How to stiffen a bike's rear suspension. Bicycle rear suspension

The purpose of mounting suspension on a bicycle is quite simple - to protect the cyclist from unpleasant bumps and vibrations while riding a bicycle.

Thanks to technological progress, modern bicycle suspension is light and reliable. A bike with good suspension is easy to handle and less likely to get scuffed. Bicycle suspension has become so perfect that now even the lowest price category comes with at least a suspension fork. Even on a road bike, you can pick up a suspension that will not give a significant increase in weight!

Do you need suspension on your bike?

The correct answer is almost always "yes". Because a suspension bike performs better on, it has higher traction and other important characteristics. But to be completely sure about the need to buy a bike with a suspension system, answer the following four questions:

  1. Do you mostly ride off-road?
    • Yes. When driving off-road, you will find a lot of stones, bumps and sharp blows. In this case, choose a bike with a powerful suspension, perhaps even a two-suspension one.
    • No. If you mainly ride on asphalt, forest and country paths, then even the simplest suspension will suit you, which will help reduce the load on the body, especially on the back.
  2. Do you like fast downhills?
    • Yes. The answer is obvious.
    • No. Then go to the first question. For driving on smooth asphalt roads, you can do without suspension.
  3. Are you already 30 years old?
    • Yes. The thing is, the younger you are, the more hits you can take. Young cyclists can do without suspension. However, even young cyclists are advised to install at least a front suspension, as it significantly improves comfort. Older cyclists can be advised in addition to a suspension fork. If you ride a bike from time to time, then you can limit yourself to gel. For older cyclists, full-suspension bikes are recommended as they are currently almost as light as hardtails.
    • No. Buy a bike with suspension anyway. Even if you can easily do without cushioning, take care of your joints now.
  4. How often do you ride your bike - once a week or more?
    • Yes. To draw an analogy with a car, the more you use it, the faster it wears out. However human body has a high ability to recover, but unfortunately only up to a certain point. If you have to ride cross-country several times a week, then very soon you will notice that your body starts to listen to you poorly. Installing the suspension makes it possible to make a few more trips a week without any harm to your body.
    • No. Suspension adds to the comfort level of cycling, especially if you answered yes to any of the questions above. However, if you answered “no” to all of these questions, then you can ride a bike without suspension.

natural depreciation.

Sure, suspension improves cycling comfort, but it also makes cyclists ride more carelessly. But why, even on a bike with good cushioning, should you carefully, and not just run into them? Because it still puts a lot of pressure on your body. Use and take care of your body. Your arms and legs are naturally perfect shock absorbers - learn how to use them properly!

Is it better to buy a new bike or upgrade the suspension?

Along with the wheels and chassis, the first thing to upgrade on a bike is the suspension. Thus you:

  • Enhance your cycling comfort.
  • You can drive more with less fatigue.
  • Save your back and wrists.
  • Discover the fact that in some cases the new suspension fork may be lighter than the non-cushioned fork that comes with the bike.

If your bike was made before 1995, then probably due to the outdated design, it cannot be upgraded. Even if you install a suspension fork on such a bike, it will become very difficult to manage.

Rubber, air or spring?

Which shock absorber is best to choose depends on how well you know how to handle. Various types shock absorbers require different levels of maintenance. If you like to tinker with your bike, then a hydraulic shock absorber is just right for you. If you prefer to keep it to a minimum, then choose spring shock absorbers, which have the lowest maintenance requirements.

There are three main types of depreciation:

Elastomeric. In fact, these are ordinary rubber seals that absorb shock. This is the oldest depreciation method. The level of cushioning depends on the density of the rubber. They are lubricated with grease. They are not too difficult to maintain in working condition - only regular cleaning is required. As a rule, they wear out after one year of hard use, after which it is better to change them to spring ones.

