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People will feel a lot of things if you prime them before they try them. EDIT: I have a friend who, whenever we're testing something new and he is the first to test, always says "you'll try it out yourself" when I ask him what it's like and when you get your turn, he asks what did you feel or think, not "did you feel x". Because he wants an unbiased feedback. Anywho, all this talk about kinematics is all well and good, but the first thing I though when I saw the bikes was "even if it works, who...

I'm sorry, I can't help it: An impact that " forces the rear wheel to rotate forwards" is the same thing as an impact that " deals with chain growth by rotating the pedals backward or stiffening the suspension." In the above diagram, the red force is the impact at the rear wheel. As the rear wheel is being held back by the red impact force, the rear center is growing, which is creating chain tension, which also stiffens the suspension. The suspension can't compress and absorb the bump until the increasing chain tension is relieved, and the chain tension...

For those curious, I recently installed a Charger 3.1 upgrade kit on one of my forks. What you can't really see in the graphs is that the change to the check valve made the transition from comp to reb (& vice versa) much smoother. I was running 3 clicks faster rebound than what RS suggests for my pressure, and dropped it down to 2 because it felt more reactive. The comp changes are a lot more subtle if you weren't running wide open. So far I'm running the same compression settings after bracketing around my old setup. It's definitely just...

[edit: quoted, but this is not meant in response to any previous post or user in particular] As someone who designs and manufactures aftermarket components to upgrade 'big suspension' put me on the record in their defense. I think they actually do a remarkable job at what is really an impossible task. Imagine designing something within the small confines of an MTB fork and the accepted dimensional standards. Make it light enough and cheap enough for what the market demands at retail and OEM. Manufacture and assemble it at massive scale to acceptably high QC standards, align dozens of critical...

I wasn't sure where everything was coming from but a bit of Googling shows there was a suspension guru with the handle Dougal on mtbr that got banned for... Let's say unkind posts. I think @DServy assumes @Dougal - SC is the same person behind the mote or less the same handle and doesn't want Vital MTB to turn to the shitshow that was MTBR before the ban. Or something along those lines?

Dear Dougal, I know your favorite past time is to shit on the hard engineering work of people and then yell at them when they try to engage you in good faith arguments. I get that you are also trying to be helpful, and probably mean less malice than it comes across over the internet because, frankly, the internet is a shithole of everyone yelling at each other. But Vital has been a space that seems to have remained a refuge of reasonability despite everything else falling to click and rage bate. I am glad Vital is not the pinkbike...

I'm not going to tell you how to live your life, but the Noken is way cheaper and easier than all the modifications you've already made. I thought it made a huge difference on my 180 Zeb, and when I took it off I had all the same symptoms you described (support or full travel, but never both). I think the Noken is a lifesaver for the long travel Zeb.

I think this thread confirms that there is absolutely not a consensus on where to have your grips in relation to the steering axis.

Well, I watched the video linked in the first post and I felt I needed to correct some things. In the video it is being said that you "sverve" around the steering axis rather than rotate around it. This is just plain wrong, hence my picture in my original post. Maybe this picture makes it more clear. It does not matter how long your stem. Any given point on a handlebar rotates in a perferct circle around the steering axis. It's just that simple. Again, I am not saying that different stem lengths can not feel greatly different on one...

I actually agree with you that some riders can feel a 2mm difference in bar position. My comment didn't address what a rider can or can't feel, it addressed meaning. Meaning is the narrative that human beings attach to stimuli. Humans are, after all, narrative creatures. If I feel a 2mm difference, that doesn't automatically mean it's an important change. But if tell myself a story that the change is important, and if I believe that story, suddenly that change will become manifestly important to my bike riding and may even produce a measurable impact in performance. My soapbox issue...

I agree with others that 35-50mm is a safe bet, and that the guy in the video you posted is a bit of a kook. I'm running a 60mm stem on my long travel bike, which is clearly "the wrong size," and it's fine. The reach length of the bike is a little shorter than I'd prefer, so I made it feel longer with the long stem. I've got a 40mm stem on my shorter travel bike (because it has a slightly longer reach length than I'd prefer), and it takes roughly zero feet for me to get used to...

I like the graph you shared and agree with what it's saying, but one thing to note about the graph is that it's only addressing changes in rebound speed. All other factors are held constant, i.e. rider weight, spring rate, compression damping, trail conditions, outside air temp, trail speed, riding style, etc. So, if you assume all of those other variables are constant, then this graph will help you understand how to view rebound setup. But as we respond to your original post, the hypothetical you're asking about specifically refers to changing trail conditions and trail speed, which means this...

Great question! I think there's a simple suspension principle that applies here, that as rider speeds and trail speeds go up, rebound should get faster. As speeds go down, rebound should slow down as well. And I think that decision to speed up or slow rebound comes down to two things: packing and pushing. 1. Packing: as you noted, as trails dry out, speeds tend to go up. As a result, the rate of bumps hitting your wheels increases, as your suspension is hitting the same number of bumps in less time, and your fork is more likely to pack...

Most parts of the US 150 is PLENTY! But not the west side, 170 all day

I'm confused by this comment: "I simply find a shim stack base valve configuration superior to a spring loaded valve system for it's potential to be tuned and adjusted." My confusion just comes from the fact that spring loaded base valve systems can also be tuned and adjusted. As an example, our ELEVENSIX shock uses a different tune in each of the base valves. The tune for Valve 1, which is the Silver high speed dial, is different from the base valve tune in Valve 2, which is designated by the Black high speed dial. So, if you set both...

Brother, its probably just a simple mistake - sure its a little confusing but its not like there isn't a clear and blindingly obvious pathway for you to purchase a shock if thats what you genuinely are trying to do. It's probably not been a major problem for anyone else, and there might be something in the backend that makes it a little harder to simply turn off - I know that is normally built in to the payment/shopping platform but don't run a webstore so not sure. There are sometimes products that don't have an obvious answer for how...

Initial disclaimer....My opinion is that a shock dyno is a necessary tool when tuning dampers. Adding shims, or increasing shim thickness, doesn't always make the damper firmer. Likewise, removing shims or reducing their thickness doesn't always make the damper softer. More specifically, base valve tuning is far more sensitive and requires extensive knowledge and equipment to tune properly. In a monotube damper with external compression adjustment, the base valve serves two roles. 1. It's the foundation for pressure balance inside the damper, which is critical for proper overall function and maximizing performance. 2. It sets the adjustment range of the...

Hey Lawn Dart, Here are some answers to your questions: 1. It sounds like you might be describing a pedal kickback event due to heavy suspension compression into a G-out. That is exactly what the Sidekick addresses. 2. We don't have plans for straight pull MTB hubs currently. All else being equal - same rim, same spokes/nipples ect, there is not a technical reason why one should see notably better durability/stiffness out of a straight pull vs a J-bend. Flange spacing (and equivalent spoke bracing angle) is not notably different. Interesting to hear you see such a difference. 3. First...