Good questions. I talked a bit about the trails I was riding in the first article I wrote about data acquisition, which I of course didn't include a link to.
I've been looking at my tuning in two parts. The easy bit is the full travel end of things. Sag & spacers to ensure things feel good and there's enough in the tank on larger hits. This is very bike/shock dependent. I tried to do some data acquisition on some more challenging trails but the results just weren't all that useful. A plummet followed by a flat bit just doesn't give you much to work with.
So, for data acquisition I found myself searching for faster, bumpier trails. If I can get something that is working well on repetitive hits yet supportive enough on big hits, it's likely going to work most places. I don't really change my setup much for locations, but if I lived somewhere else I'd probably re-think that a bit. If I ride up in Kamloops I tend to ride pretty mellow stuff and this setup will feel just fine for that riding, but I won't be going very deep into travel. A shorter travel bike would likely be better on this stuff, anyhow.
I think your comment on jumps and slow speed tech are related. I think riding both of these things we default more towards the "comfortable". We want a stable platform that isn't moving a lot or swallowing our body english.
Dec. 16, 2024, 12:15 p.m. - Dave Tolnai
Good questions. I talked a bit about the trails I was riding in the first article I wrote about data acquisition, which I of course didn't include a link to. I've been looking at my tuning in two parts. The easy bit is the full travel end of things. Sag & spacers to ensure things feel good and there's enough in the tank on larger hits. This is very bike/shock dependent. I tried to do some data acquisition on some more challenging trails but the results just weren't all that useful. A plummet followed by a flat bit just doesn't give you much to work with. So, for data acquisition I found myself searching for faster, bumpier trails. If I can get something that is working well on repetitive hits yet supportive enough on big hits, it's likely going to work most places. I don't really change my setup much for locations, but if I lived somewhere else I'd probably re-think that a bit. If I ride up in Kamloops I tend to ride pretty mellow stuff and this setup will feel just fine for that riding, but I won't be going very deep into travel. A shorter travel bike would likely be better on this stuff, anyhow. I think your comment on jumps and slow speed tech are related. I think riding both of these things we default more towards the "comfortable". We want a stable platform that isn't moving a lot or swallowing our body english.