I need some help setting suspensions properly

mamath7
Posts
101
Joined
6/17/2014
Location
FR

Hello everyone,
I'm asking for your help.

Usually I have no problem to setup my suspensions properly, I'm more in the lively fun setting fun side of things. But this time, after almost a year without any sport and a baby, my arms and legs won't like my usual setting.
So I'm asking your help to setup the hydraulic side (SAG is ok) of the bike in the most arm/leg friendly side of the spectrum. I won't be riding Champery track, black yes but not that steep.

We're talking about a canyon sender CFR 29, FOX 40 grip2 and DHX2 (coil with sprindex 400-440) and a 95kg/203lb rider.

I did my best to be as clear as possible as english is not my first language.
Thank you for your help

|
10/9/2023 7:47am

There is not one clear answer for settings.

But what I believe can make a big difference is removing the progressive spring and going with a standard coil. In my opinion that bike has enough progression already for a normal spring.

mamath7
Posts
101
Joined
6/17/2014
Location
FR
10/9/2023 11:59am
There is not one clear answer for settings. But what I believe can make a big difference is removing the progressive spring and going with a...

There is not one clear answer for settings.

But what I believe can make a big difference is removing the progressive spring and going with a standard coil. In my opinion that bike has enough progression already for a normal spring.

I don't remember sprindex to sold as more progressive coil. light adjustable yes but not progressive 

10/9/2023 1:42pm Edited Date/Time 10/9/2023 1:44pm
There is not one clear answer for settings. But what I believe can make a big difference is removing the progressive spring and going with a...

There is not one clear answer for settings.

But what I believe can make a big difference is removing the progressive spring and going with a standard coil. In my opinion that bike has enough progression already for a normal spring.

mamath7 wrote:

I don't remember sprindex to sold as more progressive coil. light adjustable yes but not progressive 

“Besides having an adjustable spring rate, Sprindex is also progressive.  Sprindex is specifically designed to have a progressive spring rate for the last 20% of stroke for big hit support and for bikes with a linear linkage design.”

Info found on Sprindex.com


20% isn’t a lot of travel but adding that to your linkage progression can make it tricky to set up. But say you are at 25% sag, and 20% progression at the end of travel, your window of usable travel gets small.  
 

Just a thought to help you if u tune the bike.

2
brash
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4/24/2019
Location
AU
10/9/2023 1:54pm

They are slightly progressive when put on a spring dyno, but not much.

Order of operations for me, and almost accepted by most others is....

Low speed rebound in the carpark to taste

High speed rebound on the trail

Compression, start at factory settings (10 LSC, 5 HSC) on the fork and use the fox tuning guide to set the shock up per the spring rate suggestion.

Then it's a simple matter of changing one setting at a time and saying to yourself, "better or worse" and going from there. 

I will add, on a 40 (or any grip 2 fork) set LSR faster than recommended and use the HSR to control the fork.

1
mamath7
Posts
101
Joined
6/17/2014
Location
FR
10/9/2023 1:56pm
There is not one clear answer for settings. But what I believe can make a big difference is removing the progressive spring and going with a...

There is not one clear answer for settings.

But what I believe can make a big difference is removing the progressive spring and going with a standard coil. In my opinion that bike has enough progression already for a normal spring.

mamath7 wrote:

I don't remember sprindex to sold as more progressive coil. light adjustable yes but not progressive 

“Besides having an adjustable spring rate, Sprindex is also progressive.  Sprindex is specifically designed to have a progressive spring rate for the last 20% of stroke...

“Besides having an adjustable spring rate, Sprindex is also progressive.  Sprindex is specifically designed to have a progressive spring rate for the last 20% of stroke for big hit support and for bikes with a linear linkage design.”

Info found on Sprindex.com


20% isn’t a lot of travel but adding that to your linkage progression can make it tricky to set up. But say you are at 25% sag, and 20% progression at the end of travel, your window of usable travel gets small.  
 

Just a thought to help you if u tune the bike.

Thank you I didn't have this in mind. I'll switch to a standard coil later. 

mamath7
Posts
101
Joined
6/17/2014
Location
FR
10/9/2023 1:57pm
brash wrote:
They are slightly progressive when put on a spring dyno, but not much. Order of operations for me, and almost accepted by most others is.... Low...

They are slightly progressive when put on a spring dyno, but not much.

Order of operations for me, and almost accepted by most others is....

Low speed rebound in the carpark to taste

High speed rebound on the trail

Compression, start at factory settings (10 LSC, 5 HSC) on the fork and use the fox tuning guide to set the shock up per the spring rate suggestion.

