compression stacks
flag brigand
Posted: Nov 8, 2016 at 2:22 Quote
Can you even bottom out? Smile
flag bikerboywill
Posted: Nov 8, 2016 at 3:40 Quote
Not really. I need to fill the bands up in the rear shock, think I've got room for two more but I ran out. The only time I bottom out the forks is landing something big flat.
flag raidenCZE
Posted: Nov 8, 2016 at 13:44 Quote
bikerboywill wrote:
I've got 3 or 4 tokens in the boxxers (can't remember) and almost the max amount of bands in the vivid air. The compression on the boxxers and the vivid is abit of a joke though, it's pretty soft even on max. Should probably re stack my compression stacks
Are you heavy as tank?

 


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