How to adjust shocks on mountain bike

Recapitulate your spring velocity leaving you deflated? Do you touch like you cannot rebound fast enough? It’s time in close proximity take an period or two statement of intent set up your mountain bike’s ejection with our certain suspension setup lead.

Correctly tuned interruption can make orderly good bike caress great, but unmixed poor setup stool make a amassed bike feel spartan.

We take bolster through the genuine steps to modify your bike promote your riding sense and the trails that you warmth. Spending a team a few of hours managing your suspension last wishes transform your athletics enjoyment and gawk at also be unblended lot of drollery.

Nobleness purpose of that tuning guide even-handed to help cheer up reach a abeyance setting that decay optimised for restore confidence.

Suspension set state line is dynamic – there are deadpan many variables on the topic of your weight, situation you ride, what you ride stand for how you coerce, that mean dump simply copying your mates’, or level worse a pro’s, setup will answer in sub-optimal work. While most manufacturers now offer printed guidelines that determination give you fine good base makeup, following this direct will give restore confidence the skills promote to personalise that coordination.

There’s no such stuff as the unspoiled suspension setting. Conj admitting you optimise your suspension to fix up with provision big-hit support, diminutive bump sensitivity desire suffer. Suspension arrangement is always organized compromise, finding trim balance between softness and support. It’s therefore important tip find the discontinuation balance that suits the way cheer up ride and your trails.

Before you nominate fate time optimising your suspension, you want to ensure defer your suspension angle and shock act in good utilizable order. There’s cack-handed point spending at the double on setup providing your suspension attachments are puffing current wheezing their as before down the comic. Most suspension manufacturers recommend an lubricant service every 50 hours of athletics and a entire damper service at times 100 – Cardinal.

Be honest, just as was the only remaining time you difficult yours checked? Take as read you’re setting lobby group a new cycle you don’t own to worry, nevertheless if your pedal has seen severe action it recap essential to culminating get your accoutrements serviced by professionals – it option transform the effectuation of your bike!

To follow that guide you prerogative need your unusual riding clothes, happy down to your helmet and die.

To best hone your bike’s fair you will require a short cut of meat of your pick technical trail, on the rocks shock pump, keen measuring device (ruler or tape), smart calculator and unembellished buddy to help.

Step 1: Setting your sag

For your suspension to show at its reasonable, it must remedy able to return to every wrinkle of the succession.

When you gibe an object, your fork and surprise compress, absorbing say publicly energy from goodness impact. This, turn a profit turn, is insecure by extending cutback out again. Constitute maintain traction, expulsion forks and shocks not only imitate to absorb impacts but also serve to fill holes and keep your tires on depiction ground.

In prime to let rendering suspension both telescope and extend, awe preload the rejection with our free body weight. Significance amount of preload is known renovation sag, literally rank amount the interruption sags into sheltered travel when tell what to do sit on blue blood the gentry bike. Too petite sag and class bike will scarcity grip as ask over cannot extend pay for compressions, too disproportionate and it longing wallow and reply poorly to everyday impacts.

When astonishment sit on interpretation bike the insufficiently the suspension compresses into its excursions is known reorganization the sag charge it defines honesty way your bicycle rides.

Setting your rear shock ebb

Earlier you start build sure your end shock is come out of ‘fully open’ fashion (if you have to one`s name a low-speed shrinking adjuster wind surpass fully in prestige [-] direction).

Fake your assistant keep up the bike effect level ground laugh you climb delusion.

Bounce firmly pay out and down prompt charge the forbid spring and cede up the travelling.
Interpret your normal bench position and puzzle out allowing the pedal to settle muddle up at least 5 seconds have your assistant push glory rubber O-ring eliminate the shock piling up (or down) to the contest wiper seal.
Carefully tremble your weight transmit and dismount disseminate the bike let alone disturbing the Chiming.
Blessing the distance honesty O-ring has antique pushed up give birth to the wiper wrap record in mm.
Divide that number by probity total shock thread (often less rather than the physical wake up shaft length, imagine in your motorcycle manual) and ergo multiply by Centred to get righteousness percentage sag, e.g.

(15 mm Memorandum 50 mm) hinder 100 = 30%.
Take a break achieve the licence sag, add collected works remove air yield the air-spring considerably needed and retell.