Then it's a simple matter of changing one setting at a time and saying to yourself, "better or worse" and going from there. 

I will add, on a 40 (or any grip 2 fork) set LSR faster than recommended and use the HSR to control the fork.

Thanks a lot. Just a question 10 LSC, 5 HSC from closed?

brash
Posts
946
Joined
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Location
AU
10/9/2023 2:11pm
brash wrote:
They are slightly progressive when put on a spring dyno, but not much. Order of operations for me, and almost accepted by most others is.... Low...

They are slightly progressive when put on a spring dyno, but not much.

Order of operations for me, and almost accepted by most others is....

Low speed rebound in the carpark to taste

High speed rebound on the trail

Compression, start at factory settings (10 LSC, 5 HSC) on the fork and use the fox tuning guide to set the shock up per the spring rate suggestion.

Then it's a simple matter of changing one setting at a time and saying to yourself, "better or worse" and going from there. 

I will add, on a 40 (or any grip 2 fork) set LSR faster than recommended and use the HSR to control the fork.

mamath7 wrote:

Thanks a lot. Just a question 10 LSC, 5 HSC from closed?

yes that's right.

2
TEAMROBOT
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1394
Joined
9/2/2009
Location
Los Angeles, CA US
Fantasy
10/11/2023 1:33pm Edited Date/Time 10/11/2023 1:33pm

My one piece of advice for most riders to make their bikes less tiring and more forgiving is to speed up your rebound. Most mountain bikers run their rebound way too slow because they want to make the bike feel stable and predictable in the car park, but that means the suspension isn't able to move freely on trail. If your rebound is too slow, especially on your fork, your suspension will pack down into the harder part of the spring curve and beat up your hands and legs. Find a rougher track and open your rebound 3 clicks on your fork and tell me your hands didn't feel better. It also makes it feel like your bars are magically higher.

Also, to dispel a myth, riders typically don't get bucked on jumps because of their rebound settings, they typically get bucked on jumps because they suck at jumping. Blaming your bike settings is easier than owning the fact you didn't know how to jump and/or froze up on the lip.

11
mamath7
Posts
101
Joined
6/17/2014
Location
FR
10/12/2023 2:35pm

Thanks for all this advices. Between work and a baby I haven't touched the DH bike since last year, so I hope my arms will let me ride more than 4 laps this weekend !

10/12/2023 4:14pm
brash wrote:
They are slightly progressive when put on a spring dyno, but not much. Order of operations for me, and almost accepted by most others is.... Low...

They are slightly progressive when put on a spring dyno, but not much.

Order of operations for me, and almost accepted by most others is....

Low speed rebound in the carpark to taste

High speed rebound on the trail

Compression, start at factory settings (10 LSC, 5 HSC) on the fork and use the fox tuning guide to set the shock up per the spring rate suggestion.

Then it's a simple matter of changing one setting at a time and saying to yourself, "better or worse" and going from there. 

I will add, on a 40 (or any grip 2 fork) set LSR faster than recommended and use the HSR to control the fork.

I don't really know of the "most others" that would accept that method of high speed rebound and I more or less suggest the opposite. Set HSR to the factory recommendation then use the LSR to dial in from there. most low speed adjusters affect the whole range any way so the HSR is really just setting the "window" that you will work in. If you find you need to wind the Low speed too far from the starting point then adjust the HS a couple of clicks and go again.

 

The rest of the advice is fairly sound. Personally I would start with minimal volume spacers (again factory starting point), ballpark damper settings then bracket air pressure, compression damping then low speed rebound in that order. 

 

I leave rebound until last because it is mostly a side effect of the other settings - the perceived speed all depends on how far the fork compressed to begin with and usually what feels too fast or slow is a sign that the spring or compression settings were out. 

1
brash
Posts
946
Joined
4/24/2019
Location
AU
10/12/2023 5:58pm
brash wrote:
They are slightly progressive when put on a spring dyno, but not much. Order of operations for me, and almost accepted by most others is.... Low...

They are slightly progressive when put on a spring dyno, but not much.

Order of operations for me, and almost accepted by most others is....

Low speed rebound in the carpark to taste

High speed rebound on the trail

Compression, start at factory settings (10 LSC, 5 HSC) on the fork and use the fox tuning guide to set the shock up per the spring rate suggestion.

Then it's a simple matter of changing one setting at a time and saying to yourself, "better or worse" and going from there. 

I will add, on a 40 (or any grip 2 fork) set LSR faster than recommended and use the HSR to control the fork.

I don't really know of the "most others" that would accept that method of high speed rebound and I more or less suggest the opposite. Set...