Air / oil. In air and oil shock absorbers, shock is absorbed by the passage of pressurized liquid or gas through a series of chambers. These are quite capricious shock absorbers that require regular maintenance. In addition, they provide less impact protection than the other two systems. But they are very light and that is why many professional cyclists choose this type of shock absorber.

Spring. Good old springs, but new form. The first spring shock absorbers had such a strong kickback that driving on bad roads became even worse than without suspension. With the introduction of the oil damping system, which reduces spring recoil through the effect of fluid passing through a series of chambers, oil-spring dampers have become the standard. They may be a bit heavier for elastomer and oil-air dampers, but they require less maintenance - just a little regular cleaning. Elastomeric shock absorbers are best replaced with spring-oil shock absorbers.

Bicycle suspension setup.

Most of the above cushioning systems are adjustable. Initially, the suspension must be adjusted to compensate for its weight - this is the so-called preload. Further, during several trips, the suspension should be “spread”, that is, compress the spring. If the suspension is not adjusted correctly, then it cannot be expected to perform flawlessly. Some suspensions can be quickly adjusted while riding. They are more expensive, but will be very useful when driving on a variety of terrain.

Correctly setting up the suspension is almost an art. In order to achieve ideal cushioning, factors such as preload, damping, lockout, oil weight and more should be taken into account.

Suspension mountain bike requires both careful maintenance and more or less fine tuning. All settings are different. Professional riders often make changes: change pressure, select springs of different stiffness, try new shock absorbers after each race, etc. They are of course helped by bike mechanics.

Other cyclists tune the bike for a particular track. Those who just ride mountain bikes tend to adjust the suspension only once, if not at all, just adjust and get used to the settings that they have. How to set up a mountain bike suspension?

A handicraft express diagnostic method allows you to quickly assess the correct suspension settings, as well as technical condition bike in general. You need to take the bike by the saddle and stem, lift it up and let it go so that it flops to the ground with both wheels at once. Harsh sounds - clinking, squeaks and bumps in the suspension and other extraneous sounds indicate a malfunction.

The shock absorbers should absorb some of the energy on landing, the bike should spring back a little, but not too high off the ground. When the bike bounces like a ball, it means the suspension settings are wrong. Such a bike, when riding over bumps (especially on a steep descent), will bounce high, trying to “kick the rider in the ass” and throw him out of the saddle.

There are speed tests. The first one is not to accelerate much and, having risen on the pedals, as they usually go over bumps, to move over the bumps. As an obstacle, you can put a thick stick or board on smooth asphalt. Upon contact with an obstacle, legs, arms and body, you need to feel if there is a sharp push of the suspension up? Spring recoil should not be up. Bumps from bumps should be smoothed out with a damper.

Another speed test is to drive off the curb at such a speed that both wheels touch the asphalt at the same time. When landing, there should be no rebound of the suspension, especially its rocking. During this test, an imbalance in the operation of the front and rear suspensions is also detected.

Mountain Bike Suspension Setup

The first step in setting up a suspension on a mountain bike is to set the shock sag. What it is is the difference between the length of the shock absorber when the cyclist is not sitting on the tank, and the length of the shock absorber with the cyclist seated. When taking this measurement, it is important to have the same position that you normally take when riding a bicycle.

When you often ride down, it is better to stand on the pedals, placing the “fifth point”, which is the center of gravity, in the place where it is usually located, and then freeze. During the test, do not take your hand off the steering wheel or lean your foot on it so that the balance of weight between both wheels does not change.

Since it is problematic to make this measurement yourself, then ask someone to help you: measure the length of the inner pipe between the stops and the fixed anthers. When measuring, it must be borne in mind that when sitting on a bicycle, the mark is pressed much further than in static position. This method of measurement helps to find out if the entire stroke of the shock absorber is used.

In order to pedal vigorously over rough terrain, the sag value should be within 10-20% of the maximum suspension travel. Athletes values ​​are doing tougher. In extreme disciplines, drawdown can be set to 20-30% or more. For special cases, professionals use half the stroke, when the wheel simply “sticks” to bumps.

