Shock pressure ?

RandG

Not sure if this is posted in the right area but here goes. Tomorrow I pick up my first fs mtb, and tbh really have no idea as to what to expect from it, though I do assume that the rear shock should be set to my weight (correct ?) and at just under 15 stone, how do I know what pressure should be in the shock to suit ??

nicklouse

whatever is needed to give the sag you want.. for get any figures as they are crap. also your weight is only a small part of the equation.
see the faqs

oxocube1

Take a quick look at this video:

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/artic ... ion-34289/

Not the best vid ever but it gives you the basics of how to set the rear shock up. It's also down to preference though, for instance I prefer my shock to be fairly bouncy compared to a lot of people i know. Some people swear by the '20% sag rule' whilst others prefer a different setup.

cooldad

Not true at all. Depends on the bike and type of riding - you would have a larger % sag on a long travel DH bike than a short travel XC bike.

YeehaaMcgee

And some bike suspension designs are optimised around a certain sag range so they don't bounce like a zebedee when pedalling.

cooldad

Zebedee? Bloody hell that's a blast from the very distant past.

One 80

ive been trying to set the pressure on front fork of boardman comp for 20% sag but its a nightmare. what advice do i take. iv read measure sag "seated" or you must "stand up". both give different sags and to be honest if i done it sitting down id prob need 20 psi to get the right sag. im very very new to this as iv never had air fork so im probably being dumb, and sorry for jacking thread but it seemed better than starting new one.

nicklouse

In the normal riding position. (the attack position) so when you are out of the saddle riding.

cooldad

Easier with someone to help you, but if not slide the band to the bottom of the stanchion, get on very gently, get off very gently, check where the band is, add/remove air, repeat ad infinitum as required.
You need to do it standing up in the 'attack' position.

YeehaaMcgee

One 80 wrote:

iv read measure sag "seated" or you must "stand up".

The reason for the two methods is because different bikes tend to be ridden predominantly one way or the other.
The idea is, since an XC machine will mostly be ridden seated, then you measure the sag whilst seated.
But, on a trail/AM bike, you'll be standing on the pedals in the "attack" position for most of the time, so you measure the sag in that position.

One 80

thanks for advice appreciate it