Bike Whyte T120 (120mm) with Monarch rt high volume rear shock.

Manual states strick requirement for 25% sag to be set, which for me at 93kg is 240psi. Once set the bike is supple over small bumps etc but the rear shock ramps up so much I get no where near full travel.

The stock on the shock is 51mm and no matter what I ride always have 15 + mm left. Not on about mighty hucks or anything but I have done a couple of 3ft drops to flat to try and get further through it and same result.

So when I am hitting rocky sections its ramping back up and effectively to me not behaving. I want the shock to get further into the travel as I did not buy an 80mm travel bike to kick me back in the arse so readily.

Any thoughts – different shock maybe, experience etc, retune. The shock is factory set with the low compression tune and I run it fully open on the gate and with quite a bit of rebound on.

I’d start with less pressure. They might say 25% sag but it’s your bike, why not experiment?

Dropped some out which gave me about 30% and although I got a bit more it was only a small amount and the ramping effect at the end remained. I do not really want to do more than 30 on only 120mm of travel.

First things first then. Let all the air out and see how much travel you can get. That way, you’ll know if there’s something mechanical stopping it or if it is just the air spring curve.

What volume aircan are you using?

tried with all the air out andit does go through all its travel.

Its a high volume aircan the Whyte blurp states it was to improve the feeling at the end of the stroke which i cannot get to.

Manual states strick requirement for 25% sag to be set, which for me at 93kg is 240psi. Once set the bike is supple over small bumps etc but the rear shock ramps up so much I get no where near full travel.

there are no strict requirements, rules etc here it’s play time with the shock, try pressures, rebound settings etc. if you still can’t get it dialled in then it’s either a retune or replace. Try calling LOCO/TF/SRAM for advice/options.

I would not expect to bottom out a shock on a 3ft drop. 6ft maybe if you don’t use your knees. Unless you ride really hard you may not get near full travel. The travel is there to help on big hits. If its a rising rate suss curve it gets harder to compress the further through the travel you get therefore the less you use the last bit if travel. On a xc ride I rarely get full travel unless I’ve found something fun to ride.

On my commencal it recommends 25% but it feels like it sits too high so I run 30% sag and still don’t bottom out that much.

Drop Loco an email. I did recently as I was trying to get my head round rear sus set up after years on ht’s.
They were very helpful.

Van halen – would not be so concerned but on all my other bikes I have got to within 1 to 2mm of using full shock stroke on a normal ride with the correct sag setup. 6 foot to flat is definately not what this bike is designed for and therefore I feel I should be getting more out of the shock. Hitting rocky sections it jacking back up and effectively slowing me down, if it got into the travel more it would ride better.

Normal man – going to give loco a call, cheers.

I would’ve thought 3ft to flat should be enough to get full travel if not close to on a Whyte T120.

Check you can get full travel with no air in the shock. Not sure if your shock has any compression or lockout. Make sure that is working correctly and not consonantly stuck on. Also contact Whyte to see if this behaviour is expected and see if they can suggest something else for you to try.