I am trying to get my head around suspension set up and have a Trek Rail 9 2021. So fare other than fiddling with the compression and rebound setting and to be honest I dont have much idea about what I’m doing. So I have purchased a ShockWiz to see if it can get me to a point where my bike is handling as it should and also I am hoping to learn something about my suspension. So to set the ShockWiz up it needs to know how many if any volume spaces are in the shock and fork. So far I have not opened up either fork or shock so can anybody tell me if there are any in there to begin with or not from new? The bike has a Zeb up front and a Super Deluxe Ultimate RT3 out back. I have found the rear to bottom out on some rough terrain but the fork seems not to bad so any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance Matt.
High Rock Ruti
I identify with your confusion. I was mystified by suspension set up, which why the reply is long winded
An important thing about spacers is they allow the fork/shock to remain high in the stroke, low in pressure and progressive during deeper compression, any attempt to slow down compression with the dials immediately affects plushness and on 50 pound bike our upper bodies are taking the brunt of the forces tired arms, shoulders, elbows, wrists and hands.
By playing (experimenting) with the number spacers various pressures, various compression settings and rebound settings I've found a happy set up. I use volume spacers to have the suspension ride high in the (Fox 38 3 spacers) stroke, I set the pressure to do the same for sag, and set rebound so the wheel stays on the ground most of the time
I'm old I don't do giant jumps maybe 6 or 10 feet in the air or drops maybe 3 foot drops. I'm looking for plushness while I'm seated over roots, rocks and undulations, (staying relaxed without the death grip) looking for ramp up in progression when standing and rolling fast with no harsh bottom, so far I've found little use for high/low compression, it reduces plushness so the dampers are wide open. Let me reiterate I experiment all the time. This is the only way I've found actual feel between various settings too much pressure, to much compression and too much rebound it takes time particularly with fox who offers so many setting combinations. I've never been able to get the plushness from RockShox of fox not far off mind you, it has taken several years of changing settings over and over to detect the feel of small adjustments very satisfying however. Your looking to develop your "feel" here, when you can feel one click of adjustment in any setting your there. Watch Dialed on YouTube Jordey Cortez is the master mechanic for Fox one episode he takes a rider out makes settings by moving 3 clicks do a short run ask for impressions "is it better or worse?" New settings same run same question. Every time we ride the opportunity to change settings exists you just have to adjust enough times and the mystery becomes awareness and understanding and finally feel
Warm Regards Ruti
