Hey,
I've been thinking about this for a minute but I'm not sure what the answer is.
If you wanted to make your bike more 'poppy' and bunnyhop/jump friendly, would you increase the stiffness of your rear shock so more energy is transferred through your bike - thus giving you higher hops/etc?
Or would that ruin the geo of the bike as then you probably wont be within the sag range? And now I think a bit more about it, I guess it would ruin the grip/suspension also as it'll be too hard for your weight.
I guess then you get into the realm of making your shock more progressive with whatever gubbins you put inside.
Basically I see all the 50:1 guys chucking their bikes around like they're BMXs over whatever but my own bike feels like it sucks away most of my energy over jumps and kickers etc.
It's not as daft a question as you'd first think. I was also thinking about similar lately as my Monarch RT is maxed out in terms of rebound and still feels a bit flat/dead in a way... So was thinking of a similar plan.
the 50:01 type riders thought it's technique and skill as much as setup IMO.
I find it doesn’t take big changes in pressure to make significant changes to the feel of a bike’s suspension. Likewise adding/removing volume spacers or changing damping adjustments by a click or two. More pressure, more spacers and quicker rebound damping will increase pop.
I change my air pressure depending what I am riding;
"correct" pressures for normal riding.
Overinflated for smooth jump lines, normal setup feels too soggy and sucks all the energy out if you are doing poppy stuff.
A little bit softer if its a all wet roots without any air time
Jump bike the forks are pretty hard, just there to take the sting out/mask my mistakes.
A lot of slopestyle bikes run max pressure.
Make sure you adjust the rebound, nothing worse than getting bucked right off a big landing to flat!
the 50:01 type riders thought it’s technique and skill as much as setup IMO.
Ah yeh totally, the way they just make those bikes flow is incredible.
I've not thought about fiddling with rebound actually. I kinda fired and forgot on that, maybe ill try making it a couple of clicks faster.
Do you have any compression adjustments on your shock & fork?
Try adding some low speed compression if poss.
Might need to adjust rebound as well if it makes bike more kicky.
Shock has a climb mode which could be interesting. Fork has a dial which I could stick halfway just to try. That basically is low speed compression right?
Having ridden some of the bikes you've probably seen in those 50:01 videos, I probably wouldn't want to ride them on anything other than jumps and berms.
You can definitely make your bike more lively by increasing shock pressure, rebound and tyre pressure. The trade off for all that pop is a sacrifice in grip and comfort but you might find a new sweet spot. I tried going way too high and gradually reducing it until it felt 'safe' again but ended up way outside of recommended settings with a bike that feels more nimble and pointy than it was before.
Ha thats interesting. I saw 'Loose Dog Lewis' was running a small frame or something to make it more like a... well a smaller bike on jumps and stuff. I can see how that would make it feel more like a BMX/jump bike but comes with all the downsides on anything but jumps.
Your second point is also interesting - I wonder if Fox/RS set their recommended settings to make it 'obvious' that the shock is working to the new ride - so its super active and perhaps a bit softer so you blow through a lot of travel. I might try firming it up a bit.
Shock has a climb mode which could be interesting. Fork has a dial which I could stick halfway just to try. That basically is low speed compression right?
Most likely yep, give it a go and report back.
I just set forks / shock for someone 10kg over my fully loaded weight for smooth bike park jump lines and having fun.
Mechs at demo days tell me not to but it feels right to me.
Tried to a couple of the various real-time adjusters and wasn’t impressed for fun. I’m sure they help with speed and staying planted.
On a wet tech rooty enduro through all the above out the window.
Yeah with the 50to01 style it is 95%+ the rider.
Upping the pressure can improve support and stability to help a bit.
Rebound, do you go slower or faster, arguments for both, predictability versus a bit more "pop".
Bit more low speed compression to push against, bit less rebound for the boing. TBH there is no setting on any bike ever that'll make me ride more like anyone in 50to01.
(I broke my Remedy on a week to Wales once, luckily I had my 224 with me but it was like bringing a massive rust blunt axe to a small axe fight, so I fannied around with teh suspension til it rode small and sharp. Then, I kind of forgot all about that, took it to fort william and there were regrets)
If you only cared about hops and aren't jumping, say doing a descent with many water bars, then faster rebound helps. Just remember to put it back before hitting some jumps on the next ride.