Worried about damaging my bike doing drops

CanyonJim

Hi, first post on here and hoping I can get a bit of advice.

Should I be concerned about the possibility of damaging my bike doing drop offs? I recently purchased a Canyon rear suspension bike(my first rear susser) which has around 150mm travel on the forks and rear.

Now the issue is I'm a fairly big lad. :oops: 6' 3 and a shade over 17st, although I'm trying to lose weight

My fear is that my new bike, although nice and bouncy, rides very low on the rear shock when I do even small drops(2 - 4 ft). I've already pumped the max 300PSI into it but it still seems dangerously close to the maximum amount of downward travel.

Is it going to damage the bike if the rear suspension reaches the bottom or will it just lock out and perform in the same way a hardtail would?

Sorry if this sounds utterly lame but the last thing I want to do is wreck a 2.5k bike by doing something it can't handle.

chez_m356

personally i think id be dropping a good 60 psi from the rear shock

Majski

Dont know the particular frame could you fit a coil shock? Not exactly a cheap option but i run a dhx5 on my enduro for a similar reason.

bails87

Nothing wrong with bottoming out on the big drops. If you were only using 50% of the shock stroke then what's the point in having 150mm of travel?!

Set the sag and ride it.

ilovedirt

What bails said, that travel is there for a reason. I could probably bottom my downhill bike out off a large kerb...

delcol

if you intend hitting big drops then i personally would run a coil shock..

i a feather weight but the first thing i did when i got my butcher was remove the fox rp23 and replace it with an elka stage 5 shock... personally i prefare the way a coil shock rides especially when riding harsh terrain like drops etc...

Woody80

Travel is supposed to be used, sure I've read that both forks and shock should bottom out once per ride if sag is set correctly? I'll get through my 160 if I'm riding properly. I've got a mate with an SC Superlight who has it set so hard he'll get through 50% travel at best, it'll be at the sacrifice of grip though.

EH_Rob

ilovedirt wrote:

What bails said, that travel is there for a reason.

Use all of it.

.blitz

Most people have way more travel in their arms and legs than their bike ever will, and if you're worried about giving your bike a hard time try to learn how to absorb impacts and landings instead of letting your bike do all the work

Having said that, my Rize was toast in a very short space of time after using it for DH duties. Frame, forks, wheels, suspension all wibbly wobbly like an over cooked noodle.

CanyonJim

bails87 wrote:

Nothing wrong with bottoming out on the big drops. If you were only using 50% of the shock stroke then what's the point in having 150mm of travel?!

Set the sag and ride it.

If bottoming out is fine then that makes me feel better. I got no problem with the amount of travel and understand its there for a reason. I just wanted to make sure that if you use it all something isn't going to break. :?

chez_m356

i still say 300 psi is a bit much, at 17st i would try around the 240 psi mark

Markmjh

i'm 18 stone in full riding kit with tools, backpack and full bladder and i run my RP3 at about 275psi. So i reckon you could drop down a touch from 300

CanyonJim

Is it dangerous to run at max PSI then?

To be honest its probably closer to around 280 PSI, as once I remove the valve a little air comes out. If I re-attached the valve the pressure gauge shows around 280.

cooldad

The initial air is coming out of the pump.
Once you reattach the pump air comes out to pressurise it and get a reading, so the pressure is what you put in originally, not when you reattach the pump.

bails87

CanyonJim wrote:

Is it dangerous to run at max PSI then?

No.

To be honest its probably closer to around 280 PSI, as once I remove the valve a little air comes out. If I re-attached the valve the pressure gauge shows around 280.

As cooldad says, unless there's a fault, the pressure shown on the pump guage before you unscrew is the pressure that's in the shock.

Bottoming out occasionaly isn't a problem, if you're falling through the travel from little bumps then there may be an issue.

YeehaaMcgee

Markmjh wrote:

i'm 18 stone in full riding kit with tools, backpack and full bladder and i run my RP3 at about 275psi. So i reckon you could drop down a touch from 300

And what bike do you have?

CanyonJim

This is the bike I have by the way: http://www.canyon.com/_uk/mountainbikes ... tml?b=2566

Not sure what my upgrade options would be for a coil rear shock on the back?

Majski

CanyonJim wrote:

This is the bike I have by the way: http://www.canyon.com/_uk/mountainbikes ... tml?b=2566

Not sure what my upgrade options would be for a coil rear shock on the back?

Its basically a case of will it fit? You need to find the eye to eye length and stroke of the shock first. You're best bet would be to speak to a suspension specialist of you want to change to coil shock. Also be aware that it may have a piggyback so would have to be mounted with that out the way too.

