| Interesting thoughts Shazaam...................
Over the last couple of years, i've tried to understand the basics. I'm pretty comfortable with this now. After setting up the sag for a customer, and adjusting the damping somewhere close, I suggest it's time to take it to the experts.
The biggest thing i notice is that often, "a little knowledge gets pretty dangerous"......................
The main problem i find is with peoples understanding of preload. I see quite a few bikes with the preload turned right up in the belief that it makes the suspension firmer, or it's backed right off to make it softer. No attention is paid to the damping settings. Just whack the preload up or turn it all the way out.
The other is the adjustment of the compression damping. More often than not, it's set so low that with the aid of a zip tie, it's clearly visible the suspension is bottoming out.
I have a simple setup routine that i was told by one of the experts I use for the difficult bits like revalves etc.
Set the preload up so, under the bikes own weight, you get about 10-15mm sag front and rear.
With the rider on the bike, it wants to be 30mm-50mm at the rear and about 40mm at the front.
Adjust the front compression damping so that after a quick ride with some heavy braking, the zip tie is about 10mm-15mm from the bottom of the fork leg.
Adjust the rear so it "feels" the same as the front whilst bouncing the front and rear of the bike.
The rebound damping needs to be set so the suspension recovers fairly quickly, but without bouncing back. Just nicely damped. Again, get the front and rear feeling the same.
That's as far as i go. It's a starting point, but after that, i leave it to the experts.
If it's a struggle to get both sag measurements, within the parameters mentioned, then the spring rates are probably wrong for the rider's weight.
ie, if you get the 10mm under the bikes weight alone, but get 60mm sag on the rear, then the spring is too soft for the rider. you can try and tweak it out, but keep an eye on the two measurements.
The other thing i've learnt, is that if you are going to play with the suspension, note down all the stock settings, check that's what they are set to and then adjust one thing at a time. If it get worse, put it back and try something else. Stock suspension is also pretty coarse in it's adjustment. One click won't make any noticable difference. try three and feel what happens. It'll help you understand what happens and will help you to make a more educated guess at what to do next.................
i was also told that 80% of percieved problems with the front end are actually caused by the rear........ some off the CSS teachings go along with this I think????
It can get as complicated as you want to make it I guess. But the golden rule is, if you don't think you understand what's going off, or what you do doesn't seem o be working, leave it alone and take the "expert" route and pay someone to sort it for you. It'll hurt if yo get it wrong.  |