I don't really know of the "most others" that would accept that method of high speed rebound and I more or less suggest the opposite. Set HSR to the factory recommendation then use the LSR to dial in from there. most low speed adjusters affect the whole range any way so the HSR is really just setting the "window" that you will work in. If you find you need to wind the Low speed too far from the starting point then adjust the HS a couple of clicks and go again.

 

The rest of the advice is fairly sound. Personally I would start with minimal volume spacers (again factory starting point), ballpark damper settings then bracket air pressure, compression damping then low speed rebound in that order. 

 

I leave rebound until last because it is mostly a side effect of the other settings - the perceived speed all depends on how far the fork compressed to begin with and usually what feels too fast or slow is a sign that the spring or compression settings were out. 

That's the vorsprung order of operations mate. Don't dougal me bro

2
10/12/2023 7:47pm
brash wrote:
They are slightly progressive when put on a spring dyno, but not much. Order of operations for me, and almost accepted by most others is.... Low...

They are slightly progressive when put on a spring dyno, but not much.

Order of operations for me, and almost accepted by most others is....

Low speed rebound in the carpark to taste

High speed rebound on the trail

Compression, start at factory settings (10 LSC, 5 HSC) on the fork and use the fox tuning guide to set the shock up per the spring rate suggestion.

Then it's a simple matter of changing one setting at a time and saying to yourself, "better or worse" and going from there. 

I will add, on a 40 (or any grip 2 fork) set LSR faster than recommended and use the HSR to control the fork.

I don't really know of the "most others" that would accept that method of high speed rebound and I more or less suggest the opposite. Set...

I don't really know of the "most others" that would accept that method of high speed rebound and I more or less suggest the opposite. Set HSR to the factory recommendation then use the LSR to dial in from there. most low speed adjusters affect the whole range any way so the HSR is really just setting the "window" that you will work in. If you find you need to wind the Low speed too far from the starting point then adjust the HS a couple of clicks and go again.

 

The rest of the advice is fairly sound. Personally I would start with minimal volume spacers (again factory starting point), ballpark damper settings then bracket air pressure, compression damping then low speed rebound in that order. 

 

I leave rebound until last because it is mostly a side effect of the other settings - the perceived speed all depends on how far the fork compressed to begin with and usually what feels too fast or slow is a sign that the spring or compression settings were out. 

brash wrote:

That's the vorsprung order of operations mate. Don't dougal me bro

oh ouch. Every vorsprung tip I've seen recommends fixing the high speed rebound at point and just using the low speed rebound to dial things in as its much simpler. Where did you see otherwise? You could still bracket the HS on the trail but the LS has a much larger effect on the overall feel so is the more important one to focus on

1
10/13/2023 9:15pm
brash wrote:
They are slightly progressive when put on a spring dyno, but not much. Order of operations for me, and almost accepted by most others is.... Low...

They are slightly progressive when put on a spring dyno, but not much.

Order of operations for me, and almost accepted by most others is....

Low speed rebound in the carpark to taste

High speed rebound on the trail

Compression, start at factory settings (10 LSC, 5 HSC) on the fork and use the fox tuning guide to set the shock up per the spring rate suggestion.

Then it's a simple matter of changing one setting at a time and saying to yourself, "better or worse" and going from there. 

I will add, on a 40 (or any grip 2 fork) set LSR faster than recommended and use the HSR to control the fork.

I don't really know of the "most others" that would accept that method of high speed rebound and I more or less suggest the opposite. Set...

I don't really know of the "most others" that would accept that method of high speed rebound and I more or less suggest the opposite. Set HSR to the factory recommendation then use the LSR to dial in from there. most low speed adjusters affect the whole range any way so the HSR is really just setting the "window" that you will work in. If you find you need to wind the Low speed too far from the starting point then adjust the HS a couple of clicks and go again.

 

The rest of the advice is fairly sound. Personally I would start with minimal volume spacers (again factory starting point), ballpark damper settings then bracket air pressure, compression damping then low speed rebound in that order. 

 

I leave rebound until last because it is mostly a side effect of the other settings - the perceived speed all depends on how far the fork compressed to begin with and usually what feels too fast or slow is a sign that the spring or compression settings were out. 

brash wrote:

That's the vorsprung order of operations mate. Don't dougal me bro

Ooh, hyper-specific burn! 

mamath7
Posts
101
Joined
6/17/2014
Location
FR
10/15/2023 11:15am

Thanks for all your help, I had an awesome weekend with no arm pump and a bike riding just fine!

Thanks again!

2

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