Harsh ride ?

RandG

Not long had my first fs mtb and unfortunately only managed to get out on it 4 or 5 times, but one thing I have noticed is, that it feels really harsh, like to firm ??

I set sag both front and rear approx 20-25 %

Could it be the case I have too much air in forks and shock or is there another possible reason ??

cooldad

What is it.

RandG

Boardman team fs, tho not sure how relevant that is ?

supersonic

ARe you bottoming the shocks out? If not try more sag.

RandG

supersonic wrote:

ARe you bottoming the shocks out? If not try more sag.

No I'm not, far from it.

supersonic

More sag is the answer then.

cooldad

RandG wrote:

Boardman team fs, tho not sure how relevant that is ?

A relatively short travel XC bike will feel harsher than massive travel AM bike.

YeehaaMcgee

You may have too much damping as well. What adjustments do you have, rebound? compression? lockout? propedal?

cooldad

Or you're just expecting too much.

RandG

cooldad wrote:

Or you're just expecting too much.

Quite possibly. It's my first fs bike, so probably not even sure what I should be expecting tbh.

As for damping,just front and rear rebound.....I think :?

YeehaaMcgee

RandG wrote:

As for damping,just front and rear rebound.....I think :?

That's fine, I was expecting so, just checking.
Maybe you have too much rebound damping dialled in. The reason I mention this is because almost all new MTB riders I've known have (at least) started off with too much rebound damping, which slows the action far too much.
Try speeding it up and see if you notice an improvement.

BigAirNig

I found the 20-25% sag guide didn't work on my bike [different to yours though] needed slightly more ....

The idea is to be able to use the full travel of your bike on occasions, otherwise why have as much travel available ? ..... so you should note the rubber rings on the fork/shock reach the full travel point on a suitable ride.

You don't want to be bottoming out all the time (add more air if that's happening) so you have to try different pressures and note what happens. Find a balance between a supple enough ride to use the travel you have, without lots of bottoming out. You could take a shock pump out with you to adjust it on a local route. Try 5 psi or 10 psi steps to see what difference you notice.

When you have that basically working, you can note if the suspension 'pings up' really fast over a dip/hit and feels like it's hitting you on the butt = too fast rebound .... or if the suspension compresses and takes too long to return up, feeling slow = add more rebound speed.

Try some options and failing that - have your local shop help you !

Another thing is that perhaps it's still loosening up due to being new and not having had much use yet - things tend to wear in a bit with some hours/miles. 4-5 rides 'may' be enough for some perhaps, but it may need a little longer - not sure with your kit.... just an idea.

Cheers
Nig

YeehaaMcgee

BigAirNig wrote:

I found the 20-25% sag guide didn't work on my bike [different to yours though] needed slightly more ....

The idea is to be able to use the full travel of your bike on occasions, otherwise why have as much travel available ? ..... so you should note the rubber rings on the fork/shock reach the full travel point on a suitable ride.

Some rear suss designs however, work optimally at a given sag, and may pedal like a blancmange shagging a waterbed if you have too much sag, and like a zebedee on a trampoline with too little.

pilch

BigAirNig wrote:

You could take a shock pump out with you to adjust it on a local route. Try 5 psi or 10 psi steps to see what difference you notice.

This ^^ I have a baseline setting that covers most things, but I sometimes alter the setup to suit the terrain, I tend to ignore the "sag" and psi recommendations and just adjust things until it feels 'right', tyre pressure can be a factor too... although as stated above you may find it improves as things bed in. The shock on my FS felt awful at first, stiff and unresponsive, it took a good few rides but now it feels dialled.