I’ve hidden hard tails for decades. I’ve recently strayed from my purist roots and bought an e-mtb, a Vitus E-Sommet 170mm full sus. I’m loving it but with the shock at maximum pressure and max rebound and I’m still pushing through all the rear travel with ease. I don’t feel it bottom out but I’d like a bit more progression/ pop. The shock is a rockshox super delux select R. I weigh 105kg and ride pretty aggressively.

So my question is do I:
– use some bottomless token (I assume there are none in there from factory?)
– do I swap shocks, maybe to a coil shock?
– do I run the existing shock above the max reccomended pressure?!

Any guidance welcome!

The first one. A coil will bottom out more easily and be less poppy.

What year model did you get.. Rode a mates one from a few years ago and I’m considerably heavier than you and it was fine so sounds like something isn’t quite right there

I’d say the shock isn’t right. I’ve been as heavy as you are, granted not on an E-bike, but what’s the extra weight 10 kg? The only problem I’ve had with one airshock was the damper struggled to slow things down with high airspring pressure.

Look inside the shock to see if there are any tokens. Either way add some in there, cheapest and easiest way to help with bigger riders as a starting point.

Try a different shock pump, the gauges often go off on them.

Also, you need to add compression damping, not rebound, to reduce the travel used. Stickan oring on the shock body to find out how much you’re actually using

What do you mean ‘max rebound’? As in really slow? Might be causing it to pack down?

you need to add compression damping, not rebound, to reduce the travel used.

What do you mean ‘max rebound’? As in really slow? Might be causing it to pack down?

Yes, cranking up the rebound won’t stop it bottoming, it’ll probably make it worse. Adding a token and some compression damping would be an obvious place to start if it’s blowing through its travel.

What Hols said.. too much rebound damping won’t let it extend quick enough before the next hit and it packs down. Compression damping is what you need.

Are you sure you’re just not used to how a 170mm bike feels after a Hardtail for so long?

I’m 96kg and owned the older sommet and felt the shock was fine. Never even used the lockout or pedal modes.

reduce the rebound damping (ie make it return faster) – that will help improve the poppy feeling and if it was packing down before it will keep it higher in its travel.

If after reducing rebound damping, it is still blowing through all the travel on bigger hits, try adding some volume spacers, and/or increase the compression damping.

Either you are much heavier than you’re admitting or the shock is broken

But it most certainly has nothing to do with it being an ebike

My ongoing objection to the use of ‘rebound’ vs ‘rebound damping’

As above, lots of rebound damping could cause bottom out over successive hits. And it is compression damping that may help your situation, if your shock allows it to be adjusted.

Is ‘blowing through its travel’ just a turn of phrase or is it bottoming out on a single hit?

If all the above is sorted then either the shock is f-Ed or your pump is, and you aren’t at max pressure at all. Have you got a friend you can borrow a pump from?
What’s the static sag of the shock with your weight on it, that might give some indication.

increase the compression damping.

It’s the R model so rebound adjust only, is that correct OP?

First stop is stick some (a lot) of spacers in the shock to add bottom out resistance.

If that’s not adequate, you could either get the shock tuned by a specialist so it has more compression damping, or you could upgrade to a more adjustable shock (air or coil).

I’d suggest the Cane Creek Kitsuma shocks, if they’d fit the frame in terms of clearance, as they have a very damped feel and tend to be a bit more affordable than the other high-end options like Ohlins, EXT or Fox.

Or the full monty option could be an Ohlins coil shock with a progressive spring, they are even more damped and the progressive spring adds loads of support.

The first one. A coil will bottom out more easily and be less poppy.

this simply is not true – you will need the right spring weight though which may be not right first go so budget for a few springs. a coil shock is just more supple initially and offers better mid stroke support as it has a more linear compression curve. for ‘poppy’ you need the right spring weight (air or coil) and right shock tune.

For me i had a deluxe R and it blew through travel easily. I ride fairly hard on an eeb. I filled it full of spacers and run less sag than recommended. Typically 20% when stood. it helped but ultimately you will likely need some compression damping if you are more chunky than average.

i’ve literally just upgraded to a fox with the 3 position switch and i just leave it in the trail setting all of the time to control compression. i do need some spacers in this shock too and when i get it serviced i’ll up teh compression tune as well as i still feel like i need a bit more support. it is WAAAY better than the feel of teh deluxe R and more ‘poppy’ for bummyhops as its got some compression damping to puch against.

I’m your weight, and had to pump the shock up to above 300psi but the shock is rated upto 350psi

If you don’t have adjustable compression damping I think you have 2 options with that shock:

Chuck in some bottomless tokens. They don’t really help mid range pop though – just help towards the end of the travel

Get the shock tuned internally with a firmer compression tune.

I would have said a megneg is a good option as it gives a firmer mid range but you need to run more pressure to stop it sagging too much. If you’re at max pressure then that isn’t an option.

Edit – with 170mm travel on a heavy bike you probably aren’t going to get a lot of pop. More a steamroller. The e-escarpe would probably have been a better option in the Vitus range if you wanted that.

Chuck in some bottomless tokens. They don’t really help mid range pop though – just help towards the end of the travel

Get the shock tuned internally with a firmer compression tune.

you can also just chuck some thicker oil in it, which has the effect of putting a firmer compression (and rebound) tune in at a much lower cost 🙂

You can tune the damping if you open it up too, rockshox publish the shim setups they reccomend
https://www.sram.com/globalassets/document-hierarchy/tuning-manuals/rockshox-rear-shock-piston-tuning-guide.pdf

you can also just chuck some thicker oil in it, which has the effect of putting a firmer compression (and rebound) tune in at a much lower cost

How are you getting that in without a faff of a full damper service (which isn’t a DIY job)?

How are you getting that in without a faff of a full damper service (which isn’t a DIY job)?

if its not a nitrogen charged shock (I don’t know this one at all) then its not hard to diy service a damper.

edit: service instructions here https://www.sram.com/globalassets/document-hierarchy/service-manuals/rockshox/rear-suspension/2018-2022-super-deluxe-service-manual-english.pdf

It’s big and very squishy, and its rear end can feel a little vague which is something you don’t really want when riding anything but big and technical trails. If you’re one who prefers leaping over roots, fancy jibs, and airtime, you’ll have to put the effort in

Taken from a recent review of the bike, maybe there’s nothing wrong with the shock

Thanks all – some very useful stuff there! To clarify a few points:
– i run it with fastest rebound settings
– at max pressure it is sagging slightly more than 30% (I’m honestly 105kg!)
– i dont feel it bottom out but I’m using max travel with fairly tame riding

I will try a different shock pump. I’m pretty sure there’s no token in there at present so will some. I understand this volume reduction will make it more progressive but am i right in thinking tokens won’t affect sag?

Thanks again

am i right in thinking tokens won’t affect sag?

They shouldn’t affect it significantly.

– at max pressure it is sagging slightly more than 30% (I’m honestly 105kg!)

If it’s under warranty get it checked (after you have tried a different shock pump).

Ride a HT!

No shock issues to worry about!👍

in all honestly the shock is a bit crap. You would be best to get rid. What you can do at the moment is put a token/band in the negative chamber. This will help with the pressure.