Rear shock lock

Connorscotland

Is this essential?

I had a go of a bike and got a lot of bob, I'm a big ish lad but the lad in the shop advised the shock didn't have much air in it, he said with more air and "set up" It would be minimal.

Is this true?

Thanks

The Rookie

Depends on the shock, the rear suspension type (swing arm, VPP, Horst link etc) and intended use.....on some bikes then yes he's right, others no. Give us a link to the bike you are looking at and we can have a guess.

Bear in mind that with MTB tyres on road you can get a reasonable amount of bob on a hardtail if you pedal at the wrong (right?) frequency.

cooldad

Connorscotland wrote:

Is this essential?

I had a go of a bike and got a lot of bob, I'm a big ish lad but the lad in the shop advised the shock didn't have much air in it, he said with more air and "set up" It would be minimal.

Is this true?

Thanks

If I was a 'lad in the shop' trying to sell a bike I would have added a bit of air so you could see. It's not exactly a hard job.

Connorscotland

Had a go of a Giant Stance 2015 and put air in the suspension to suit my weight and it was nearly not noticeable.

The bike arrives on Friday

The Rookie

The Monarch R shock has no pedal platform, however as the Giant suspension is fairly well designed it's not to bob prone, the only adjustment you have (other than the air spring pressure) is rebound on the damper, more rebound will reduce bob but don't go so far as to adversely effect the rest of the ride.

Enjoy the bike, nice choice.

rockmonkeysc

The Monarch R does have pedal platform, it's permanently on. Same as the Fox Float R.
They just use a fixed low speed compression damper.

ben@31

In my case depends on how your peddling.... When sat down and spinning way with a high cadence theres no movement in the sus. But stand up to pedal out of the saddle and both the front and back are bobbing like a inflatable rubber dingy in Faeroes.

rockmonkeysc

If your suspension bobs that badly when you climb out of the saddle either there's something wrong with it or you need to learn to pedal properly rather than just jumping from one crank to the other.
My shock doesn't have a lock, it closes the low speed compression and low speed rebound dampers which allows the shock to continue working but with virtually no pedal bob even when sprinting up hill out of the saddle.

ben@31

RockmonkeySC wrote:

If your suspension bobs that badly when you climb out of the saddle either there's something wrong with it or you need to learn to pedal properly rather than just jumping from one crank to the other.
My shock doesn't have a lock, it closes the low speed compression and low speed rebound dampers which allows the shock to continue working but with virtually no pedal bob even when sprinting up hill out of the saddle.

Thanks, it's something I'll look into. Maybe increase the air pressure in the rear shock ???

cooldad

If the sag is right, and the shock works, randomly increasing pressure isn't a solution.

What bike is it?

rockmonkeysc

You need the right compression settings and riding techniques. Adding air will not work.