Rear shock for camber

jsync

Hi,

I have recently bought a 2nd hand camber elite 2011 which has a rockshox ario rl shock on it. I'd like to upgrade it as it isn't as plush as i'd like but am a little confused at which ones to look at. I know the dimensions but i am slightly confused when it comes to the tune of the shock. Do i need a specific tune for the type of linkage? In he case of fox is the compression tune active all of the time or only when pro pedal is engaged? Has anyone upgraded theirs?

Thanks

YeehaaMcgee

Compression tune?
Er, I think you may have misunderstood - or overthought things.
Basically, a rear shock is a spring, either air or coil.
To control to motion of the spring, it has a damper.
The damper has two main features, compression damping and rebound damping.

Compression damping controls how fast the shock can be squashed. Without any damping, then almost any impact would cause the bike to bottom out.

Rebound damping controls how fast the shock returns to it's resting state after being squished.

On top of that, some shocks have lockout, which literally locks the rear shock action, effectively turning it into a hardtail bike.
Other shocks have something such as pro-pedal, which aims to control the effects of pedalling on the shock - whilst not actually locking it out.

if you buy a shock from the likes of TFTuned, they will set up the spring rate for your bike, and your weight - and they may also set compression, rebound, and propedal damping to suit your riding style, and the spring rate.
However, damping speed, both compression and rebound is often set to the rider's taste.
And, very few rear shocks have easily-adjustable compression damping, but almost all of them have easily adjusted rebound damping.

jsync

Thanks for taking the time to reply. It wouldn't be the first time I over thought things / got confused.

The thing I'm on with is referenced here :

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/compressionrebound-tune-for-rp23-shock-what-does-it-mean

YeehaaMcgee

Hmm - they seem to be discussing the pre-set (not rider changeable) damping characteristics.
Some bikes are designed with a particular damping characteristic in mind, and people often sell these on ebay.
If you buy your shock from TFTuned, they'll ask yo ua few questions about your riding, your weight, and your bike, and sort it for you.

cooldad

There is a little sticker on Fox shocks that show the factory tune - 3 little lines of different lengths and one is highlighted.