This was great Dave!
Something I've learned over the years, as a general sentiment, is to run your rebound as fast as you feel comfortable. Here are two examples of the two extremes.
Too fast: Think about riding across washboard on a road, too fast will cause the wheels to lose contact with the ground too often. Like, the wheels are fluttering and you may have 20-30% of overall ground contact because the suspension is returning too quickly creating a skittering effect, like your wheels are fluttering.
Too slow: A lot of people associate getting bucked on jump lips with too fast of a rebound, and just slow er down (referencing rear suspension rebound here). This can actually exasperate that issue as the suspension is getting trapped to far down in the travel until the spring force progression (compressed air/or coil spring) overcomes the rebound damping abilities. This creates a worse case scenario problem because the bike reacts in a way you're not accustomed to.
I tend to agree, most riders are running their rebound settings too slow. Not dramatically, but enough to make a dramatic difference in ride quality and, ultimately control.
Dec. 16, 2024, 5:23 p.m. - larsnbars
This was great Dave! Something I've learned over the years, as a general sentiment, is to run your rebound as fast as you feel comfortable. Here are two examples of the two extremes. Too fast: Think about riding across washboard on a road, too fast will cause the wheels to lose contact with the ground too often. Like, the wheels are fluttering and you may have 20-30% of overall ground contact because the suspension is returning too quickly creating a skittering effect, like your wheels are fluttering. Too slow: A lot of people associate getting bucked on jump lips with too fast of a rebound, and just slow er down (referencing rear suspension rebound here). This can actually exasperate that issue as the suspension is getting trapped to far down in the travel until the spring force progression (compressed air/or coil spring) overcomes the rebound damping abilities. This creates a worse case scenario problem because the bike reacts in a way you're not accustomed to. I tend to agree, most riders are running their rebound settings too slow. Not dramatically, but enough to make a dramatic difference in ride quality and, ultimately control.