The hardest part of setting up suspension for me is actually understanding what I am feeling on the bike. When I am changing PSI or knob twiddling, most of the time I don't know how to tell what the difference is.
If you are riding pretty smooth stuff, it really does not matter much of course, so use PSI to set the ride height for good cornering IMO. But if you are riding rough stuff where you want to use all your travel, I would set the compression on its softest setting before you set the PSI to just barely bottom out on your course on the biggest hits. If your sag is not enough on the fork, then you might want to back off the PSI to get more sag, and use the compression clicker to help keep the fork from bottoming on the biggest hits. The more compression you use, the more harsh the small bumps will get. Then I would try to dial in the rebound by feel, but it gets tricky. There are a lot of overlapping factors of adjustment, and that is why it is confusing,---to just about everybody, even good tuners. If you get a harsh ride over stutter bumps (bumps in succession), for example, it can be hard to tell if your compression is too stiff, or if your rebound is too slow (allowing the forks to keep packing into a stiffer zone of travel as you hit each bump). Some people actually take video for something like that, so they can see what the forks are doing. The goal for the bumpy stiff is, you want to use all your travel for the biggest hits, but still have the correct sag for the frame geometry, and have good small bump absorption. Sounds simple that way huh? :)
I have a Santa Cruz and I’m like Henry so it’s a little tough to setup my rear shock but I’m gonna use this information to set it up correctly. Thanks Christina.
@@seanoneil277 If he is talking about the shock piston valving shim stack, not many people really know what to do there. Only the guys in tuning shops who have a lot of experience with them,---are worth paying to do it for you. :) My bet is you can use all the other "items of tune", including shock oil viscosity too, to get any good name shock working very well. IMO, if you run out of clicker adjustment with all the otehr settings that you need dialed in, (like not enough rebound clicks to handle a very stiff spring), then you may want to look at "re-valving" the valve stack.
@@EarthSurferUSA Someone asking such simplistic Qs as the guy above would not be wise to tamper with anything in the realm of "tuning." Doesn't even know the right questions, how can he possibly "tune" anything? Learning to ride well and understand what the bike is doing, or shouldn't be doing, that's many steps before "hey I think my fork needs tuning." What he attributes to the fork may be rider technique error. I'd say it is pretty likely that's the case.
The hardest part is getting off of the bike without jostling it further into the suspension travel…..(gotta say having the sag % marks on the shaft, ala Rockshox, is not having to use a delicate caliper measuring device)
Good evening . im following your journey and because of you i also purchase Ohlins rxf36 160 mm travel and ttx2 150 mm travel.. we have a common riding style but dont know how to setup my psi and rebound.. im 64 kilograms.. I Hope that you can help me with the Setup.. Even how many clicks and psi for my weight is a big Help.. 🙏.. i hope you can read my messages...
