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Interesting thread!
I have been tinkering with a DIY DAQ setup in the winter. Summer was a bit busy so I didn't get too much time on it or worked a ton on it.
I have been doing a python programm for it as well to read the data.
As mentioned before I start looking at the dynamic Sag and travel distribution first to see if the Spring/Air is setup correctly and then work my way down to the compression/rebound settings.
Anyone have cool or custom 3D printed mounts they want to share? I’ve seen some really cool shock mounts by some race team mechanics.
MI stuffs great if you have a coil shock mounting it up for air shocks is a proper pain. I wish there was like a clamp that would screw on to airshocks you could just mount the rod to and snap on and off like the coil mount.
They have the round curved sticky mounts, you can put the post on it, then snap on and off.
This has post mount on the rear location. I put some tape and a zip tie around it, looks messy because we were rushing. Now I use rubber bands and never had a problem.
They have mounts that suit air shocks, but this isn’t really an MI - specific issue, mounting pots to different bikes and shocks is always a massive pain unless you have access to a 3D printer or lathe/mill
I ordered the BYB kit last week and have been told it will be sent out this week so I should be able to provide some info soon. I have not used the other products listed here but this is the type of thing I love to do. I have no illusions about somehow becoming a much better rider and that isn't my goal. I just love to deep dive on stuff like this to see how much I can optimize. Fun for me and seemingly for the others on this thread but I have other friends that are very talented that would view this as torture.
I have 8 bikes to run this on and will report out my findings as I get them, good or bad.
Awesome to hear!
I’ve had people say to me a few times, “I’m not fast enough to use data or I’m not pro”, But I when I switched my focus over to getting proper bike set up, whether it be with data or just general bar height/reach, ect, the speed came naturally. I used to go out and try and get PR Strava segments every run, every day. But now, with a better bike, I can ride below the limit and still faster than what I used to be.
I have received it and set it up last night. Initial run will be either today or tomorrow. Should have time to get real data on Sunday as well. Into the rabbit hole...
This is just the beginning! Hahhaa!
Finally had some time to make a 3D printed top mount. I also drilled and tapped the lower shock bolt. Now I can add or remove the rear sensor without touching the shock.
Have a better photo of your 3D printed mount? how to you put in a female thread for the bolt?
I take mount photo tomorrow. But when I did my final print, I used 80% fill then just drill and tapped it like the shock bolt.
When mounting to shock, I’ll put double sided tape and a zip tie. Feels really solid and clean.
Heres a photo of my first try then I shaved it down.
Here’s my 3 versions. Farthest is 1st.
Did 12 miles with the BYB attached to my Switchblade today. I originally had it on my Mach 4SL but I feel like that one is pretty dialed in while I felt that the Switchblade needed to be checked as I haven't ridden it much lately and I'm back to my normal weight (185lbs) after putting weight on after an injury and not being able to ride as much. To say that the BYB system had a low opinion of my suspension setup with be a massive understatement.
Now, I suspect that some of this is because the Switchblade has LiveValve on it and I could move to a different setting or adjust the Sport mode setting and it would help but, yeah, pretty far off per the recommendations.
I'll try to adjust and hit some of the same trails later this week and report back but pretty fun so far.
Note that this is one of 8 runs (started and stopped whenever I hit a new trail) I recorded today and I haven't gone through them all yet so it might vary a bit as the first 6 miles were 764' uphill and ones like this one were mostly downhill.
Thanks!, guess I finally have an excuse to buy a 3D printer 😂
Also, taking a look at my data I'm guessing my brake sensors were too close and picking up braking when there was none. Those seem tricky to get exactly right because I tested it before going out and all was good but I must have hit enough bumps to move them. Time to apply some duct tape and keep the magnets in place.
Edit-Yep, went and looked at my first recorded run and you can see where it happens. OK, easy fix there.
Looks tidy! I've been needing to make up some similar mounts, ideally a generic base design that can easily be tweaked for different shocks. If they work good I might share them here so people can try it out and maybe improve them! I've got a bunch of mounts I 3d printed years ago but I think they could be a lot better.
My only advice would be to limit how far they stick out - if the mount can flap too much it will severely impact the accuracy of data, especially high frequency motion. so if its 3d printed I would ideally have it tall enough for the pot to mount directly. Drilling & threading 3d prints works well but another nice option is buying some brass threaded inserts and push them into a pre-drilled hole with a soldering iron to melt the plastic. Makes for a very strong & rigid connection.
I like the new transceiver case too! Also got plans to print different cases which would tidy up mounting to certain frames & shocks.
Heres my interpretation of mounting to the same bike, if it lokos a little crooked it wasn't 100% tightened up yet. I found p-clamps on Ali-express in 10 & 13mm diameters which have turned out to be great for mounting sensors as they have keep them rigid and guided, and so far work really well. I also finally shortened the wires on this sensor after 5 years of massive loops around the shock
Sick those P clamps are clean!
I can send you my .STL file if anyone wants, it’s nothing special but a good base design. I’m just learning how to design and print, it’s really fun when there’s the time to work on it and focus!
Those P clamps look tidy!
