Afternoon!

So I’m no Gwin or Bruni but I’ve been riding for a fair few years and i can hold my own in my various riding groups… jumps, gaps etc, i’d go so far as to rank my skills as average!

However i realise when i hear something like “i added a token for a more progressive stroke” or when my mates were having a discussion about different dampers that i don’t really know exactly what the dials on my suspension are supposed to do!

Ok so i actually do know what they do, compression is how fast it goes down and rebound is how fast it comes back… but what i’m not sure of is how they relate to each other, how the tuning of the fork /shock relate to each other and what i should be adjusting for different conditions.

I generally just set the sag to 25% twiddle the rebound/compression to the middle(is) and ride.

When i do play with the settings I’m not entirely sure i can tell the difference.

I sure as hell don’t know if i need a bottomless token 🙂

Am i missing out, not knowing more?
Should i be adjusting this stuff for specific conditions.
Where to start?

Anyone got any tips?

Thanks

Watch this video, then apply the same number of clicks to the front in a similar proportion i.e 2/10 rear may be 4/20 front. Then Make the front about two clicks faster.

Compression, usually about a third out from completely soft depending on terrain. Compression is more how hard rather than speed.

In the wet usually go about 2 clicks slower on the rebound front and rear and make the compression about a sixth from soft.

rent a Shockwiz from a local store.

I’m similar to you and have bookmarked this old thread to help remind me as I struggle to understand it (I suspect because I don’t really care that much!). I can manage to get mine to a point where it feels good, but tbh I don’t notice much difference in a few clicks either way from that point. Planning to rent a Shockwiz at some point to help!

What wwaswas said

Basic concepts:

Not enough rebound on the rear sees you land from a jump and bounce back up again. Or if you are sitting down and ride through say a trough, you get boinged up out of the saddle.

Too much rebound on the rear means on series of hits it doesn’t come back quickly enough when you hit series of bumps so it packs down and feels harsh. Less rebound on the rear feels nice and springy and plush until you hit something big and then it all goes wrong. So it’s a tradeoff here.

Not enough compression on the rear means you don’t get a soft cushion on landing, you just go straight through to topping out.

Too much compression on the rear means it won’t compress on small bumps and will feel harsh again.

On the front, too much rebound damping has the same effect as the rear – it feels harsh. Not enough means your steering gets kicked around by the bounce. Not as disastrous on the rear because you have your arms to absorb some of the kick. Rebound damping is usually less on the front.

Too much compression on the front makes it feel harsher but helps to prevent diving when braking into bumpy corners, because if your weight is over the front and you hit a bump it can blow through the travel straight away and leave you with a short little fork.

Thanks all

I thought about getting a shockwiz but i had a few reservations…

Will it make much difference to what i do now?
If it does will i understand why?
What will i do when i don’t have it?

is it like a guitar tuner, fine to get you started but ultimately you need to learn do it yourself?

you need to learn do it yourself?

I’d say so.

Will it make much difference to what i do now?
If it does will i understand why?
What will i do when i don’t have it?

1) No idea, it tells you what’s good for your chosen riding style.
2) it explains lots about what you’re doing, you can watch videos to further understand what you’re changing
3) make a note of the settings before you send the shock/fork off for servicing 😉

My experience was that I was ‘mostly right’ doing it by feel but that the changes the Shockwiz suggested made it noticeably righter.

It’s as much about confidence too – you can spend a long time arriving at a front/rear shock setup and still be left wondering if it could be better.

My experience was that I was ‘mostly right’ doing it by feel but that the changes the Shockwiz suggested made it noticeably righter.

i think part of the problem is i don’t know what “right” should feel like. Which i suppose is a good reason for getting a shockwiz

i think part of the problem is i don’t know what “right” should feel like.

This is pretty much where I approached it from.

The right feeling is the balance between feeling comfortable with the bike and the bike being comfortable with the terrain. If you aren’t comfortable play around until you are but it seems that you don’t feel much but being comfortable with how it performs translate into riding well and within yourself. But don’t have your rear sus bucking you.

Probs best to get a shockwiz

Fanny about with it, with intent. Take it too far- basically make it bad in a way you know is bad, too much of X or too little of Y actually does more for understanding than getting it nearly right or twiddling clicks at a time. People talk about bracketing and that just means erring on either side so whatever you do, they right setting stays in the middle, rather than trying to inch towards it from one side.

Mostly it’s simpler than it sounds but there’s no substitute for dicking about. And as much about figuring out what you like

Re spacers- if you set the sag how you want it but it doesn’t use the travel how you want it, spacers can fix that. If you go through the travel too easily despite having sensible sag then adding spacers can fix that and vice versa

Thanks again, Good advice.

just got to fine a shockwix locally now

Watch this video

couldn’t watch more than 30 secs because of terrible Russian accent