Here is the difference for setting shock sag between a Mt. bike and a Motocross/dirt bike. It is best, like with the forks, to measure the sag at the axle travel, (which you do directly at the fork tubes for the telescopic forks). With a dirt bike, you measure from the axle to a point on the rear fender, but you don't have a rear fender on a Mt. Bike. You could make a tool that has a horizontal rod (mimicking a rear fender), from your seat post, making a point on the rod vertical from the rear axle that you can measure to. The reason why that would be more accurate. (how much more accurate depends on your shock linkage design), is because the movement of your axle is not a linear ratio to the movement of the shock shaft, (because of the linkage). For example, 30% of the shock shaft will not be 30% of the axle travel, so you will have some error there. I would be willing to bet the linkage is the "rising rate" kind. Which means as the axle goes through it travel, the shock shaft in relation to the axle moves further, (per equal incremental axle movement), the more it is compressed. I would have to do the math for different linkages, but it would not surprise me that a shaft sag set at 30% of the shaft stroke, would be as much as 35-40% at the axle for its travel, depending on the linkage rising rate design. The rising rate, (or falling rate is possible with some designs), will be different for each different linkage. But if you made the rod tool, you can set the rear sag as repeatable at the rear axle, (where the bike geometry is directly affected), as you do for the forks for every bike. There is an "arc" for the rear axle too, so some manufactures do pick a different point on the fender to measure from, (most are measured up in a vertical line from the axle.), but nobody has made a way to fix that bit of error. To measure the rear sag on a motorcycle, it usually takes 2 people: One sitting on the bike in full gear, and one measuring the differences from full extension to the sag. There is a comp-0any called Motool called 'The Slacker", that allows one person to set the sag with a digital read out velcro-ed to your handlebar. Now, should you sit on your seat, or stand in your attack position to set the rear sag. I say use your attack position, but some sit. On the digital read out, I do see a couple mm difference. Doug in Michigan
Love you videos. So one of my issues when setting up my rear shock is the the fact when I unscrew the pump it looses air. I find myself pumping the rear shock up with 20-30psi more just to compensate for the air I loose when I unscrew it. Do you have a good way of doing this and not loosing air? Are some shock pumps better than others? Maybe you can do a video about this issue. Thanks again
@PeloMR2 thanks for letting me know about the two step air valve. I actually went to my LBS and questioned them about my shock pump and they said it was normal to loose air when unscrewing the pump lol. If only they would have schooled me on other pumps they would have made a sale 😕
The air you hear hissing when unscrewing the pump is just the air in the hose, and not coming out of the suspension, (unless you have a crappy pump, which would probably be made in china by some off brand pump). If you see the 20-30 PSI gone when you hook the pump back up, it is probably the loss that is filling up the pump hose again. Hook it up twice with out re-pumping the shock, and you should see the same loss again, or close to it. Then you can be pretty sure the hissing you are hearing is just the pressure in the hose.
For the love of god. Obviously, the air that you hear is coming from the hose and not the suspension so everything is ok. I mean just for the fun I ask my 4 Year old Nice this question and she it took her around 15 seconds to answer it right in the first frakking time. But I guess that's normal here in Switzerland. Unbelievable I can't even........ how do you go through life?!
I actually have both the Öhlins 36m.2 and Öhlins ttx shock air on my new Commencal Tempo. They are absolutely worth the money. Honestly not even in the same category as Rockshox and Fox if you ask me.
For christ sake, either do not use caliper or do it very very gently. Their tips can scratch anything and you don’t want that on your fork or suspension. Why don’t all manufacturers print percebtages of sag like rosk shox does?
*sigh* Of course they do 😑 (And they don't print it on their lower end forks and shocks either. Recon, 35, Reba, Deluxe, Deluxe Select+, etc). Disappointing.
th-cam.com/video/DJoH_OHLLKc/w-d-xo.html - an old Seb Stott article used riding gently off the curb whilst seated on a dropper in the descend position as a good way to measure the rebound; and a little more accurate than just bouncing in place. Same concept though; once off the curb it should return once and any more than that the rebound is too high
I think, wrong link. But that technique does not sound very legit to me for a final tune. Just bouncing in place is not a great indicator either though. Both may get you ballpark, and I will admit the rebound is confusing to me a bit and it does depend a lot on the kind of bumps on the ground. Getting the rebound ballpark, on the fast side so it is not packing the shock on successive bumps, then setting everything else when actually riding can leave rebound as the last factor to fine tune, which is nice when you only have one factor left to tune. Then you can probably get it pretty well set by how it feels on the tricky successive bumps. Having somebody take vid of the rear end to see what it is doing, (like packing), on those bumps may help too.
@@EarthSurferUSA I was linking the video time to reference what I was talking about :) But yeah bouncing in place isn't great I don't think; and setting the rebound off a real curb with weight into the bike provides (i think) a better starting point to go from. This is the Seb video (with correct timestamp) I am referring to: th-cam.com/video/xhnKTZu2AKs/w-d-xo.html
Good video but it fails to address rider weights. Im a "robust" rider and most of my shocks are Fox. On their spec sheets, Im literally given 1-2 clicks at best on any of the rebound or compression settings. Setting it in the middle would be a like watching Uncle Bucks car, rolling down the road.
