Recently bought a 2021 Altitude and still getting it dialled.
Was curious to see how different people have set theirs up, mostly the geometry settings.
To try find a base setting I've gone with the following: Large frame Ride 9 in Neutral setting and Neutral progressivity (dead centre) Chain stays in short.
Heard the rear shock can be difficult to get set up due to the frames progression but I found it easy. The bike did come in the slackest and most progressive position but I changed it straight away to get a base line. With 33% sag I'm using 95% travel on most rides, which I like.
Want to change the chain stays to the long position once I get the suspension dialled to see which I prefer. Will then look to slacken it while keeping the neutral progression.
I'm assuming some just went for slackest options straight away? I would prefer the lower BB in the slacker option too.
Recently bought a 2021 Altitude and still getting it dialled.
Was curious to see how different people have set theirs up, mostly the geometry settings.
To try find a base setting I've gone with the following: Large frame Ride 9 in Neutral setting and Neutral progressivity (dead centre) Chain stays in short.
Heard the rear shock can be difficult to get set up due to the frames progression but I found it easy. The bike did come in the slackest and most progressive position but I changed it straight away to get a base line. With 33% sag I'm using 95% travel on most rides, which I like.
Want to change the chain stays to the long position once I get the suspension dialled to see which I prefer. Will then look to slacken it while keeping the neutral progression.
I'm assuming some just went for slackest options straight away? I would prefer the lower BB in the slacker option too.
Cheers!
I've got mine set up neutral/short as well for now. I want to get a few more rides under it to ensure the rest of the setup is good before I start messing with it. I imagine the full slack/long position will be kind of a park lap setup, but I'm curious to start messing with some of the other combinations to see how it feels.
Yeah I agree, need a good starting point first before messing around with all the settings. I think changing the chain stay length will have a big impact on cornering and grip, maybe make the bike less poppy though.
I'm running neutral HTA, regressive suspension (position 4), and short stays. Haven't tried anything else yet though, excited to try it slack/long on a park day.
I found this video interesting when I was mulling about what position to start off with
Interesting! Keep posting your experiences please!
I'll be getting a C50 Large in a months time.
The plan is to have it on the long CS, and slacken it by one degree with the wolf tooth comp headset, which does not decrease the reach. This will make the seat tube a little slacker in neutral position. Not sure if I'll start there right away, or what.
After riding a large SB150 for a year, and then the Trek Rail, I think I like longer chainstays/better balance in the corners.
I'll swap out the stock suspension for a EXT Storia V3 and a Fox 38.
Ride-9 allows the bike to be set up as a downhill/bike park beast or XC/technical trail and climber. Or in my case, my daughter “borrows” my Altitude, she weighs 140 lbs, I’m 190. Takes 2-3 minutes to switch the Ride-9 for her and I don’t need to change the shock’s air pressure.
Mine came in posn - 1 (or whatever the slackest is). It felt pretty good but I was having major rock strikes with the low BB. Moved in into posn - 3 but it still felt very similar and had the same issue with rocks. I'm now in neutral/short (5)and really like the feel of it for most of the terrain I ride, and the slightly higher BB seems to mean I'm missing most of the rock-tops now
Haven't really taken it on terrain where I've felt it needed to be longer so haven't played around out back. Would be interested to see if I can feel the difference.
I'm obviously a gumby because it takes more than few minutes to change the chips around and I'm not sure I'd like to do it trail-side, especially as I normally find myself needing to prop the bike over a bench in order to have the shock seated in the right position.
I also found the RM website to pretty much useless when it came to describing the Ride-9 system for the '21 model. JKW's video was far more beneficial
Interesting video! His favourite is similar to how I have mine set up. I’ll change the CS length soon to long but have a couple of races (DH and Enduro) so will keep the bike fairly similar as I’m still getting used to it. Yeah I found Rocky’s website to be decent but it doesn’t describe every position change. Seems like it’s actually 3 geo changes and 3 suspension progression changes. Where I ride it’s not that steep so I don’t feel I need the bike in the slackest position, will still try it out I’m a few months though. I find changing the positions fairly easy, easier with another set of hands.
Update for those playing at home... I changed the CS to the long position and kept the geo in neutral. Noticed it was a lot calmer in the rough sections, also more balanced in the corners (a little bit more grip). Changed geo to position 2 I believe it is, slackest setting with neutral progressivity. Don't see any down sides, corners just as well and is more comfortable when tracks get steep. I have been riding more open, fast tracks so it would those tracks more. I did notice it's a little hard to initiate a manual or wheelie but once up it seems easier which is weird. Think I'll leave it in this set up and play with suspension settings a bit more. Still haven't got the 38 to feel amazing just yet.
I did a ton of testing when I first got the bike. I've put in a fair bit of mileage in positions 1, 2, 3, and 5. All of those in the short cs first and then 2, 3, and 5 in the long cs setting. For me, the longer cs is better in every way. It allows me to forget about weighting the front of the bike while cornering and I can focus on other things. I didn't notice any drawback.
I too struggled with pedal strikes really bad unless I was in pos 5. But that's the only thing I preferred about pos 5. Pos 1 made it hard for me to get the shock set up right. I couldn't seem to find the pressure, vol reducers, and rebound settings that would put me in a reasonable sag position, use most or all of the travel without harsh bottom outs, and maintain the poppy feel that I love about the Altitude.
I bounced between 2 and 3 many times and couldn't tell any difference in ride feel. With a little time I learned to avoid the pedal strikes. I had just switched back to setting 2 for more testing when I got the shock serviced. The suspension felt so perfect when I reinstalled the shock that I haven't wanted to change my settings at all. Been ~2 months on setting 2 and I think I'll stay here.
I'll post my settings in case anyone likes to compare that kind of thing. So much is preference and the trails you have available to you but here they are anyways:
175 lbs Size L
Ride-9: Pos 2 CS: Long
DPX2: 210 psi, 0.4 vol reducer (stock size), rebound 6 clicks from closed, or 2 clicks from fastest
Fox 36 Grip: 71 psi, 1 vol spacer (stock), compression sweep adjust at just right of straight forward... roughly 25%, rebound 3 clicks from fastest
I’m not running one but believe the frame is designed to work with one. Likely need to put Ride 9 in setting 1 (most progressive). Pretty sure the EWS RM Team run coils all round.