Suspension Settings...

Angus Young

Many seem to think that standover is not important. Most would agree that it's not crucial. Yet, despite this, we have a 'sticky' standover thread. On the other hand, everyone would agree that correctly setting up you suspension is crucial. So, why don't we have a 'sticky' Suspension Settings thread? Surely that would be of far more interest than a standover thread and of far more value.

Just as the standover thread, it should not be for discussion, but just to list your settings. Your bike, your fork and shock, your weight and your rebound etc settings and maybe a one word comment on how you think your setup is working with the current settings. This is not a definitive list, but you get the point. First line should probably be fork/shock makes so that the thread would be easy to scan for relevance to your own ride.

Seems nuts to have a sticky thread on something of little concern while not having one that might provide a steer on one of the most crucial areas of bike set-up.

Hello mods, are you out there?

Chunkers1980

All suspension is different and personal to you. Have a play and see what works for you is the general advise.

Angus Young

Chunkers1980 wrote:

All suspension is different and personal to you.

Yes, of course. But seeing other people's setup is still useful and a damn sight more useful than knowing what other people's standover is, something that is of no importance and that you can't change if it was.

nicklouse

other peoples setting have no relevance to any other persons.

weight. angle of suspension. suspension ratios. terrain all do.

just set your sag and go ride.

it is that simple.

standover height is not important but many people think it is and keep looking for clearance when they should not be.

Angus Young

Oh dear. The knee jerk negativity on this forum is sometimes depressing. And always predictable.

nicklouse wrote:

standover height is not important but many people think it is and keep looking for clearance when they should not be.

Yet we sill have a sticky for it.

nicklouse wrote:

other peoples setting have no relevance to any other persons.

Far be it for me to challenge someone who clearly knows more than I do, but if 10 Pike owners who own similar bikes to me and weigh the same as me turn out to be using 5 clicks of rebound, that may not be perfect for me, but it certainly gives me an interesting steer as a starting point.

lawman

Angus Young wrote:

Oh dear. The negativity on this forum is sometimes depressing. And always predictable.

In the 5 or 6 years since I joined this forum it's slowly gone to sh!t, but in the last 6 months it really has fallen off a cliff. I seem to spend more time on STW these days.

Chunkers1980

Angus Young wrote:

but if 10 Pike owners who own similar bikes to me and weigh the same as me turn out to be using 5 clicks of rebound, that may not be perfect for me, but it certainly gives me an interesting steer as a starting point.

There's no negativity. There are just too many variables. Which Pike - there are many over the years. Finding someone who weighs exactly the same and rides the same on the internet is virtually impossible. That's why I'd say try and see what's best. Go in the middle - then go to either end of the settings and see what happens for you. Then dial it in what you think is best best either way.

Angus Young

Chunkers1980 wrote:

Which Pike...

Whichever one they list.

Chunkers1980

OK - so then you need to find some one who weighs the same (kitted up). Rides the same stuff. Has the same amount of oil in there with the same amount of miles/use on the seals. What tyre and wheel setup have they got?

nicklouse

Angus Young wrote:

Oh dear. The knee jerk negativity on this forum is sometimes depressing. And always predictable.

nicklouse wrote:

standover height is not important but many people think it is and keep looking for clearance when they should not be.

Yet we sill have a sticky for it.

nicklouse wrote:

other peoples setting have no relevance to any other persons.

Far be it for me to challenge someone who clearly knows more than I do, but if 10 Pike owners who own similar bikes to me and weigh the same as me turn out to be using 5 clicks of rebound, that may not be perfect for me, but it certainly gives me an interesting steer as a starting point.

as like I said people think it is important and therefore end up buying the wrong bike.

suspension is simple. set your sag. and set rebound and compression to suite where you are riding.

if you want a starting point then you should just be able to lift the bike from compressed to in the air before the suspension move to fully extended. and this have very little to do with rider weight. and more to do with unsprung weight. compression if you are lucky to have it is more to do with how you ride.

if you are not bottoming out sag is not enough or compression too much (again depends on where you are riding) if your forks are packing down then too much rebound (again depends on your riding and where you are riding) the same settings for you are unlikely to be right for all places you ride.

on a nice smother man made trail you might find more compression and more rebound are nice but it will be too harsh if you go of the trail. you might reduce the compression and it feels better but then you hit a few drops and the rebound it too high and the fork packs down.

seriously. set your sag and go ride. you will soon find what feels right for where you are. the next ride at somewhere else you might find those settings are censored .

different head angles have differing effects on how springs (air or metal) work so riders of the same weight on different bikes can well need different pressures to get the same sag.
riders of the same weight on bikes with different body shapes will effect forks differently. heavier on top and the CofG will be more on the fork rather than over the cranks.

and then we get onto full suspension designs .

set your sag turn a dial and ride don't like the feel turn it again etc etc.

Angus Young

Chunkers1980 wrote:

OK - so then you need to find some one who weighs the same (kitted up). Rides the same stuff. Has the same amount of oil in there with the same amount of miles/use on the seals. What tyre and wheel setup have they got?

As I quite clearly stated, it's not intended as a collection of perfect presets. Just a starting point and a way to find out what others are doing with their suspension that might offer some illumination.

