SussMyBike quantifies suspension performance

Electronic doodad provides tuning recommendations, delivers KOMs.

Given the number of shiny anodized knobs just begging to be twiddled, even today’s best suspension forks and frames can be made to ride terribly. Sure most of us have a feel for how our bikes are riding, but experience tells us that it’s easy to confuse empty legs with too much sag or poor small-bump performance with not enough sleep – and to start making changes.

With the help of MTBCOS (the Glentress-based Mountain Bike Centre of Scotland), Sports Scientists at Napier University, and the Edinburgh University Fablab the SussMyBike (see what they did there?) team aims to provide objective feedback on a shock or frame’s performance- and tuning suggestions to help everything work better.  Strava leaderboard, here we come…

The SussMyBike box is zip-tied to a fork or shock, with a clip on a retracting string providing feedback on the rate and depth of suspension travel. This performance data is then relayed via Bluetooth to an Android or iOS smartphone app, which interprets the data and provides fork or shock tuning suggestions.

While we can hear (and sympathize with) the cries about the excessive quantification and digitisation of the sport, SussMyBike or something similar could be a useful tool for demo fleets and high-end bike shops, allowing bikes to be configured for peak performance from the start. Similarly, downhillers whose podium spreads are measured in fractions of a second could certainly benefit from quantitative feedback. Though pricing has not yet been set (a crowdfunding campaign is promised for early this month), SussMyBike promises that the unit will be “affordable” on release.

More at sussmybike.com.