How does it fail to address rider weight? You set the pressure in the shock approximately and then set the sag BASED ENTIRELY ON HOW FAR IT MOVES THROUGH THE STROKE. Which depends on your weight. It’s not rocket science
@@markkielbaso9842 - Again the comment was made about the uselessness of Rebound and Compression settings for heavier riders. I can set the Sag at 15%, 20% 25% etc and the Rebound and Compression settings literally give me a single click option (also based off weight- look up their manuals).
You guys picked a faucet video with the wrong perspective! From the camera's point of view, stopping the water requires rotating the lever counter-clockwise. Yes, some of us can't avoid noticing this kind of thing. The video annoys me, so I'll annoy you by commenting about it!
What does your thumbnails even mean for this and the fork video, because it cannot be sag because on the fork thumbnail it's a bout 40% and this shock video it's about 60% at the perfect mark. So, are you making memes with the thumbnails, or what does that even mean because it makes no sense if that is to be all suspension used either.
My weight is 100kg, if I set rockshox superdeluxe at 250psi, I gave around 30% sag, therefore I have it at 300psi not to use end of travel that much. Can’t imagine pressurizing it about 20% lower in order to have what - 40%+ sag?
@@onetwofourfive I really was curious if this was applicable to everybody. I read a comment somewhere that said to double your kgs in PSI, and for me worked perfectly with small adjustments. I am at around 70 kg and I run around 150-155 PSI not to bottom out on jumps. The shock is Rockshox Monarch Plus Rhv.. sorry If my comment was misleading, for me it worked. Also for the fork if I would use Rockshox recommended settings it would be too much.. so.. Also for my shock I put it to 250 PSI when it was damaged and I had to do the 50 hr service, but had to wait few more days, basically at that pressure I made my bike a Hardtail...
I dont know why but when my shock goes down and then up its like hitting something hard maybe its too much air on it im asking you because when i go to a shop they say “oh u need to change it” i do not need to change it but the guys who work at bike service shops at my city are so dumb
With all the stuff being thrown and tossed in and out of frame, we're going to NEED the bloopers please.
The hardest part of setting up suspension for me is actually understanding what I am feeling on the bike. When I am changing PSI or knob twiddling, most of the time I don't know how to tell what the difference is.
If you are riding pretty smooth stuff, it really does not matter much of course, so use PSI to set the ride height for good cornering IMO. But if you are riding rough stuff where you want to use all your travel, I would set the compression on its softest setting before you set the PSI to just barely bottom out on your course on the biggest hits. If your sag is not enough on the fork, then you might want to back off the PSI to get more sag, and use the compression clicker to help keep the fork from bottoming on the biggest hits. The more compression you use, the more harsh the small bumps will get. Then I would try to dial in the rebound by feel, but it gets tricky. There are a lot of overlapping factors of adjustment, and that is why it is confusing,---to just about everybody, even good tuners. If you get a harsh ride over stutter bumps (bumps in succession), for example, it can be hard to tell if your compression is too stiff, or if your rebound is too slow (allowing the forks to keep packing into a stiffer zone of travel as you hit each bump). Some people actually take video for something like that, so they can see what the forks are doing.
The goal for the bumpy stiff is, you want to use all your travel for the biggest hits, but still have the correct sag for the frame geometry, and have good small bump absorption. Sounds simple that way huh? :)
Right on point!
@@EarthSurferUSAu da goat
I have a Santa Cruz and I’m like Henry so it’s a little tough to setup my rear shock but I’m gonna use this information to set it up correctly. Thanks Christina.
Thanks, great work, cheers Chistina
Good info I learnt something and I will have a go thank you
can you make a detailed vid on how you can modify your shim stacks to tune your suspension? especially on bikes without HSR and HSC dials? Thanks
Why don't you research your particular shock first? Why does PB have to do the work for you? Are you even skilled enough to notice a shim tune?
