gasgas23 Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 ok, so i know many of you are going to should at me about ruining a good trials bike blah blah, but how have julian dupont and arthur coutard modded there suspension to allow them to do the big jumps? Or do they just ride the bike till its trashed and get another?? I know arthur does freestyle and has the trials bike ramp jump record at 35 meters, and dupont also jumps and flips the bike alot. any ideads?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pindie Posted September 11, 2012 Report Share Posted September 11, 2012 Stiffer (heavier springs), re valving and different (thicker) oils, skill and techniques. Also a lot of scap bikes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattylad Posted September 11, 2012 Report Share Posted September 11, 2012 Chris bruand uses a Fournales rear shock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gasgas23 Posted September 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 Guys, thank you for atually answering my question instead of just telling me that you cant do that to a trials bike! Do you think putting stiffer springs front and rear and heavier oil in the front will be enough for small ish mountain bike jumps an a few drop offs?? Or should i really be thinkin about a new rear shock? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tankygsy Posted September 12, 2012 Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 (edited) My two pennies worth... I cant say what parts there are using but... If you are primarily doing high drop offs then the key to a successful landing from whatever height is a:) not bottoming out, and b:) controlling the speed of rebound on landing so you don't get thrown off or loose traction prior to the next obstacle. A:) can be achieved by using dampers with lots of travel. b:) can be achieved using different damping settings and oil viscosity. With the damper settings front and rear at full soft to begin with I would reccomend putting a cable tie on the damper shaft and fork tubes, then do a few drop offs starting small and increasing the height you drop off each time to see how much suspension travel you are actually using. Where the cable tie ends up after dropping off is the suspension travel. Go through a series of low medium and high drop offs recording your results each time then repeat the process, this time refine the damping. The front will be easier to tune as you can adjust bump and rebound individually whereas the rear will likely be a single control knob adjusting both at the same time. You can of course use different oils in the front - this essentially increases or decreases the overall bump / rebound. Bump setting: if the landing feels hard, for instance as if the suspension bottoms out quickly - increase the bump setting front and rear. Rebound setting: If after landing the bike 'recoils' back on rebound to the point of throwing you off - increase rebound setting front and rear. You may find after this test you don't need to purchase any new parts and the stock parts might be suitable. If after the test you are still bottoming out then on the front you'll need to try a thicker oil in the bump side of the forks. If that doesn't cure the bottoming out you will need a stiffer front springs. At the rear there is little you can do to cure bottoming out other than fit a stiffer spring - perhaps one that is 25 - 50 lbs heavier for instance. Remember this - springs are for absorbing the LOAD of the impact, damping is for controlling the speed at which the spring absorbs this load. Bear in mind that setting up suspension only for high drop offs will effect the suspension for other circumstances, you may reduce grip up for going up hills or might make it too hard for riding over stones etc... You will need to find a compromise between drop offs and regular trial riding. No new parts will help you do both, it's all down to settings in my opinion. Edited September 12, 2012 by tankygsy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gasgas23 Posted September 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 Dude, thank you. I am atually going to print it and do what you said. Most helpful advice yet!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tankygsy Posted September 12, 2012 Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 Don't forget to let us know how you get on after your many hours of trial and error. Try and find a ball park setup and maximise what you have first. If you don't you'll be spending money unneccesarily. You'll be surprised what you can do on a stock machine when set up and ridden correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gasgas23 Posted September 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 Thank you i will. I am currently in the process of road registering the bike and making a removable seat. But i will document my progress. Yer i think i will have to treat it like riding a mountain bike and use myself as alot of the suspension and get used to really moving around on the bike. I have ridden down hill mountain biking in the past but have gotten lazy over the last few years from jumping a motocross bike where the suspension does all the work for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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