How to set drawdown

Settling in air shock absorbers is simple - air is pumped into the main chamber when the settling is strong. Insufficient sag requires pressure reduction. Before making adjustments, check the instructions for the recommended pressure for your riding style and weight. They start from these figures, but they do what is right for themselves.

The spring-oil shock absorbers are equipped with springs that are designed for an average build of a cyclist. Light or, conversely, heavy riders have to buy a new spring. When riding in different conditions, the spring will need more than one.

For suspension forks, springs are usually sold in pairs. Both legs are also tuned in the same way. The principle of adjustment is simple: the legs sagged a lot - twist the spring for rigidity. Sag a little, then unscrew and loosen. From well-known manufacturers, the instructions for the shock absorber say that if you need to twist the spring by more than two turns, then you need to install a stiffer spring. At the forks, the adjusting knobs located at the top have limiters. You only need to twist them with your hands so as not to break anything.

The rear shock absorber has no limiters, because of this, the spring can be broken, as well as the thrust nuts. There is a rule - it is impossible to compress the rear shock absorber spring from a free state by more than 15 mm. Otherwise, by squeezing it, you can overload the stop and shock absorber rod, which will lead to breakage. For a spring, the stiffness is set once during manufacture.

How to adjust mountain bike suspension - rebound

See your fork manual for the location of the rebound adjustment knob. At first, it completely gets out (the fastest rebound). When adjusting, you must not forget about the symmetry of the settings, unscrewing on the right - unscrewing on the left. Add half a turn symmetrically, push the handlebar down to compress the fork and feel it. At the steering wheel, the rebound should be fast, but without recoil in the hands.

At the rear shock absorber, the rebound is adjusted in the same way, only when the suspension is compressed on the go with your feet. There should be no bouncing and kickback, otherwise the off-road wheel starts to slide along upper parts irregularities. Too slow and delayed rebound is also not good. At high speed, the suspension does not have time to straighten out during a series of impacts, becoming stiffer with each impact.

The rebound, compression and stiffness of the front fork and rear shock must be adjusted according to the situation. When driving only downhill, it is better to set the rear shock a little softer, with a slightly slower rebound, since the rear wheel has less load on the descents. By flat surface it's better to have the same setup front and rear. However, everyone chooses what is more convenient for him.

When you have modern expensive damping systems, you definitely need to experiment with adjustments. Depending on the style of riding and the place of skiing, as well as preferences, you can set any parameters.

How to adjust the suspension of a mountain bike - when trying different settings, you need to remember or write down the number of clicks (turns) at the handles and the pressure. Individual dampers have up to six different adjustments. The initial settings are not final. When you change something: mood, driving style, track quality, again you have to start adjusting.

Video: mountain bike suspension setup

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Currently, there are two types of rear suspensions for bicycles: single-link and four-link. And today we will talk about how to distinguish a single-lever suspension from a four-link one and what is the principle of operation of these suspensions.

Single wishbone suspension

Single-lever suspension, also called single-hinged. The design of this suspension is quite simple, it consists of a rigid arm (swingarm), which is attached to the rear wheel. Swingarm, in turn, is fixed in the area of ​​the carriage assembly.

To increase the progression of a single-lever suspension, various links are used. Some manufacturers put Faux Bar suspension technology on their bikes.

The Faux Bar is a pseudo four-bar suspension, very similar to a real four-bar system.

The essence of all these suspensions is the same: the rear wheel moves in a circle around one hinge.

The main advantage of such suspensions is the simplicity of design, low weight and low buildup. However, in the process of pedaling, many bikes with this suspension unclamp the suspension, thereby worsening its performance. Reverse compression of the suspension causes a shock on the pedals, preventing their rotation, and braking with the rear brake again decompresses the suspension, blocking its operation.

Four-link suspension.