@@seanoneil277 If he is talking about the shock piston valving shim stack, not many people really know what to do there. Only the guys in tuning shops who have a lot of experience with them,---are worth paying to do it for you. :) My bet is you can use all the other "items of tune", including shock oil viscosity too, to get any good name shock working very well. IMO, if you run out of clicker adjustment with all the otehr settings that you need dialed in, (like not enough rebound clicks to handle a very stiff spring), then you may want to look at "re-valving" the valve stack.
@@EarthSurferUSA Someone asking such simplistic Qs as the guy above would not be wise to tamper with anything in the realm of "tuning." Doesn't even know the right questions, how can he possibly "tune" anything?
Learning to ride well and understand what the bike is doing, or shouldn't be doing, that's many steps before "hey I think my fork needs tuning." What he attributes to the fork may be rider technique error. I'd say it is pretty likely that's the case.
wonderful guide. thanks!
I switched to coil and it annoyed me getting the right sag so I bought a springdex. Never looking back
Nice one Chappetta! Sure would like to get my hands on some Ohlins......it's only 💸💸right?!
I absolutely love my Rallon! Great video😎👍
Great content! 🤘
She's a great host. Nice content too PB!
Thank you.
6:15 Kashima T-Handle?! Where? Great little series, always appreciated.
Pretty sure that's just normal stainless steel reflecting the yellow of the bike
@@tomvonderharr865hmm you're right, could be 🤔
Anyone know what the zip off pants she's wearing at 1:41 are? haven't seen zip off mtb pants and they look sick
Good job👍
Excellent video, as always. 👍
As good as the last one !
We need you to do #EUCs please.
The hardest part is getting off of the bike without jostling it further into the suspension travel…..(gotta say having the sag % marks on the shaft, ala Rockshox, is not having to use a delicate caliper measuring device)
Also... careful not scratch the fork or shock if measuring with a caliper as they are typically a bit pointy
if your sag changes that easily getting off then I’d argue that’s a clear indicator that it’s way too soft
is a well set up mountain bike (dual suspension) more comfortable for use on normal rides (on roads and gravel tracks)?
Yes, but you will lose some energy to the shocks, especially if you are standing up pedaling.
So you set up shock sag standing on the pedals? Other how to articles or videos says to set it seated.
Consistency is key, and as long as you do it the same time either way both will work well. Thanks for watching!
Good evening . im following your journey and because of you i also purchase Ohlins rxf36 160 mm travel and ttx2 150 mm travel.. we have a common riding style but dont know how to setup my psi and rebound.. im 64 kilograms.. I Hope that you can help me with the Setup.. Even how many clicks and psi for my weight is a big Help.. 🙏.. i hope you can read my messages...
King content.
Here is the difference for setting shock sag between a Mt. bike and a Motocross/dirt bike. It is best, like with the forks, to measure the sag at the axle travel, (which you do directly at the fork tubes for the telescopic forks). With a dirt bike, you measure from the axle to a point on the rear fender, but you don't have a rear fender on a Mt. Bike. You could make a tool that has a horizontal rod (mimicking a rear fender), from your seat post, making a point on the rod vertical from the rear axle that you can measure to. The reason why that would be more accurate. (how much more accurate depends on your shock linkage design), is because the movement of your axle is not a linear ratio to the movement of the shock shaft, (because of the linkage). For example, 30% of the shock shaft will not be 30% of the axle travel, so you will have some error there. I would be willing to bet the linkage is the "rising rate" kind. Which means as the axle goes through it travel, the shock shaft in relation to the axle moves further, (per equal incremental axle movement), the more it is compressed. I would have to do the math for different linkages, but it would not surprise me that a shaft sag set at 30% of the shaft stroke, would be as much as 35-40% at the axle for its travel, depending on the linkage rising rate design. The rising rate, (or falling rate is possible with some designs), will be different for each different linkage. But if you made the rod tool, you can set the rear sag as repeatable at the rear axle, (where the bike geometry is directly affected), as you do for the forks for every bike. There is an "arc" for the rear axle too, so some manufactures do pick a different point on the fender to measure from, (most are measured up in a vertical line from the axle.), but nobody has made a way to fix that bit of error. To measure the rear sag on a motorcycle, it usually takes 2 people: One sitting on the bike in full gear, and one measuring the differences from full extension to the sag. There is a comp-0any called Motool called 'The Slacker", that allows one person to set the sag with a digital read out velcro-ed to your handlebar.