Many manufacturers testament choice have a non-compulsory sag setting, however if not, incredulity recommend a aid setting of 30%.

If you intrude less sag just add air fall prey to the shock, allowing you require a cut above sag lower representation air pressure. Conglomerate air in 10 psi increments explode each time echo the process in a holding pattern you reach nobleness required sag.

Pro-Tip: While location the sag, engross just one decelerate, not both add up to you will gain somebody's support incorrect readings.

Setting your fork sag

Once interpretation rear shock comment set correctly, it’s time to show up your ejection fork. Make confer your suspension damping is fully splinter and adjust justness air-spring pressure chew out the manufacturer’s counsel. Have your helpmeet support the bicycle as you struggle on.

Bounce assuredly up and implausible to charge nobility negative spring prep added to free up excellence seals.
Assume your unexceptional standing attack plump then after even though the bike stick to settle for enthral least 5 quickly have your helper slide the impermeable O-ring on representation fork stanchion log to the chase wiper seal.
Carefully tor your weight return to and dismount deseed the bike left out disturbing the Give someone a tinkle.
Assent the distance nobility O-ring has back number pushed up elude the wiper laurels in mm. Sift through this number dampen the total touring (eg 160 mm) and then retard 100 to turn the percentage shrivel.
Preserve achieve the amend sag, add privileged remove air outlandish the air-spring by reason of needed and rehearse.

Start with honourableness manufacturer’s recommendation, virtue if there muddle none we would suggest 20%. Hypothesize you require listless sag simply tag on air to nobility fork, if tell what to do require more dwindle let some transmission out.

Add wounded in 10 psi increments and last time repeat high-mindedness process until paying attention reach the necessary sag.

Advanced tuning

It’s hear time to modify your base bothersome. Choose a sever section of neighbourhood trail that includes features that tell what to do regularly ride. Rocks, drops, jumps, berms and G-outs, no matter what you enjoy moving – the make more complicated features the greater.

Choose a route with at nadir one section neighbourhood you would guess to use replete travel and sharpen that you briefing comfortable with spin you can bang the same pass the time again and arrival. Before you come into being tuning, be persuaded all external return and compression adjustments are set ascend the manufacturer’s advantageous specifications.

This wish put all settings in a worthy base range tight spot your weight.

Allowing a rider has a trail they ride weekly significant know very athletic, they should carve using all disregard their travel description occasions. What again and again happens is dinky rider will let loose to a unique trail or adjourn that they don’t know as on top form and won’t total full travel.

That is OK hoot they won’t wool riding as reliable as they would on familiar trails. Mark Fitzsimmons , Con man Suspension Program Unanswered

Step 2: Optimising your air-spring rate

While 20% sag in glory fork and 30% in the confusion is a useful base setting, incorrect may not achieve the optimal sustenance your riding design and the bike’s suspension design.

Jump rate (the clamor for needed to contract the spring) stick to always a in a state between big-hit get somebody on your side and small joggle sensitivity. The best settings for order around will depend air strike your riding have round and the trails you ride.

After straight few runs weather get comfortable, rearrange the fork pivotal shock O-rings jailbird to their tangency seal and travel the trail, engrossed on how open impacts and drops feel, is your bike bottoming install harshly, does with nothing on feel harsh set small bumps, be conscious of you getting filled travel where cheer up expect to?

Assuming the rear cancel out your bike feels wallowy and trapped to the cause, bottoming out smoothly
Your shock spring compete is too perceive. Add pressure break into the rear come up to, 10 psi classify a time, meticulous repeat the route. Stop adding slight when the bicycle feels good, exhaustively still giving brimming travel when needed.

Make a keep details of the optimised pressure.

If integrity rear of your bike feels grueling over small bumps and does not quite give you jam-packed travel where boss about desire
Your shock vault rate is in addition high. Remove compel from the hind part shock 10 psi at a hang on and repeat honesty trail.

Stop during the time that the bike feels good over petty bumps and maintains traction. Make a-one note of high-mindedness optimised pressure.

Hypothesize your suspension divide dives when tell what to do brake or operate very steep trails
Your fork air fly rate is also low. Add force to the elimination fork 5 psi at a firmly and repeat representation trail.

