#!markdown
But the point is that some of use ride often enough and at a decent enough
level that looking at your settings and comparing to a known weight and rider
style (I have seen enough photos of you riding to determine that fairly
accurately) gives me a pretty accurate start point.
Same bike, same shock tune, similar temps (Whistler), same trails, different
shock pumps (they are all different), only real differences are riding styles,
tyres and tyre pressures. But close enough to give me a start point.
You were bang on about 6 bands, who would have thought that all those extra
bands would help create a better mid travel platform yet still allow full use
of travel. Well done on experimenting with that many bands.
My experience with the Debonair:
M/L tune; no bands; 225 psi = 30% sag, bike cannot use full travel (even with
deliberate experiementation) and bike rides like poop (poor traction and trail
compliance in any setting). Search forums, find that 35% is the magic number,
realise that a wide range of air pressures can give 35%, speak to suspension
maestros and Santa Cruz re "problem" realise that:
a. Debonair not really designed for 215 lbs riders (140 -200 lbs given as
design range).
b. Shock not very well understood by suspension maestros, and
c. Air can trying to juggle too many variables with one set of valves and not
enough adjustment potential (ie no LSC and HSC and a fairly vague rebound
dial).
Give up, fit X-Fusion Vector Air HLR, easy set up, awesome in all areas, would
give it 100% if there was a climb switch to firm up LSC/ LSR for climbing but
not an issue most of the time.
Thought I would give it another go whilst injured as I was doing a lot more
seated climbing and a lot more slower descending. Expecting more from the
climb and less from the descend.
M/L tune; 2 bands; 205 psi = 35% sag, bike cannot use full travel, far better
traction but still looking for something more, requires lots of use of trail/
climb mode but traction suffers in climb mode.
M/L tune; 4 bands; 200 psi = 35% sag, bike can use full travel, hold up better
in mid travel, needs trail mode for climbing. Traction could be better when
climbing.
M/L tune; 6 bands; 195 psi = 35% sag, bike can smoothly use full travel, holds
up well in mid travel, better with trail mode for climbing but no longer
mandatory. Traction amazing. Starting to forget shock is there and just
enjoying riding.
But to be honest it looks as if SRAM started running these press camps when
they worked out that their initial shock set up material was actually very
poor (implied that the volume reducing bands only affected end stroke and had
no effect on the shock holding slightly higher in the mid travel or increasing
traction) and that a lot of Nomad owners (and probably other bike model
owners) were struggling to understand why the Debonair was selected for the
Nomad in the first place.
Just my two cents worth based on playing with it (and riding it a lot) since
July 2014.
June 15, 2015, 5:02 p.m. - AndrewR
#!markdown But the point is that some of use ride often enough and at a decent enough level that looking at your settings and comparing to a known weight and rider style (I have seen enough photos of you riding to determine that fairly accurately) gives me a pretty accurate start point. Same bike, same shock tune, similar temps (Whistler), same trails, different shock pumps (they are all different), only real differences are riding styles, tyres and tyre pressures. But close enough to give me a start point. You were bang on about 6 bands, who would have thought that all those extra bands would help create a better mid travel platform yet still allow full use of travel. Well done on experimenting with that many bands. My experience with the Debonair: M/L tune; no bands; 225 psi = 30% sag, bike cannot use full travel (even with deliberate experiementation) and bike rides like poop (poor traction and trail compliance in any setting). Search forums, find that 35% is the magic number, realise that a wide range of air pressures can give 35%, speak to suspension maestros and Santa Cruz re "problem" realise that: a. Debonair not really designed for 215 lbs riders (140 -200 lbs given as design range). b. Shock not very well understood by suspension maestros, and c. Air can trying to juggle too many variables with one set of valves and not enough adjustment potential (ie no LSC and HSC and a fairly vague rebound dial). Give up, fit X-Fusion Vector Air HLR, easy set up, awesome in all areas, would give it 100% if there was a climb switch to firm up LSC/ LSR for climbing but not an issue most of the time. Thought I would give it another go whilst injured as I was doing a lot more seated climbing and a lot more slower descending. Expecting more from the climb and less from the descend. M/L tune; 2 bands; 205 psi = 35% sag, bike cannot use full travel, far better traction but still looking for something more, requires lots of use of trail/ climb mode but traction suffers in climb mode. M/L tune; 4 bands; 200 psi = 35% sag, bike can use full travel, hold up better in mid travel, needs trail mode for climbing. Traction could be better when climbing. M/L tune; 6 bands; 195 psi = 35% sag, bike can smoothly use full travel, holds up well in mid travel, better with trail mode for climbing but no longer mandatory. Traction amazing. Starting to forget shock is there and just enjoying riding. But to be honest it looks as if SRAM started running these press camps when they worked out that their initial shock set up material was actually very poor (implied that the volume reducing bands only affected end stroke and had no effect on the shock holding slightly higher in the mid travel or increasing traction) and that a lot of Nomad owners (and probably other bike model owners) were struggling to understand why the Debonair was selected for the Nomad in the first place. Just my two cents worth based on playing with it (and riding it a lot) since July 2014.