How much fork/shock travel are you using as a %age ?

weeksy59

And is it a good factor in deciding how your bike is setup?

Obviously i've seen on here that rider sag of 25% is desirable.

How much travel is the norm as a max % of your total in a daily trail ride ?

Looking at mine i'm using about 80-85% of max potential travel.

nicklouse

you should use all of it at least once in a ride/trail.

weeksy59

Cool. Will soften the buggers a little bit when i borrow my mates shock pump.

stubs

Best way to set your fork up find a section of trail you like that has a step or a big bump that works your forks hard and try different air pressures and damping settings small changes can make a big difference but only change one setting at a time.

I try out my forks on a set of 8 steps that are quite steep, I just let the bike roll down. If I can get to the bottom without feeling the forks bouncing or clonking then they are about right. Well set up suspension should pretty much just work without you noticing it working.

bradders1979

Hi Weeksy,
I'm from your area too, and use a similiar amount of travel etc.

You may find the fork too soft if you reduce pressure further. This is due to the fact that there are not many big drops etc around here. If you ever head up into the Chilterns though, you will find that you blow through that travel much more easily.

Don't be too concerned with using ALL travel on EVERY ride, this depends a great deal on the terrain you are riding on.

Brad

joshtp

i only use max travel when i casea big jump, or hit a really, really big step section, this is right, for me at least, as i dont mind only using 130mm of 140mm on a normal ride, i like to have a bit "in reserve" in case of a case...

.blitz

The Tora fork on my Rize has 130mm travel and though it's possible to set it up to use most of it, I find the changes in geometry do not inspire confidence and it's definitely well into boing-boing-boing territory on easier terrain

After a bit of faffing around, the fork feels better when it uses less travel and is a better match with the back end.

weeksy59

bradders1979 wrote:

Hi Weeksy,
I'm from your area too, and use a similiar amount of travel etc.

You may find the fork too soft if you reduce pressure further. This is due to the fact that there are not many big drops etc around here. If you ever head up into the Chilterns though, you will find that you blow through that travel much more easily.

Don't be too concerned with using ALL travel on EVERY ride, this depends a great deal on the terrain you are riding on.

Brad

These ammounts/figures were over at Swinley. No idea what i use on the local trails... i will know more about 2pm.

robertpb

I have 20% sag on a 140 travel fork and they bottom out every ride, unless I'm doing a recovery ride.

richg1979

a softer fork increases comfort, bump absorbsion.and front end grip a lot, if your not using all your travel why have it?

and if its boing boinging????? you do not have your rebound setup correctly.

Northwind

nicklouse wrote:

you should use all of it at least once in a ride/trail.

People say that all the time but it strikes me it's rubbish, not all rides and trails are the same. If I go up the hill and turn right, I won't use all my travel, if I turn left I will. If I soften it enough to use it all on the faster route, I'll blow through it constantly on the harder route.

HandjobDan

That's probably why we need to use sag to know what pressure to use in them, as the fork needs 70% or 75% in reserve to be comfortable on a daily basis or to suck up that massive drop.