Externally, the four-link suspension is very similar to the Faux Bar, but the principle of its operation is completely different.

On the lower edge of the frame, in the area of ​​the rear wheel, there is a hinge, and the wheel is suspended from the top edge. As a result, we get two wheel attachment points, thanks to this, the wheel does not have a specific center of rotation, which allows the suspension to achieve softness and respond even to minor road surface irregularities.

The four-link suspension remains always active and does not lock up during braking, and is virtually independent of pedaling.

Despite its advantage over a single-link suspension, a four-link suspension has a small nuance, which is compensated by the installation of a good shock absorber, this is a buildup that is slightly larger than with single-link suspensions.

Often there are four-link suspensions with a virtual axis of rotation. Virtual Pivot Point (VPP - the virtual axis of rotation has the following configuration. The rear triangle is attached to the front triangle through two, almost equal, in contrast to the FSR (larger lower arm), lever. This system reduces suspension work and causes it to lock during a sharp braking.

True four-link VPS suspension.

A true four-link suspension is the basis for the development of FSR (Horst Link) suspensions. These suspensions use sealed bearings in all pivots for long life and ease of maintenance. True 4-link suspension pivots use oversized bearings to support greater load and increase torsional stiffness of the frame.

Full Control System

The Full Control System is an active suspension that uses industrial (serial) bearings in the axis of rotation of the suspension. This suspension responds to bumps in the road with minimal impact on transmission performance.

Full Control System Suspension is easy to maintain and durable.

Not on topic.

If you take care of your bike with products specially designed for this, then you probably noticed the inscription Bio leaf (Bio leaf) or the word biodegradation on the packaging of the products.

Biodegradation is understood as the activity of natural microorganisms, as a result of which the decomposition of substances into carbon dioxide and water occurs.

First, let's define what a "sag" is: it's the amount of travel the suspension sags under the weight of the rider (usually measured as a percentage of the full travel of the fork or shock absorber). Make sure your fork and rear shock have travel indicators or the rubber o-rings on the fork leg and shock stem. If none of this is available, then put plastic ties on the fork and shock absorber, just do not tighten them too much.

Let's start with the shock absorber and rear suspension. Stand the bike next to a wall, or have a friend hold the bike while you mount it. Put on everything you normally ride in, including a water-filled hydropack, protection, and so on. Stand on the pedals with your center of gravity approximately halfway above the bike. Gently depress the suspension several times, then slowly sit on the saddle and tighten the travel indicator (rubber o-ring or tie-rod) to the shock boot, being careful not to compress the shock additionally. Now slowly get off the bike, shifting your weight forward onto the fork, so as not to further compress the shock. If you have correctly inflated the shock absorber, then the travel indicator will be located at a distance of about 20-30% from the boot of the shock absorber (that is, from the visible length of the rod). On longer travel bikes, a slightly larger sag is installed, usually around 35%. Add or depressurize the shock in 5 psi increments until the desired sag is reached. Record the shock pressures for the different sags.


If you have a spring damper, then completely unscrew the spring preload nut, then tighten it again to the point where spring resistance begins to be felt. Now measure the distance along the axes (from the center to the center of the ears) of the uncompressed shock absorber. Then measure the lengths along the axles of the compressed shock absorber, and you can calculate the suspension sag in millimeters. An assistant is required to measure the shock absorber in the compressed position. Divide the shock sag value in millimeters by the stroke length of the shock absorber to get the suspension sag as a percentage. If the sag is not enough for you, you need to replace the spring with a softer one. If the sag is too large, tighten the spring preload nut on the shock and repeat the measurements. If you have to tighten the nut more than 2-3 full turns to achieve the required sag (depending on the shock manufacturer), then you need a stiffer spring.


Setting the fork sag is almost the same as the procedure described above for the shock, to calculate the sag as a percentage, it is necessary to divide the distance that the travel indicator on the fork leg will move by the full travel of the fork (for some forks, the total travel differs from the length of the visible part of the fork legs). Remember to get off the bike by moving backwards so as not to further compress the fork.

