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Bear with me, numpty questions about sag and the amount of suspension travel I should be using. I'm tinkering with the setup on a new to me 2018 Giant Trance 2 which I bought in December. It's an ex demo bike, bought from a Giant dealer but it came without any paper work. When I got it, I downloaded the Fox manuals for my shock and forks to aid setup. They suggest 30% sag for the shock and 15-20% for the forks. The shock seems fine, but those sag settings have meant I'm only using about about 70-75% of the fork travel, even after a trip to BPW. I've since reduced the air pressure a bit and am probably at about 25% sag now and used 80% travel after a blat round Llandegla reds and blacks yesterday. Today, I did a bit more interwebing and downloaded a "Dual Suspension Users Manual" from Giant. This is a generic manual covering all models, but suggests a sag of around 30% for the forks, twice what it says in the Fox manual! Going to try this and see if it results in me using more of the travel.
Questions:
1. What do you guys suggest as a ballpark sag setting for a 150mm fork on a trail bike?
2. What percentage of my suspension travel should I be using in normal riding?
3. Why the discrepancy in suggested sag settings between bike and fork manufacturers?
Sag setting is only a starting point. Go by feel. If I reduce the pressure in my forks they are really plush but they dive a bit too much, so I run them harder. It's all about your bike, your preference and how you ride.
If you're hitting things that should be big enough to give you close to full travel and you're not hitting full travel or close, then you're running too much pressure.
At BPW, I'd say that if you're doing any of the blacks or either of the red 'blend' trails then you should be hitting close to full travel at at least one point in the ride.
JP
Sag setting is only a starting point. Go by feel. If I reduce the pressure in my forks they are really plush but they dive a bit too much, so I run them harder. It’s all about your bike, your preference and how you ride.
Thanks. They feel way too firm at the moment, and certainly not plush. I'm hoping reducing the pressure a bit more to around Giant's suggested 30% sag should be an OK compromise in firmness/comfort
If you’re hitting things that should be big enough to give you close to full travel and you’re not hitting full travel or close, then you’re running too much pressure.
At BPW, I’d say that if you’re doing any of the blacks or either of the red ‘blend’ trails then you should be hitting close to full travel at at least one point in the ride.
JP
Ta JP. I should explain I'm an intermediate rider (at best). I ride the Reds at BPW but have not ventured into the blacks yet. In my mind I am imagining using around 90% of travel most of the time would be good, leaving a little in reserve for an unexpected bigger hit. Does that sound reasonable?
If you're riding HotStepper or Roots Manoeuvre at BPW you should be hitting 90% travel at least once, so let some air out.
JP
I use roughly 30% front and back as a starter then forget sag and tweak the pressure based on feel and regularly getting 90%+ travel. The sag on my shock is probably more like 40% now and it feels right.
Go by feel. What I found helped was to try quite large adjustments initially, at the extreme ends of the scale (ie close to min compression through to close to max compression) - that’s a good way to work out how the various adjustments will affect the feel of the bike - then you can start reducing the range to zero in on what works best for you. I’m no suspension guru but I found that just having the discipline to take a few minutes to fiddle can really make a difference..
Yeah the only way to learn is to set it up too soft and too hard and then you'll have an idea what those things are like. I take a shock pump with me on rides even now, nearly 20 years after acquiring suspension 🙂
What fork is it ? Sounds like you might need to take some tokens out of it.
What fork is it ? Sounds like you might need to take some tokens out of it.
Fox Rhythm 34. You could be right, I've no idea if there are any in there or how many.
Undo the top cap on the air spring side and you should be able to see some or one plastic spacers. These create more ramp up at the end of the stroke, so can stop you reaching full travel if you're light.
JP
I am on a 2017 Anthem with a Fox 34 fork at 120mm travel. It came new with 5 tokens and had similar issues to yours. I now run it with 2 and it’s really good, using most of the travel on every ride.
^^^ let the air out first. 😉
Cheers all, some good advice and things to try. I will do some fettling tomorrow.
There are good YouTube vids on removing the tokens. Most important thing is having a proper flat spanner that fits and doesn’t mess up the top of the cap. I got mine from epic bleed guys.
I set my Trek up using the figures on the website as you put your weight in etc and it tells you the advised settings. I then adjusted from there until it felt right.
Even the smallest of changes can feel so much different.
Has the fork been serviced? Even a token lower service will be transformational on a fork that needs it. I would do that before worrying about the set up otherwise you're messing with something that will end up wrong anyway.
No, not serviced. The bike was immaculate and almost new when purchased with a dealer guarantee. Original brake pads virtually unworn. I've only had it 3 months and although I've put a few miles on it, it's been looked after. I plan to get around to a lower leg service at some stage, but wouldn't have thought it needed it just yet?
more tokens will help it feel plush but harder to get full travel. see what youve got. personally i think its better to have more plush bottom end and not get the full travel.