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We talked about this in the Tech Rumors thread, but getting more power to the pedals is almost the entire ball game in XC racing, and the main benefit of a lower stack height and more hunched over body position in XC racing is the kinesthetically optimized position for mashing the pedals. Easier to mash the pedals when you’re bunched up in a little ball. Speeds are lower than road racing, so being hunched over for aerodynamics is less important.

Yeah thats pretty much what I was going to say! When they say to start with "sag" I think they are just meaning to set the spring rate full stop, in whatever method so its at least in the ballpark. ie not just bolting it on with whatever spring or pressure it had in the box. And I always like to work through spring rate first - find the point which is definitely too stiff and too soft and then work back in from there. Its amazing how often the "sag" can seem about right and not obviously too stiff...

These are great questions. You're absolutely right that sag measurements or recommendations are not sacrosanct or miraculous, and there are instances where more or less sag than recommended is going to yield a better riding bike. But we're talking about nuances that are way, way, way above the average rider, and lightyears above the riders that Jordi is speaking to on those Fox videos. As a company, Fox has to deal with angry customers and bad online reviews from people who are riding three or four spring rates off from correct sag and complaining about the compression settings being "too...

Setting sag with a repeatable method is the starting point. The most important thing you need to do when setting up suspension is good basic trouble shooting, make one change at a time and record your changes. You will adjust from there, but sag gets you in the ballpark for spring rate. Damping is highly dependent on spring rate, so if your spring rate is way off it's very difficult to get damping set up correctly. My process to setup new suspension is to set sag and then find the manufacturer damper setting recommendations that correspond to that air pressure...

Validating you have the correct spring rate is important. Achieving that with a repeatable sag measurement, data acquisition, gopro recording however you want to do it is not important. What is important is that you have a repeatable process that isn't just based on 'feel'. the various methods for setting sag are a great starting point for consumers to take measurements.

Having the 'correct' sag, whatever the amount is, ensures you have a spring that is stiff enough, but not too stiff. You can't make the suspension work with the damper if your spring is off.

From pit bits

This is a great question! At the most basic level, grip = friction x force. There's a fixed amount of mechanical friction that can occur between the ground and the durometer of the rubber for any given amount of force, so a single row of side knobs maximizes the force distributed onto those knobs (as opposed to distributing it across the side knobs and the transition knobs, which would be a larger total surface area). Think of it like stepping on a single nail vs. lying down on a bed of nails. A single nail can puncture even a thick...

I've ridden all of the tires you mention extensively and most of the combinations. I'd rule out the Rekon/DHR II combo as I think they are a little too far apart to make a good combo. I'd probably go Forekaster/Forekaster or Forekaster/new Dissector - I'm keen to try that setup soon. Rekons can be super fun in dry/predictable conditions, but the Forekaster feels like it only gives up a little rolling speed for a good bit more grip. Good luck!

If you ran 27.7% sag with the 65 mm stroke shock you’d find you need the exact same amount of pressure.

Are you comparing 30% sag of 65 mm to 30% sag of what it was at before? Damping tune does not impact sag.