The springs in our suspension are set, moving on to setting the rebound damping. The lower the rebound damping (turn the rebound adjustment counterclockwise), the faster the shock or fork will decompress from the compressed position, and vice versa. If the rebound is too fast, then the suspension will be very “goaty” and bounce on bumps, if it is too slow, the suspension will not have time to decompress before the next blow, it will seem more rigid.

The easiest way to get roughly into the right rebound setting is to do a full expansion test, which can be done with either the fork or the shock. Fully unscrew the rebound adjustment (to the "fastest" position). Then squeeze the shock absorber as much as possible, leaning on the saddle, and release sharply. If the shock decompresses too quickly, with a sudden stop at the end of expansion, you need to increase the rebound damping (turn up the rebound adjuster). Too abrupt stop of the shock absorber at the end of expansion can even be felt with your hands or heard. Repeat the process several times until the shock absorber expands at the desired rate.

Another way to adjust the rebound is to drive off the curb while standing on the pedals, gradually slowing the rebound until the shock begins to compress and decompress without bouncing. Repeat the full compression test with your fork, with all of your weight on the handlebars. You will most likely need to fine tune the rebound on the trail you are riding. If the front or rear of the bike seems to bounce too much on bumps while riding, turn the rebound on the shock or fork 1-2 clicks in. If the suspension starts to clog up and become stiffer on a series of bumps, unscrew the rebound by 1-2 clicks so that the suspension has time to decompress before the next blow. When setting the shock rebound, it is better to err on the side of slow rebound so that the rear suspension does not throw you out of the saddle, and on the side of fast rebound in the case of the fork so that it does not fold over a series of obstacles. General rule: Adjust rebound 1-2 clicks faster on trails with small frequent bumps, and 1-2 clicks slower on trails with big obstacles.

Setting the compression damping (compression) is more complicated, it will take a little more time on the trail to properly set the suspension compression damping. The compression setting is not present on all suspension components. Most trail forks and shocks have a low speed compression (LSC) setting, and downhill components often allow high speed compression (HSC) to be adjusted as well. The speed of compression is related to the speed of the damper rod movement, high speed compression is associated with large, sharp obstacles and full travel of the fork. Low-speed compression is involved in damping small bumps and in the work of the "platform" when pedaling, as well as in compressing the suspension during braking and passing counter slopes. It is useful to think of the NSC as a kind of safety valve in front of the VSC.

My favorite way to adjust compression damping is to turn all the adjustments off completely, hit the trail and watch some shock and fork performance. First, if you hit the suspension often or hard while riding, increase the high-speed compression by turning the appropriate adjustment. Also, to prevent breakdown of the suspension, you can use spacers that reduce the volume of the positive chamber of the air spring of the fork or shock absorber. The addition of spacers increases the progression of the spring, adding stiffness at the end of the travel. If during the test the suspension stopped working for the entire stroke and became stiff, gradually reduce the damping of the VSK.

To set up low speed compression, focus on suspension response during braking and cornering. If the fork compresses too much under braking or in a counter slope, the NSC damping should be increased until suspension compression during rolling and braking is under control. For the rear shock absorber, the determining factors when setting up the NSC are sensitivity to small bumps and buildup from pedaling. If the shock absorber does not work out a trifle, reduce the low-speed compression damping. Twisting (increasing) the NSC can reduce suspension sway from pedaling in the saddle and while standing on the pedals.


It is very important to record all your suspension settings. This will allow you to feel how changing the settings affects the behavior of your bike, and then quickly return to the optimal settings. When you're done with your suspension setup, you can write down all the values ​​on the stickers on your shock and fork so that you can always quickly and correctly set up your bike.