I think with coil shocks really the best thing to do is to have some plates you can just put under the spring. I printed some and will likey get some made out of some sheet metal as it should be a bit more sturdy. I think Air shocks are a bigger problem. One side can easily be put on the reservoir with a spacer and zip ties but the second one is quite hard.
On another note I added a Smashpot to my fork yesterday und now need to find a way to attach the potentiometer to the fork again :D Ideas are more then welcome.
The plates are nice for coil but I wanted a way to install and remove without having to pull the shock and spring off. I also get annoyed when trying to adjust preload and everything gets twisted.
not the best photo of this fork mount, but this is the MI enduro fork sensor and mounted with the DH fork mount. I cut the L bracket and drilled a hole. I didn’t like taking off the sensor when adjusting air pressure then calibrating each time. Now I just use some 3M tape and rubber band. This works on DH forks also.
Yeah the spring seats aren't really my preferred choice for those same reasons, I tried several ways without it but it just wasn't going to work with what I had available. They don't clear at the bottom in this frame either, but for now the top one is just living on that bike while we work through some testing, and try not to change out springs too much
The DH mount on the crown looks tidy - I had trouble with those a few years ago as the 36's & lyriks of the time were either rounded or tapered and didn't sit flat too easily but that looks like its sitting well. I might modify that design and try optimise it a bit better because it was otherwise a fairly clean way to install
Yeah that's a real problem. Although I want to try my system on several bikes of friends and family. At least for those with a coil shock it is the easiest without modifications.
That DH Mount looks nice! I will have a try using something similar!
Sorry you have had issues with your rear sensor. We are happy to take a look at it. Send me an email at rob@motioninstruments.com and I'll send you a shipping label so we can have a look at it. Our current system is potentiometer based which wear out eventually and need to be replaced. We've also had issues with the circuit board battery connector which we'll replace at no cost.
Thanks, Rob
Thanks Rob! I'll reach out to this email and go over everything, Massive props for reaching out on Vital!
I will say, the MI stuff is great.
It can always be better and we support the product when it isn't :-) Cheers!
I've had a few runs with the BYB Tech setup attached and I'm getting closer but I'm still not there. One thing that is striking is how far off I was to start with based on the info I collected. All of my settings were very close to the manufacturer recommendations and everything I've ever read or seen so it has really taken me a bit out of my comfort level to make this much change but I will say that the bike is really feeling awesome. I still haven't quite gotten the software to tell me that the settings are right though and was hoping that someone on this thread might tell me if I'm doing the right thing. The three screenshots below show a run from today. I went to this trail to hit some technical features because I'm spending a lot of time working on my tech climbing right now. The gaps where I wasn't moving represent areas that I needed to walk to make sure I had the line before I tried it as I've only ridden this particular trail in this direction a few times but always with friends who have no business doing the alternate hard lines.
I believe, in the second picture below, that the green and gray should overlap almost completely for my bike to be "balanced". This is much closer than my first couple of outings. I removed ~35psi from my shock and that is now in a good place. I've also removed ~20psi from my fork but it is still showing red per the autotune. Also, I don't think I have 3 more clicks on rebound to give as both the shock and fork are nearly completely open there (I might have 3 on each but no more than that).
Does this make sense to anyone? Is there something else I should be looking at to determine if I have some other issue?
Thanks in advance for any provided.
That all looks pretty weird to me - can you let us know your weight and the actual pressures in the fork and shock? Also a screenshot of the velocity histograms or traces, ideally both the shock & rear wheel if you can.
Where do the o-rings end up at each end? It seems as though you're only getting 50% of travel so do the o-rings reflect that?
I haven't used the BYB auto tune but in my opinion I would always take them with a grain of salt - if its telling you to continually wind the rebound faster then its more likely a calibration or set up error with the sensors than a suspension issue
Thanks. Very helpful. I suspected that might be an issue but it has moved as I've moved the numbers so at least it is consistent. I was very surprised that I wasn't hitting more than 50% of the travel as well as at least one drop today was very significant and should have resulted in more than that.
Weight fully kitted is 195lbs
Fork is set to 90
Shock is set to 206
I'll reset the o rings on my next run to see what they actually reflect.
This is Fox LiveValve on my Pivot Switchblade. I had originally set the shock to 240psi because the sag indicator on the shock that Pivot shows was perfectly aligned at that value. I had messed with the fork a bit more but had it set to 109psi. I was using Sport mode on LiveValve but switched to comfort today in order to see if I could get the compression values to align. They did so that works. I felt like I was being shot out of a cannon on a couple of doubles today and my GPS indicated one jump of 16' and another of 12' despite me not really flying down the trail or trying to launch.
I just can't see going down to like 75psi on my fork or adding more rebound. I'm totally willing to concede user error here but it is not obvious to me where I'm screwing that up.
Here's the other screenshots requested and, again, I truly appreciate the help.
A few questions, but I’m not totally familiar with BYB. Is there a calibration process for the sensors once you install?
Is the rear sensor setup to compute data at the rear axle?
Could you post the data in “position vs Velocity”. The screen grabs you have posted already doesn’t really give me much info to understand (I’m coming from motion instruments data).
No calibration needed per BYB's manual and there's no sensor at the rear axle, only at the shock itself. Here's the picture I have for the current request. Thanks for your help.
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