Suspension tuning, educate me

[Wheels]

Let me prefece this by saying im new to the mtb/emtbI world. I have two different bikes both with fox suspension. Ive been playing with the suspension lately and noticed i really wasnt using the full stroke on either bike, nor was the sag correct for my weight per the recommendation listed on the forks. They also felt harsh. so i dropped the air pressure below whats recommended and it improved the ride quality and i have yet to bottom the suspension out although im using nearly the full stroke now. My question is- should i be removing spacers instead of lowering the air pressure to achieve greater stroke Any Compliancy? Any helpful suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Gary]

My question is- should I be removing spacers instead of lowering the air pressure to achieve greater stroke Any Compliancy?

That depends entirely on whether you prefer your spring curve to be more progressive or linear, how much sag you want to run and where in the stroke you prefer more support.
adding/removing spacers changes the spring curve
adding/removing air changes the spring rate.

How about educating yourself by reading through the first post in the suspension set-up guide that's stickied at the top of this very forum?

 

[Eddy Current]

I would say go the remove air spacers and run your recommend sag route

What bike we are talking about?

 

[Wheels]

21 Turbo levo comp
And a custom salsa cassidy mtb performance elite 38/ factory x2. Ive been reading up on suspension but what gary mentioned about spring curve and spring rate tells me there is info i haven't read up on yet. Rode the levo tonight and it feels really good but some experimenting is in order. Need to read up first.

 

[Gary]

Yeah. Read up on what spacers actually do. How sag affects the ride and the differences between linear and progressive spring rates. Don't blindly follow advice such as Eddy's.
Clue: there actually isn't a recommended sag percentage. It's down to personal preference and suitability to the task (riding style and terrain etc.)

 

[Eddy Current]

Agree sag is something personal but there’s a margin ... playing with sag to solve a “problem” of the suspension design is not the way. Spacers is the same story but more when we talk about add, take off to made the suspensions more “gentle” is in my experience the best way and doesn’t mess that much with the original behavior. Then adjust the sag. As for the Levo is not the more progressive suspension out there so I don’t understand the harshness , the ibis no idea. I think also you can remove the shock travel limit is a plastic piece (not the tokens) and the more travel the more you can play with the tuning. Longer shock metric works better than smaller ones (250 vs 216 vs 185) you would fit a longer one with offsets bushings too ... bit of these bit of that can lead to a noticeable improve