YeehaaMcgee

Just use the air shock, it'll be fine.

lostboysaint

Forget the figures that everyone else is trotting out and do as Bails said. Get your kit on, get on the bike, set the suspension sag correctly, THEN note the pressure that it needed to achieve, then fuck off out and ride it.

bennett_346

Until you feel it BANG when it bottoms out, then you won't be damaging a thing. And it sounds like your mate with the SC superlight has the wrong bike entirely.

chez_m356

lostboysaint wrote:

Forget the figures that everyone else is trotting out and do as Bails said. Get your kit on, get on the bike, set the suspension sag correctly, THEN note the pressure that it needed to achieve, then fark off out and ride it.

good advice mate, but some of us are just trying to help, i'm 17.5st, and i'm running 260psi ,not saying it will be right for him, but it gives him a reference to work from

YeehaaMcgee

chez_m356 wrote:

lostboysaint wrote:

Forget the figures that everyone else is trotting out and do as Bails said. Get your kit on, get on the bike, set the suspension sag correctly, THEN note the pressure that it needed to achieve, then fark off out and ride it.

good advice mate, but some of us are just trying to help, i'm 17.5st, and i'm running 260psi ,not saying it will be right for him, but it gives him a reference to work from

Unless you have the same bike, then no, it does not. I'm 15 stone, and also run around 260PSI, because I have a different bike.

jairaj

chez_m356 wrote:

lostboysaint wrote:

Forget the figures that everyone else is trotting out and do as Bails said. Get your kit on, get on the bike, set the suspension sag correctly, THEN note the pressure that it needed to achieve, then fark off out and ride it.

good advice mate, but some of us are just trying to help, i'm 17.5st, and i'm running 260psi ,not saying it will be right for him, but it gives him a reference to work from

not really. different bikes will have different shocks / tune / leverage ratios etc so can't really compare.

cooldad

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

chez_m356 wrote:

lostboysaint wrote:

Forget the figures that everyone else is trotting out and do as Bails said. Get your kit on, get on the bike, set the suspension sag correctly, THEN note the pressure that it needed to achieve, then fark off out and ride it.

good advice mate, but some of us are just trying to help, i'm 17.5st, and i'm running 260psi ,not saying it will be right for him, but it gives him a reference to work from

Unless you have the same bike, then no, it does not. I'm 15 stone, and also run around 260PSI, because I have a different bike.

I'm not a fat bastard like the guys above, only weigh a slim, svelte 14.5 stones, or +/- 3 rocks or 1 small boulder (WTF is a stone anyway - heard of kg's yet?)

I run mine about 150psi, because I have a different bike.

Thewaylander

chez_m356 wrote:

lostboysaint wrote:

Forget the figures that everyone else is trotting out and do as Bails said. Get your kit on, get on the bike, set the suspension sag correctly, THEN note the pressure that it needed to achieve, then fark off out and ride it.

good advice mate, but some of us are just trying to help, i'm 17.5st, and i'm running 260psi ,not saying it will be right for him, but it gives him a reference to work from

As everyoen esel has said... no it doesn't

chez_m356

Thewaylander wrote:

chez_m356 wrote:

lostboysaint wrote:

Forget the figures that everyone else is trotting out and do as Bails said. Get your kit on, get on the bike, set the suspension sag correctly, THEN note the pressure that it needed to achieve, then fark off out and ride it.

good advice mate, but some of us are just trying to help, i'm 17.5st, and i'm running 260psi ,not saying it will be right for him, but it gives him a reference to work from

As everyoen esel has said... no it doesn't

if any of you bothered to read my sig, you might have notice i have a Nerve AM, which just happens to have the same rear shock, so it just might have helped

chez_m356

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Unless you have the same bike, then no, it does not. I'm 15 stone, and also run around 260PSI, because I have a different bike.

fair enough maybe not the exact model , but close enough,and the same shock, if i had a completely different bike, i wouldn't have bothered, like i said, just trying to help, amazing how people that don't own a nerve know better..... last part not aimed at you yeehaa, just felt like a rant

chez_m356

cooldad wrote:

I'm not a fat bastard like the guys above, only weigh a slim, svelte 14.5 stones, or +/- 3 rocks or 1 small boulder (WTF is a stone anyway - heard of kg's yet?)

I run mine about 150psi, because I have a different bike.

Woody80

bennett_346 wrote:

it sounds like your mate with the SC superlight has the wrong bike entirely.

You're right, he should have bought a hardtail if he wants it set up that rigid!

rockmonkeysc

A coil shock is no better than air for drops. Chris Smith (freeride legend & Identiti pro rider) runs an air shock on his Identiti Mogul freeride bike & jumps that off cliffs without problems.
Coil does perform better for downhill though, if anything I would prefer an air shock for big drops. I run a coil shock on my Giant Reign X because most of my riding is downhill where a super plush coil shock is nice to have.
I'm 16 stone & have done 8' drops on my Reign many times, you will be fine. Not sure how the rear suspension works on the Canyon but most bikes I have rode stiffen up a lot towards the end of the stroke.