According to the site www.vitalmtb.com


Congratulations on your new Transition bike with GiddyUp suspension. To get the best performance from your bike and get the most out of your riding experience, please read our GiddyUp Basic Suspension Setup Guide.

There is no "absolute" one-size-fits-all setting, all of our recommendations may vary slightly depending on various factors, such as air temperature, the accuracy of your pump gauge, and riding style. It's important to keep your suspension settings constant by setting it up once, check the settings every time you ride. Keep an eye on your bike's settings, and the longer you ride at those particular suspension settings, the better you'll get a feel for how any setting changes affect the bike's performance.

It is impossible to set the suspension perfectly the first time. This instruction is only a starting point and sets the right direction for tuning. We will try to help you understand the basic operation and suspension settings of your bike. When setting up your suspension, remember a few important points:

  • Don't forget to move the rubber ring on the shock stem towards the boot to see how much travel your suspension is getting on the trail. Regardless of riding style, the ideal suspension setting should hit the entire travel once or twice per descent. If this does not happen, you are not using your suspension to 100 percent. But suspension breakdowns should be expected. If the suspension engages all the way too often, it means you haven't inflated the air spring enough, or you haven't set the compression damping properly, which will affect the ride quality. Deploying the suspension all the way will move the indicator o-ring to the very end of the shock absorber rod or even push it off the rod.

Suspension does not work all the way. The suspension works all the way.

  • In general, we recommend setting the sag a little more than other trail bikes, so don't be surprised by the numbers in the table. We have extensively tested everything and determined that such settings the best way suitable for most riding styles.
  • When setting up and checking the suspension sag, make sure the tires are inflated to working pressure and the bike is on a level, smooth surface. Put on all the gear you would normally wear and a fully packed pack, remembering to fill your hydration pack with water. In the quick bike setup chart, "rider weight" is exactly your weight with full gear.

  • Try to always use the same pump high pressure to adjust the air springs. Even two pumps of the same model can be calibrated differently. Don't expect the ideal sag pressure reading from your pump to be universal when pumped with any other pump.
  • Your bike has a Rock Shox rear shock with a Debonair air spring. Models with Debonair differ from conventional Monarch shocks in the increased volume of the negative chamber. With each serious change in pressure in the air chamber, it is necessary to compress and decompress the suspension several times, then check the established pressure. If you skip this step, the pressure gauge reading will be incorrect. After increasing or decreasing the pressure in the shock absorber, disconnect the pump and squeeze the suspension 5-10 times to equalize the pressure in the shock chambers, then reconnect the pump and check the pressure gauge. Quite a lot of fun, and besides, everyone around you will think that you are very serious about suspension tuning.

Fork setting

Start with the manufacturer's recommended settings for your weight, usually the recommended values ​​are on the label on the right leg of the fork. If your fork does not have a label with recommended settings, please refer to your fork manual for recommendations on how to adjust your fork sag. Usually sag values ​​are in the range of 20-40%.

Checking the rear suspension sag and shock absorber
1. Take care that all compression settings are in the open (minimum) position.
2. Set the shock rebound speed control to a relatively fast position. Ideally, if you compress the suspension with your hands on the saddle and pull the saddle up sharply, the wheel should not have time to leave the ground (before the shock absorber is completely deflated). Try not to set the rebound too slowly. At this stage, the faster the better, a more open and quick rebound setting will allow the shock to absorb bumps better.

Indicator o-ring near the shock absorber boot.



3. Raise the red indicator o-ring up the stem until it contacts the boot on the shock airbox. Sit in the saddle, move around a bit on the bike. Then bend over and lift the o-ring up to the shock boot again. Then sit on the bike in a neutral position and get both feet off the ground. Carefully get off the bike, try not to compress the suspension further.
4. Check where the red o-ring is left on the stem.

A properly tuned sag is 35%.

