Just gettin a squishy full susser couple of months back. I’ve set the suspension according to various giudes so it doesn’t bottom out on regular ride conditions. I have both front and rear set to quickest rebound but it has got me wondering, what reason or conditions would you set to slow rebound?????

Not slow but a happy medium. Take the back for example. If run too slow and ridden over a series of compressions/bumps, the suspension will pack down and not recover to give you the travel you should have. If too fast, then it can buck you forward which can be very dodgy hitting jumps etc. Expect some over the bars moments.

Its all about compromise but the fastest it will go sounds like you could improve and see some benefits in how you set it up.

Rebound and damping are about how quick and hard the shock recovers after being compressed. It’s weight specific, you should not have it set to either extreme unless your at the extremes of weight range… As a rule of thumb set it mid way ride it for a while and soften to suit. If its set too high the shock will spring back instantly giving a bucking sensation , too soft and it will pack and not recover quick enough from one bump to the next.

I run my rp23 4 clicks in from slow

you don’t want quickest rebound. Rebound damping is supposed to remove the Oscillations of the spring but not so much it works too much. Slower rebound you would set up say in the winter when going slower ie you hit the bumps slower so want more time on the shock re-extension so it doesnt buck you off so to speak also giving more traction. Also more rebound if you weight more because the spring has more energy so needs more damping
This is however your preference there is no right or wrong way to set it up. What you find best will not be right for someone else.

have a read though this it explains alot of it
http://www.ridefox.com/help.php?m=bike&t=tuningtips&ref=lnav_help

Very interesting, a lot of things now make sense. I was riding a trail today with many drop offs and jumps and I was crap on every one of them. I’m 5’11” and 10 stone. Every landing I lost control and the line. I had done these previously on my hardtail and what you are saying adds up. I’ll dial down and give it another go.

Ta very much!!!!

http://locotuning.co.uk/rebound-glossary.html

Any questions feel free to give the workshop a call during the day

I have a Marzo Rocco air R, is it possible to service it Loco? Not much info out there on it.

I have been told the pro downhillers run slower rebound than most would expect.

There is a trade off between traction and chassis stability, when thinking of it in graphical terms peak traction occurs just before peak chassis control in terms of rebound speed. Generally the slower you set your rebound the more chassis control you have and a lesser sense of being bucked around on the bike.

Generally you want to try to slow you rebound to the point just before it is packing down on the trail/causing you to lose to much rear end traction.

Setting your fork and rear shock to the fastest rebound speed is a bad thing. Good forks and shocks these days have decent independent rebound circuits that work, on most forks/shocks your adjuster tunes slow speed rebound so that you can set the rebound speed slow (for slower rolling terrain/g-outs/oscillating weight shifts after a high speed hit) but once the shock/fork compresses at high speed the factory set high speed rebound will kick in. So they wont pack up as much.

Put it this way, I don’t notice a shock packing up as much as I do when I’m being bucked around it terms of ride detriment. So I always err on the slow side.

I have been told the pro downhillers run slower rebound than most would expect.

I think some probably do. I also think that some will probably run a lot faster than you might expect. I think the big hitters, the ones with an agressive crash and burn kind of style will probably be using a lot of rebound, but your smooth operators who are careful over line choice, and judge their landings well rather than nearly casing half of them, will probably run fairly fast rebound as it helps keep the tyre in contact with the ground.

Rebound speed is a lot about personal preference also. I remember my first conversation with Tim Flooks, all of about 10 years ago, about how to set up my freshly serviced fork and shock, and he said that too many people make the mistake of using too much rebound damping, something that I was also doing at the time cos I was scared of the bike bucking back off a jump and throwing me off. I think the key is that whilst too little, or none at all is a recipe for an accident, too much (or at least more than ideal) can be detrimental to performance too (though not as dangerous outright).

LoCo above makes a living out of tuning and servicing bike suspension so he really knows what he’s talking about, I’m just a fairly clued up amateur with a lot of experience of both tinkering and riding. But certainly, the first thing I’ll do with new suspension fork or shock I get, before it gets ridden, is work out how many clicks (or turns, they don’t always click) of adjustment there are for the rebound. Once I’ve worked out the range of adjustment, I’ll wind it all the way to full rebound (so it’s as slow as it will go, sometimes this is like an effective lockdown), then wind it back out again by about 25% of the available adjustment range. This is usually a good starting point to work from, you’ll quickly get a feel for what works for you, take the bike out on a short ride and try a few different settings, but when you make a setting, don’t go drastic, try just one click at a time in either direction first, then maybe add another etc. Don’t just dump another 5 clicks on, or take 5 off if you get me, it’s all about being subtle and noticing the subtle differences.

I have been told the pro downhillers run slower rebound than most would expect.

And a lot of them run it very fast, as mentioned above, with a shed load more compression than most people due to the sheer speed they hit stuff at.

I’ve slowed down my rear rebound by two clicks and the bike is significantly better to ride.

Before it felt quite harsh and I though it was packing down hence running it fast, now I realize the harshness was the rebound kicking me in the backside

One reason pro DHers will be running slower rebound is that they’re running stiffer springs than most would for their weight – stiffer springs need more rebound damping for equal rebound rate. Bracketing is the best way to dial in suspension settings:

I always find the “Drop the bike from waist height and add a click of rebound until it doesn’t bounce back up” technique gives a good baseline.

Messing around, I always tried to get to a point i can’t almost feel the rear suspension working. As noted above, 3 or 4 clicks from slow for my RP2. Any more and i get bounced on slow drops ie steps or bigger faster stuff ie drops. Sometimes i’ll add in more for a plush ride if i know the trail does not have any techy stuff.

Maybe an informal setup morning at Cwmcarn or the workshop on a Saturday morning would be of interest, groups of 3 or 4, coffee, chat a quick fettle. Would be of interest?! 😀

I have my forks set to the fastest (or nearly fastest) usually as any slower and they seem to pack down over braking bumps. Rear shock is a fair bit slower as if it’s too fast you end up getting chucked over the bars on badly landed jumps etc.

3 or 4 clicks from slow for my RP2. Any more and i get bounced on slow drops ie steps or bigger faster stuff ie drops. Sometimes i’ll add in more for a plush ride if i know the trail does not have any techy stuff.

With my RP2 (and DHX5.0), I add 3 or 4 clicks from ‘fast’ to give a controlled ride, and it depends upon the trail. I ride fairly enthusiastically and do experiment.

I’ve always looked upon it as adding just enough rebound to suit rather than reducing it from the maximum (like seasoning with salt and pepper). Similarly with forks, I bounce the forks in the garage and add enough to feel the rebound damping working. I then adjust on the trail to give a controlled rebound. For big downhills and bumps I’ve found that more rebound can help.

Similarly, use as little compression as possible to give the required ride and handling.

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/f19/rebound-speed-slow-recommendation-push-228448/

Interesting thread and comments from PUSH Industries on rebound speed.

One thing I have found is that if I run too high a rebound speed on my fork on high speed, flat, wide corners with braking bumps I actually have less traction as it feels like the front wants to push away from me.

I’ve set the suspension according to various giudes so it doesn’t bottom out on regular ride conditions

What do you call “regular”? Regular for those us I used to ride with meant adjusting it as we hit different riding areas.

Also, we used to go by the theory that if you don’t bottom out your forks/shock at least once during a days riding then you’ve set it up wrong.

God there is ALOT of rubbish being talked on this thread.

This is a good stating point/guide.
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/technical-tuesday-suspension-basics-2010.html