Never mind. I'm off to see what standover people have.

cooldad

That depends on the dangle of your obvious.

So I never have any standover.

Obviously.

nicklouse

Angus Young wrote:

Chunkers1980 wrote:

OK - so then you need to find some one who weighs the same (kitted up). Rides the same stuff. Has the same amount of oil in there with the same amount of miles/use on the seals. What tyre and wheel setup have they got?

As I quite clearly stated, it's not intended as a collection of perfect presets. Just a starting point and a way to find out what others are doing with their suspension that might offer some illumination.

Never mind. I'm off to see what standover people have.

and that depends on the suspension travel.

Angus Young

nicklouse wrote:

Angus Young wrote:

Chunkers1980 wrote:

OK - so then you need to find some one who weighs the same (kitted up). Rides the same stuff. Has the same amount of oil in there with the same amount of miles/use on the seals. What tyre and wheel setup have they got?

As I quite clearly stated, it's not intended as a collection of perfect presets. Just a starting point and a way to find out what others are doing with their suspension that might offer some illumination.

Never mind. I'm off to see what standover people have.

and that depends on the suspension travel.

Which would be one of the variables listed.

RockmonkeySC

It would be completely pointless, there are so many variables that no two people will have the same settings. I have even had two forks, the same make and model but they needed different settings because the damping was slightly different.
Apart from different rider weights, bikes, tyres, tyre pressures, fork/shock wear, frame bearing wear, riding styles etc there is also the fact that some people have no idea what they are doing (with settings & riding) and end up with some awful settings yet they might think it's fine.
The best way to find the perfect set up is to start in the middle and work from there. There are plenty of guides on finding the right set up. The Cane Creek website has a great set up guide which will work for any fork or shock with separate high & low speed compression & rebound.

philcubed

Great, a 'pointless thread argument thread', shaping up to beat the 'pointless argument thread'!
Seems there's two options
1) have this thread as a sticky. It's a pointless thread as all sides seem to agree, but so is the standover thread which is a sticky.
2) remove sticky status from the standover thread as it is pointless.
Happy to help. :twisted:

kajjal

philcubed wrote:

Great, a 'pointless thread argument thread', shaping up to beat the 'pointless argument thread'!
Seems there's two options
1) have this thread as a sticky. It's a pointless thread as all sides seem to agree, but so is the standover thread which is a sticky.
2) remove sticky status from the standover thread as it is pointless.
Happy to help. :twisted:

Seems to be a few of those threads today, people must have the same extreme man flu I have. The last time I was this ill I was hallucinating from severe food poisoning.

A thread explaining what the different suspension adjustments do may help people but it is really just personal preference. I run my suspension harder than most along with tyres as it feels right to me.

Herdwick

nicklouse wrote:

as like I said people think it is important and therefore end up buying the wrong bike.

Well, if you drag your leg over it's obvious that SH is important, but this it's a thing we all carry since childhood, no special write ups and threads should be needed.

Antm81

Kajjal wrote:

A thread explaining what the different suspension adjustments do may help people but it is really just personal preference. I run my suspension harder than most along with tyres as it feels right to me.

I think that would be better, a simple thread explaining what effect each adjustment should have, making it easier for newer riders to set their suspension up how they like. That's unless it already exists because I haven't checked.

batmo

The attitude to standover is beginning to bug me now. It doesn't seem compatible to me to be saying "suspension settings are down to the individual" in one breath and "standover doesn't matter, those who think it does are buying the wrong bikes" in the next.

If you think standover is irrelevant, I'm guessing your waist is close to the mid-point between your shoulders and your feet. If, like me, your torso was propotionally longer than your legs, you might find standover more important. Getting a frame with a longer reach but where I could dismount without a 45°+ list meant standover was a consideration and without a crystal ball or magic mirror, advice from contributors on here helped to suggest suitable options.

I think if the topic of a sticky thread seems pointless to you, the best advice is: don't read that thread.

Angus Young

Batmo wrote:

I think if the topic of a sticky thread seems pointless to you, the best advice is: don't read that thread.

Exactly. If people think it's pointless there are plenty of other threads for them to read. No-one would be forced to contribute.

nicklouse

cyd190468 wrote:

Standover is really important. You never know when you might need to cancan over a jump to impress someone.

Been there done that just as I was unclipping and diving into a ditch on the old Swedish DH World champs track in Åre.had no Standover on that bike either and it was maybe a tad small.

Angus Young

I have so much standover on the Process that I usually do myself some damage whenever I ride a regular bike and forget how close my Love Spuds are to the danger zone.

paul.skibum

My view is that the majority of internet people know d1ck all about setting up their suspension (I know just enough to be a danger to myself) so I don't want some ar5e clown making me second guess my own half thought out settings.

However I do believe that some kind of standover clearance is important to ensuring my sexy baritone remains exactly that.

kajjal

In the 1990's my bike was a slightly smaller frame so I didn't repeat the crashing into the top tube experience. Now frames tend to slope more which is much better.

RockmonkeySC

My plums gently brush my top tube. It has never caused me any problems at all.

Angus Young

RockmonkeySC wrote:

My plums gently brush my top tube. It has never caused me any problems at all.

You should wear shorts, there may be ladies and children about. Cody was right about you.

RockmonkeySC

I do it to keep Cody away