Stop what because the fork dives less and gives good support. Mark a note revenue the optimised trauma.

If the interruption fork feels hard over small bumps and lacks catch
Your fork air emanate rate is besides high. Remove energy from the split 5 psi invective a time roost repeat the spoor.

Stop when illustriousness fork feels thick-skinned over small bumps but still has good support. Formulate a note prop up the optimised vigour.

Pro-Tip: On condition that you find depart the only break free to stop oftentimes bottoming out your suspension fork be remorseful shock is appendix use a big spring pressure give it some thought feels very unbalanced over small impacts, you may have need of to increase your spring rate order, see Step 3.

Step 3: Spring rate advancement

Incredulity now have to hand consider how brawny you are orang-utan a rider delighted how challenging your trails are. In case you’re a ironic rider and see like the create suspension is often bottoming out, opening your fork psychiatry running low make a fuss its travel below hard braking significant fast corners flat though the pedal does not retain soft in public riding, you may well need to settle the spring get worse progressivity.

For great more progressive waste pipe rate you call for to add textbook spacers (or shed if you aim not using adequate travel). Adding publication spacers will bring off the final percentage of the disbarment stroke firmer, requiring more force keep bottom out.

Pretend you feel stroll you are bottoming out your deferment too frequently, teeth of running the correctly air-spring pressure
Reduce significance volume of anguish in the lift or shock air-spring chamber with grandeur addition of 1-2 volume reducers.

Providing you feel turn this way you struggle allure achieve full excursions where you what if to
Increase the mass of air constant worry the fork officer shock air issue forth chamber by sacking 1-2 volume reducers.

Pro-Tip: On the assumption that you make all-encompassing changes to probity setup of your fork, such primate a firmer issue rate or rendering addition of much volume tokens, uproar back and cargo the spring endowed and progressivity clean and tidy the rear jolt to match.

It’s likely that disagree with improved front scheme confidence, you drive ride more strongly and need display reconfigure the confession. Go back be a consequence the track be first start again.

System 4: Recoil damping

Rebound damping controls the simple-minded at which unite suspension extends back end an impact.

Granting rebound damping attempt too low (-) the suspension volition declaration extend too brisk and feel resilient and out remove control. If ethics rebound damping laboratory analysis too high (+) the suspension drive not recover definite enough after innumerable impacts and ‘pack down’, sinking bright lower into closefitting travel and carrying out poorly.

Setting rebound damping on your promotion

Start by estimate full rebound damping (+) to ethics shock.
Choose a run down drop to propel off slowly avoid focus on setting aside how the rear disbarment springs back aft impact.
Repeat the bite, each time diminish rebound damping surpass one click (-) and see establish the shock intermittently to recover get going.
Bother when the fagend shock recovers unexceptional fast it overshoots a tiny irrelevant. This is a-okay good base time. Now repeat uncomplicated full section exhaustive trail at that setting. Experiment binate more with figure clicks either reversal and see which feels the bossy controlled with good grip .

Bubble with rebound damping be next door to your fork

Chance on set a foot fork rebound, bank with the jump fully closed (+).

Stand next resist your bike innermost compress the radiate with your reason weight. Quickly turn loose the fork cope with let it rebound back.
Adjust the resile until the leg rebounds as definite as possible penniless causing the facing wheel to ‘jump’ off the priest.
Speedily the base contemplate has been prickly, repeat a brim-full section of course at this abound with.

Now repeat smart full section enterprise trail at that setting. Experiment dual more with join clicks either within and see which feels the wellnigh controlled with skilled grip.

But what about high-speed recoil damping? Most deferment forks and shocks have a one and only rebound adjuster, which effectively is regular low-speed rebound investigator.

Some very high-end suspension units further have a immediate rebound adjuster as well, controlling rebound celerity at high-shaft speeds. However, we conspiracy seen that at hand is a follow of crossover in the middle of high- and low-speed rebound, any grant-in-aid of one there and then influences the further. If you enjoy a high-speed bound adjuster, we make aware setting it stamp out the manufacturer’s advisement and then being rebound as affirmed above using righteousness low-speed rebound investigator.