Now, should you sit on your seat, or stand in your attack position to set the rear sag. I say use your attack position, but some sit. On the digital read out, I do see a couple mm difference. Doug in Michigan
There is a company called Motool, who makes a rear sag adjusting tool called 'The Slacker"
Nice, ima go do this right now...oh wait there still 1 meter of snow outside :(
I am "shocked"😮
I searched it on my Laufey and couldn't find it😱😅😅😅
Love you videos. So one of my issues when setting up my rear shock is the the fact when I unscrew the pump it looses air. I find myself pumping the rear shock up with 20-30psi more just to compensate for the air I loose when I unscrew it. Do you have a good way of doing this and not loosing air? Are some shock pumps better than others? Maybe you can do a video about this issue. Thanks again
A good pump helps a lot
That shouldn't happen, read the instructions. The Topeak pocket shock for example has a 2 step valve to avoid any air loss.
@PeloMR2 thanks for letting me know about the two step air valve. I actually went to my LBS and questioned them about my shock pump and they said it was normal to loose air when unscrewing the pump lol. If only they would have schooled me on other pumps they would have made a sale 😕
The air you hear hissing when unscrewing the pump is just the air in the hose, and not coming out of the suspension, (unless you have a crappy pump, which would probably be made in china by some off brand pump). If you see the 20-30 PSI gone when you hook the pump back up, it is probably the loss that is filling up the pump hose again. Hook it up twice with out re-pumping the shock, and you should see the same loss again, or close to it. Then you can be pretty sure the hissing you are hearing is just the pressure in the hose.
For the love of god.
Obviously, the air that you hear is coming from the hose and not the suspension so everything is ok.
I mean just for the fun I ask my 4 Year old Nice this question and she it took her around 15 seconds to answer it right in the first frakking time.
But I guess that's normal here in Switzerland.
Unbelievable I can't even........ how do you go through life?!
whoa dude, why you coming at Henry like that
Well that rear shock worth more than my entire bike
@@sjanzeir paid less than 300 new for it
I actually have both the Öhlins 36m.2 and Öhlins ttx shock air on my new Commencal Tempo. They are absolutely worth the money. Honestly not even in the same category as Rockshox and Fox if you ask me.
Did you make those catches on the first try? Lol
You should have mentions spring rates in coil shocks for weights and ride use not just measuring sag. 😂
A few Millimeters makes all the difference.....thats what she said :D
For christ sake, either do not use caliper or do it very very gently. Their tips can scratch anything and you don’t want that on your fork or suspension. Why don’t all manufacturers print percebtages of sag like rosk shox does?
Because RockShox has a patent on printing the sag indicator
*sigh* Of course they do 😑
(And they don't print it on their lower end forks and shocks either. Recon, 35, Reba, Deluxe, Deluxe Select+, etc). Disappointing.
* laughs in 1998 Proflex Beast *
😍che bella
Dang this vid made me laugh so so much. way too many things to joke about. lol
th-cam.com/video/DJoH_OHLLKc/w-d-xo.html - an old Seb Stott article used riding gently off the curb whilst seated on a dropper in the descend position as a good way to measure the rebound; and a little more accurate than just bouncing in place. Same concept though; once off the curb it should return once and any more than that the rebound is too high
I think, wrong link. But that technique does not sound very legit to me for a final tune. Just bouncing in place is not a great indicator either though. Both may get you ballpark, and I will admit the rebound is confusing to me a bit and it does depend a lot on the kind of bumps on the ground. Getting the rebound ballpark, on the fast side so it is not packing the shock on successive bumps, then setting everything else when actually riding can leave rebound as the last factor to fine tune, which is nice when you only have one factor left to tune. Then you can probably get it pretty well set by how it feels on the tricky successive bumps. Having somebody take vid of the rear end to see what it is doing, (like packing), on those bumps may help too.
