Max – I think there is a middle ground. I can sort sag and have a vague understanding of the other elements. It’s nice to have a bit of kit which can make some suggestions based on the riding I actually do.
The fact that it got the recommended shock pressure spot on makes me think its a good bit of kit.

So basically, you bolt that on, and it tells you everything you knew already?

Yes, it’s a nice gimmicky thing that let’s you pretend to be a suspension specialist for your very own race team.

I think Strava/power meters/Shockwiz etc. are the best bits about cycling for some people.

Mines sat in a van somewhere got a 90squid import bill to settle first 🙂

It took 10 minutes last night to set up. It really didn’t affect the distance or type of ride I was going to do.

Personally more time spent riding on a reasonably set up bike will make loads more difference to my skill/performance level.

Which is sort of the point of the ShockWiz..

Yes, it’s a nice gimmicky thing that let’s you pretend to be a suspension specialist for your very own race team

This is the bit I took exception to. I accept I’m not that good at setting up bike suspension and this seems a good bit of kit for me.

maxtorque – Member

For any given ride, just look at the O ring around the shock/fork piston, achieves exactly the same thing, costs way less…….

Don’t think this is at all true tbh. I can set up suspension without much fuss but nobody does it just by looking at the o-ring unless all they want to achieve is “make it work”.

Which to be fair is what a lot of people think setting up suspension means.

Max is awesome, not sure if I want to be him or marry him.

Looking at those screenshots it is a royal waste of money. Seriously is that all it gives you in terms of info? Let’s be honest max is pretty much bang on that an o-ring (plus a pressure gauge) will tell you 90% of that info.

Reckon hanging off till the ios/android app thingy is developed to work off your phones accelerometer is the best option 😆

just look at the O ring

Yeah, so now I’ve been able to set the sag and I know how much travel I used on a ride. It has little to tell me about what I may like to adjust, looks like shockwiz gives some recommendations. To me that sounds useful especially as my suspension adjustments are a laborious process of trial and error.

On a closed course, data acquisition, in conjunction with segment timing makes sense. You look at your suspension dynamics, twiddle things, and find the setup that returns the fastest segment times. It’s an iterative process.

However, just knowing what your suspension dynamics are doing, in isolation, is fairly pointless imo.

And as i said, if you really haven’t got a clue, have no idea how to set say sag (even though to learn that you just need to RTFM andf look at the scale on the side of your shock these days) then perhaps shockwiz is for you? 😉

It’s also the case than no single suspension setting can be optimum for every single different trail / useage, and for the rider who has no idea how to set their suspension and doesn’t want to twiddle it every time they ride there bike, then they have to accept this compromise regardless.

+1 well said that man.

If you are racing and want every last fraction of a second you can get then I agree. But I don’t feel that is a reason to dismiss these set up aids. I think they could be a useful aid to a lot of riders and I’d really like to give them a try

Does anyone know how much these things are likely to cost once they go into production?

If you’ve got a few different bikes and different riders in your household / group, it might be a decent proposition. I’m certainly intrigued.

The app has 4 different riding styles – roughly XC, trail, trail plus & down hill. As you ride it highlights any types of riding not yet covered. This morning I used ‘balanced’ and I just had to add some drops on complete the session.
3 of us have clubbed together so a modest investment.

Hey tomhoward,

Have you been able to sort the calibration issue out? Sounds like you were able to get the device properly installed on the positive air filler. Attaching to the Auto-Sag valve will certainly not work.

If the Shock Travel percentage in the App is not reporting properly then the CR has been incorrectly measured. You will need to complete the Calibration process again to correct this. I also recommend that you watch the “Calibration and App Setup” video found on ShockWiz.com

Duirng the calbration process it is important that before you perform any of the Full Extension or Full Compression measurements that; 1) you have enough air removed that you will be able to fully compress the shock, 2) and that you have properly balanced any remaining air the positive and negative air chambers by cycling the suspension after you have deflated it.

Another thing to note is that when making these measurements do not have the ShockWiz inflation valve depressed. ShockWiz must be able to measure the pressure change from Full Extension to Full Compression in order to measure the compression ratio. Depressing the valve will make for easy compression, but it means the pressure inside the positive air chamber won’t increase and ShockWiz will be unable to make the necessary measurements.

Alex@Quarq

Hey Leku,

I am surprised that the removal of the shock pump is causing the pressure to decrease. The only time a shock pump should affect the positive air spring pressure is during pump installation, as pressure from the positive air chamber escapes from the shock/fork to charge the pump. The Schrader valve of a shock, fork or ShockWiz, should be long closed before the seal between the pump and the inflation stem breaks free and you hear a hiss of air.

Either way, looking at your screen shots I would suggest you make sure your Shock Travel percentage is at 0, +/-3%, at the start of your ride. I am not sure if you were sitting atop your bike when you took those screen shots, but 7% is quite large. This could be negatively affecting your readings. To zero the Shock Travel re-set the baseline air pressure with the bike unweighted. It is good practice to lift the wheel off the ground when doing this to insure you get a truly unweighted measurement. Baseline Air Pressure can be reset from the settings page of the app, or by selecting the “Shock Travel” value on the home page.

It is also very important when making adjustments that you do so in a prescribed order. If you have recommendations for Baseline Pressure and Ramp they should always be done first (when applicable) as these are more or less your foundation to work from. Once you get those sorted you can then move down the list into the damping adjustments. We have a brief article regarding this on our website here.

