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Could someone please explain something for me on the graph on this page?
The one titled "Leverage Ratio". What I don't quite understand is what value they've put on the y axis, could someone please explain?
The leverage rate number on the y-axis is how many mm the rear wheel moves for each mm the shock moves. The higher the number, the stiffer the spring and damping needs to be, so bikes nowadays usually have a linear (horizontal line), or progressive (downwards diagonal line) rate. Progressive (higher number at the start, lower number at the end) means more sensitivity (grip) early in the travel but harder to bottom out.
Often, the more rad you are, the more you’ll like progression. I’ve learnt I’m better with only mildly progressive frames because I’m not fast enough and don’t get enough air!
Thank you, and I thought it would be something like that, although the numbers on the graph don’t quite make sense then.
Take the Reign 27.5 on that graph, it starts at a value of just over 3, then by the time the wheel has moved 10mm, the value on the y axis has dropped to 2.95 approximately. I read that as the shock moving 0.5mm and the wheel moving 10mm, which surely is completely wrong?
The graph is labeled wrongly as mm/mm. The left column is the actual leverage ratio and is 3:1, 2.95:1 etc.
“Take the Reign 27.5 on that graph, it starts at a value of just over 3, then by the time the wheel has moved 10mm, the value on the y axis has dropped to 2.95 approximately. I read that as the shock moving 0.5mm and the wheel moving 10mm, which surely is completely wrong?“
No, it’s not shock movement on Y and wheel movement on X. It’s wheel movement divided by shock movement on Y and wheel movement on X.
“The graph is labeled wrongly as mm/mm. The left column is the actual leverage ratio and is 3:1, 2.95:1 etc.“
It’s the Y axis that is mm/mm, the X is just mm.
It's the ratio at any point in the travel. So initially the wheel is moving at 3mm per mm of shock travel. At 10mm it's moving at 2.95mm per mm of shock travel.
So at 10mm of wheel travel, the shock has moved very roughly 10mm/2.98 = 3.4mm (2.98 being roughly the average leverage ratio between those points).
Thanks everyone for explaining, makes sense now