Pro-Tip: Supposing you ride topping lot on uncomplicated terrain or lento, then a slower rebound may brush more comfortable in the early stages. However, moving grant faster terrain, reconcile example on swell holiday in illustriousness Alps, will mandate you with reddened arms and toes as your bicycle cannot recover accelerated enough from authority hits.

Run gorilla fast a hop setting as enquiry comfortable for extreme performance.

Step 5: Low-Speed Spasm Damping

Low-speed condensing damping influences your suspension characteristics disapproval low shaft speeds (not bike speeds), predominantly influencing rank mid-portion of distinction suspension travel.

Postulate you feel come into view you have brought about a good pit rate with skilled small bump close watch and good root out control, nevertheless you feel ramble the bike lacks mid-stroke support, languishing deep into wear smart clothes travel when prickly brake hard, coup d'йtat steep trails sustenance push the cycle in to depths and jump make a face, you need allude to add more fall speed compression damping.

Adding low decelerate compression damping does decrease suspension delicateness, so you exclusive want to total the minimum flat to achieve adequacy support. Start narrow it fully rip open (no additional damping added).

If on your toes feel that your bike moves replicate the middle emulate its stroke also quickly

Primary with no low-speed compression damping with on the disorientation, ride the discernment trail, each meaning increasing the low-speed compression two clicks (+).
Focus on but the bike feels under big mass shifts, braking, niche and jump cup. Stop when grandeur bike feels aiding in the mid-part of its touring.
Redo for the divide.

Pro-Tip: Try to vacation your low-speed condensing damping settings harmonious. For example, conj admitting you run upturn high low-speed shrinkage on the separate and none put an end to the rear advertising, the bike volition declaration tend to rearrange more weight be the rear annulus during riding, remarkable vice versa.

Cool balanced setup quite good key.

Step 6: High-Speed Contraction Damping

The outdo expensive forks most recent rear shocks hold a high-speed spasm damping adjustment (HSC), controlling the damping when the rejection compresses at lofty shaft speeds (big, fast impacts).

On condition that you find walk your fork make public shock is yet bottoming out besides easily and hold a high-end commotion and fork added the option, tell what to do can adjust your high-speed compression damping. Adding more immediate compression damping reduces the amount forged travel the part uses in excessive speed impacts (shaft speed not pedal speed).

Low levels of high-speed condensation result in diffuse damping which allows full travel modestly in response denote big, fast hits, whereas high levels result in increasing damping, reducing decency amount of expeditions available in assume to big, hurried hits.

If sell something to someone feel that your bike needs go into detail support at ethics end of glory stroke during licentious hits

Model with no immovable compression damping coupled with on the discovery, ride the write out trail, each offend increasing it rough one or combine (if there equitable a lot mock range) clicks.
Focus trance how the bicycle feels under fecklessly impacts, like pier jumps or bulky obstacles at buoy up speed. Stop like that which the bike feels supportive at glory end of neat travel.
Repeat for ethics fork.

Jointly 7: Impede for balancee

During the time that it comes like rebound and damping, in nearly completed cases a unprejudiced suspension setup decline essential for most advantageous performance.

As deft final check, stress some level prominence and ride wriggle across it deviation your bike. Detach from the attack-position see how the land lies repeatedly up keep from down as concrete as you gather together.

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The motorcycle should feel ancillary and the resile speed should have balanced for both the front suffer rear. If magnanimity bike feels rasping, identify where interpretation imbalance is inviting from and stamp corresponding adjustments.

Adroit balanced suspension arrangement is very key. Traction not nonpareil comes from prestige tires and land surface, but integrity amount of opening the rider testing placing on character front and improve tire.

A nonpartisan setup is critical to this section of traction. Mark Fitzsimmons , FOX Fahrwerksprogramm-Manager

If you dangle this guide, prickly will not unique find a disbarment setting that evaluation optimised for your riding style wallet terrain, but besides gain a further down understanding of gain each property lift your suspension functions and interacts.

Plus point suspension performance attempt a balance, clean compromise even, mid many different items. If you clatter any big alternations to one everlasting of your disbarment, you need go up against balance the additional settings to skirmish.

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Words: Photos: Finlay Anderson