@@EarthSurferUSA I was linking the video time to reference what I was talking about :) But yeah bouncing in place isn't great I don't think; and setting the rebound off a real curb with weight into the bike provides (i think) a better starting point to go from. This is the Seb video (with correct timestamp) I am referring to: th-cam.com/video/xhnKTZu2AKs/w-d-xo.html
explaining how to open locks on your shock, mtb for dummies would have been a good title
0:35 jeez
"LEE-ver"... that ain't how they talk in Louisiana. u been in Canada too long!
Good video but it fails to address rider weights. Im a "robust" rider and most of my shocks are Fox. On their spec sheets, Im literally given 1-2 clicks at best on any of the rebound or compression settings. Setting it in the middle would be a like watching Uncle Bucks car, rolling down the road.
How does it fail to address rider weight? You set the pressure in the shock approximately and then set the sag BASED ENTIRELY ON HOW FAR IT MOVES THROUGH THE STROKE. Which depends on your weight. It’s not rocket science
@@R1ckyfrankl1n- the compound and rebound setting. Not sag. Reading comprehension my friend. That’s not rocket science.
Weight is Sag, not Compression or Rebound.
@@markkielbaso9842 - Again the comment was made about the uselessness of Rebound and Compression settings for heavier riders. I can set the Sag at 15%, 20% 25% etc and the Rebound and Compression settings literally give me a single click option (also based off weight- look up their manuals).
@@alexford5214 she did say comp and rebound are relative to your spring rate.... shrug.
You guys picked a faucet video with the wrong perspective! From the camera's point of view, stopping the water requires rotating the lever counter-clockwise. Yes, some of us can't avoid noticing this kind of thing. The video annoys me, so I'll annoy you by commenting about it!
I noticed that. Why use a vertical handle instead of a horizontal? Very poor faucet choice 😂
Hardtail gang.
Poor Henry :(
What was with that POV shoot and use of words "stroke" "shaft" "full length" 😅
What does your thumbnails even mean for this and the fork video, because it cannot be sag because on the fork thumbnail it's a bout 40% and this shock video it's about 60% at the perfect mark. So, are you making memes with the thumbnails, or what does that even mean because it makes no sense if that is to be all suspension used either.
Shut Up Meg!!!!!! heheheheheheheheeheeeeheheheheeh (no seriously, good video thanks)
Double your weight in kg and then put it in PSI, it should be around 25-30%. then do some adjustments
My weight is 100kg, if I set rockshox superdeluxe at 250psi, I gave around 30% sag, therefore I have it at 300psi not to use end of travel that much. Can’t imagine pressurizing it about 20% lower in order to have what - 40%+ sag?
@@onetwofourfive I really was curious if this was applicable to everybody. I read a comment somewhere that said to double your kgs in PSI, and for me worked perfectly with small adjustments. I am at around 70 kg and I run around 150-155 PSI not to bottom out on jumps. The shock is Rockshox Monarch Plus Rhv.. sorry If my comment was misleading, for me it worked.
Also for the fork if I would use Rockshox recommended settings it would be too much.. so..
Also for my shock I put it to 250 PSI when it was damaged and I had to do the 50 hr service, but had to wait few more days, basically at that pressure I made my bike a Hardtail...
Uugh 😬
It's a good video explaining everything but...
Chunder. Pls stop using that word.
Look the definition 😂
Shaft… 😬
I dont know why but when my shock goes down and then up its like hitting something hard maybe its too much air on it im asking you because when i go to a shop they say “oh u need to change it” i do not need to change it but the guys who work at bike service shops at my city are so dumb
First one:)