5. This is the sag of your pendant. If the shock does not have a sag scale, use a ruler to measure: the sag will be determined as the ratio of the distance of the o-ring from the boot to the full stroke of the rod (in percent).
6. If the sag is greater than the recommended value, pump up the air spring a little. If the percentage value is less than recommended, you need to release excess pressure from the shock absorber.


Shock Sag Adjustment
1. Screw the pump to the shock absorber inflation nipple. If you have a digital pressure gauge on your pump, make sure it is turned on before connecting the pump to the shock. If your shock's sag was slightly less than the recommended value, you will need to bleed some air from the shock's airbox. If you miss the sag quite a bit, drop 5-10 psi. If you miss the setting pretty badly, you can drop 20-50 psi straight away. To bleed pressure, use the dedicated air release button by pressing gently and slowly.
2. After adjusting the pressure, disconnect the pump from the inflation nipple and squeeze the suspension several times to equalize the pressure in the positive and negative chambers. Repeat the steps for checking the sag, if the value is still not within the recommended value, readjust the pressure in the air spring again.
3. By setting the correct pressure in the shock absorber, you can get on the bike and ride. Don't forget to put a protective cap on the shock inflation nipple and take your high pressure pump with you to fine-tune your suspension when you're trail riding.

Shock rebound speed setting
1. Within reasonable limits, the rebound speed setting is a personal preference for the individual rider. Rebound speed also depends on the pressure in the air spring of the fork or shock. The less pressure in the spring, the less noticeable the effect of each click of the rebound adjuster on the speed of suspension expansion. For example, at a particular rebound adjuster setting, the rate of shock expansion will be slower at 140 psi spring pressure than at the same rebound adjuster setting at 170 psi spring pressure. It is important to remember that the clicks of the rebound speed setting are always measured from the fully closed (slowest) position of the adjuster, never from the fully open position.
2. A good guideline for the initial rebound setting is the following procedure. Stand on the side of the bike and squeeze the fork and suspension with your hands, then try to get the wheels off the ground. You shouldn't be able to do this until the fork and shock are fully decompressed.
3. If the rebound is too slow, the shock will not have time to decompress to its original state after compression from a bump or impact. This phenomenon is called "suspension folding", it is especially felt on a series of repeated impacts of medium strength, the suspension seems blunt, and sometimes it may even seem that it has stopped working. In this case, turn the rebound adjuster counterclockwise to increase the rate at which the damper expands.
4. If the rebound is too fast, you will feel like you are riding on a spring. Rear wheel will throw off every bump, it will jump erratically over a series of obstacles, because after compression, the suspension returns too quickly, and the wheel hits the next obstacle with even more force. In this case, you need to turn the rebound adjuster clockwise, slowing down the rate of expansion of the shock absorber until you feel that the suspension is working as it should.

Now let's go for a ride
Check your settings and make sure everything works as it should. Before riding down the trail, move the indicator o-rings to the dust boots on the shock and fork (at the start of travel). After going down the trail, look at how much travel your suspension has been working, the position of the rings on the fork leg and shock stem will show the maximum suspension compression. This The best way find out if you are using the full potential of your bike's suspension. If you look like this guy in the photo, you've successfully tuned your Transition's suspension.

Giddy Up Suspension Quick Adjust Chart

Example: A 170 lb rider might start with a shock pressure of 160 psi on the Patrol, 175 psi on the Scout, and 155 psi on the Smuggler. Remember that these numbers are not a dogma, and to set up the perfect sag, you may need to pump a little more or a little less. However, if you have measured everything correctly and set up the bike within the limits we recommended in the instructions above, you are ready to hit the trails.

We did not make a detailed plate for any rider weight, since so many variables affect the settings, different types shock absorbers, differently calibrated pumps, environmental conditions, and so on, we just can't take it all into account. It seems to us that it is best to start with the basic suspension settings that we described above, and fine-tune the bike's suspension directly while riding. We want you to know as much as possible about your new bike and how its suspension works. And the best way to achieve this is to teach you how to tune the bike yourself.

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