The “Save” feature has been suggested quite a lot, and we intend to provide this in some way or another. The only thing to consider with this working is it means you’re going to have to start counting clicks and manually entering data. The Suggestions made by the app are made without ShockWiz knowing anything about where your damper settings are. Without tracking your damper setting the saved screen shots of Suggestions will be of little value once you start changing things.

The better thing to do, at least in the short term, is to focus on getting your suspension feeling as good as it can for the given terrain/area, to where both you and ShockWiz are happy. Once you get to that point then record all the settings you have and tuck that data away for when it’s needed. Repeat this process for any trails/areas/events in which you want a specific tune. This way you can apply those settings when they’re needed.

Also, ShockWiz stores everything device side, not app side. The app is merely a means of viewing the data, calibrating the device and selecting “New Session”. You can always connect back to the device after the ride to see the data if you prefer that over screen shots. It is not until you select “Start New Session” that the ride data will be deleted.

Alex@Quarq

Hello cyclelife,

Unfortunately ShockWiz does not work when connected to the IFP chamber, which is what you are describing. It has been discussed whether or not this could work, it has just not yet been explored.

Alex@Quarq

For some reason mine does not like to wake up, has anyone else had any issues?. I managed to start it up by removing and re-installing the battery?

This is something myself and my mates have been interested in for a while. Every shop bumps you off saying it’s ‘rider preference’.

I’m interested to hear how the device understands when the fork/shock is in firm for climbing, trail mode or DH mode? How does this effect the readings/results?

Rick Draper – Member
For some reason mine does not like to wake up, has anyone else had any issues?. I managed to start it up by removing and re-installing the battery?

Hey Rick,

Is the device mounted to a fork when it is difficult to wake? Or is it just as difficult on a rear shock?

Removing and installing the battery will often get a device to wake, but it certainly shouldn’t be a normal procedure. It can also cause the accelerometer to go into a weird state where it makes it even more difficult to wake, or it won’t wake at all.

So…here is what you should do.

Perform a reboot on ShockWiz by shorting the battery contacts of the device. The easiest way to do this is to install the battery into the battery tray upside down for a few seconds(positive side of battery facing the circuit board). Then remove and install correctly (positive side of battery facing away from the circuit board.

Then let it go to sleep (10 minutes of inactivity) and see if it now wakes easier.

If it does not, then you need to get a bit more aggressive. You should be able to just lift the wheel off the ground and give it a drop 3+ times. This is often sufficient.

If not, step it up a notch by lifting the wheel off the ground and this time giving it a bit of a slam.

Let me know if this helps.

-Alex@Quarq

To All,

Here is some overall useful information regarding how ShockWiz works, as it pertains to data storage, data transmission etc.

-Alex@Quarq

Data storage: All data collection and analysis is performed within the ShockWiz device itself; no computation occurs within the app. The app is only a means to display the collected information and for you, the user, to interact with the device to perform a task such as a calibration or to start a new session. Since the data is stored directly on the ShockWiz device it is not necessary to carry your phone during a ride. However, once you have the ShockWiz app open and connected to your device you can check the results at any time. This could be at the end of a segment, the end of a ride or in three weeks time, it doesn’t matter. Your data will be saved until a new session is started.

Using two devices: If you have a dual suspension bike, then it is beneficial, but not essential, to use two ShockWiz devices simultaneously. The process of using two devices is very similar to using one. You simply have to connect to each device individually to set them up and review the results. To switch between devices, simply tap the device name at the top of the app page and select your other device from the list. On some phones it may be beneficial to first disconnect from the current device before you connect to the other.
There is no communication between ShockWiz devices, only from each device to the phone/App. Tuning, however, does become much faster with two devices because you are capturing twice the data at once and there is no need to swap from the front to the rear. Typically, but not always, both the front and rear of a dual suspension bike should be set up and tuned with the same Tuning Style.

Tuning Styles
When it comes to tuning mountain bike suspension, there is a lot of variance in how people like to ride and the different styles of bikes for different terrain and disciplines. The Tuning Styles within the ShockWiz algorithms try to account for these variances.
Some people like to use every last millimetre of travel, while others like to have a large travel buffer in reserve for any unforseen obstacles. Additionally some riders like to have the bike be lively underneath them and be able to ‘pop’ off small mounds and kickers, where others like the wheels to be very planted to the ground and controlled.

There are quite a few things that change between Tuning Styles, but the following descriptions give an overview of the main differences.

Efficient – Focused purely on pedalling efficiency. Efficient will keep you higher in your travel and minimise pedal-induced suspension bob. Efficient produces the firmest suspension tune.

Balanced – The middle ground that provides an overall compromise between traction, suppleness and pedalling efficiency. Balanced serves as the default ShockWiz Tuning Style.

Playful – Similar to Balanced but with a more lively feel to give the bike ‘pop’.

Aggressive – Focused on a supple and active ride, caring very little about pedal-induced suspension bob. Aggressive makes sure you use all of your travel and produces the softest suspension tune.

Guys, you have all had this a few weeks now so I am interested in your feedback on the results before I go hire one?

What’s your initial thoughts on the results? Is this something that takes a day to set up or is it very much still ‘work in progress’?

Thanks.

Now available to the rabble, at £359rrp (group buys make sense)

So how have the backers gotten on with theirs? (as per legendof1973)

£360 quid!!! yikes thats expensive. Might be a good purchase for a bike shop but as an individual its not something i’d consider

Then again, i’m not sure i’d ever notice the difference even if i had one, i leave all my suspension settings well alone.