Suspension Settings

[southwester]

Hi,

I've just put +10% stiffer springs in my forks and shock on my rev3 thinking I was doing the right thing?

On the rear I have to wind the preload nut nearly all the way up to achieve 1/3 rider sag 60mm which I don't think is quite correct and when off the bike the bike sag is 3mm at this setting, the forks drop 1/3 rider sag with about 17mm of bike sag with no preload.

If I wind the nut on the rear shock virtually all the way down I end up with 9mm of bike sag and 79mm of rider sag.

when jumping up and down on the pegs with 1/3 sag and 3mm of preload I can feel the rear topping out, I'll call it, but this doesn't happen with 9mm of bike sag.

I've had the shock serviced by Andy Dawson with new bearings ect and new oil in forks and the new set up has about 4.5hrs of riding time on them.

I had the rider sag set at 79mm or so on my 1st ride out on the set up and the with the forks at zero pre load 1st impressions were the fork spring is to stiff as I can feel it a bit more as the front wheel lands on the ground and it feels to hard to compress to unweight.

So what I'm asking is it better to have the front and back set to a 1/3 rider sag with 3mm of preload on the rear and 17mm or so on the front or wind it down so I have more sag on the rear sacrificing the 1/3 which would upset the balance with the front with the stiffer spring in?

Can anybody offer any advice on where I should be with this because I'm lost with it?

[copemech]

I cannot give you Beta specific numbers, yet I can tell you a few things.

What is your weight? Most riders do not require heavy springs for the front and may be too harsh.

A plus 10 spring for the rear is usually sufficient for heavy lads (100 kilo +).

You need some static sag of 10-15 mm or so in the rear min., as things need to float over stuff and get grip even unloaded.

Forget about 1/3 rule loaded, as this is not stone. what works and feels right is stone and usually nowhere near those settings. Specially for an average rider. Most my fat lads in expert ride stock springs! And work them a bit!

[thesolidman1]

I agree with Copemech regarding sag. I know many will disagree with this, but setting sag at 1/3 of the travel does not apply to trials bikes. Ohlins specs 45 -50% of wheel travel with their trials shocks. Don't take my word for it - set your sag at 1/3 of the travel and test it, then set it at 1/2 of the travel and see for your self.

[southwester]

I cannot give you Beta specific numbers, yet I can tell you a few things.

What is your weight? Most riders do not require heavy springs for the front and may be too harsh.

A plus 10 spring for the rear is usually sufficient for heavy lads (100 kilo +).

You need some static sag of 10-15 mm or so in the rear min., as things need to float over stuff and get grip even unloaded.

Forget about 1/3 rule loaded, as this is not stone. what works and feels right is stone and usually nowhere near those settings. Specially for an average rider. Most my fat lads in expert ride stock springs! And work them a bit!

I am 100kg + riding gear, now if I knew about forgetting the 1/3 rule I was probably ok in the 1st place!

With the preload nut backed all the way off there is only 9mm of static sag, there was more with the original spring maybe 30mm with the preload nut backed all the way off but did drop more loaded like 95mm, do new springs bed in so to speak?.

I think your right about the front spring to it did feel harsh and a lot stiffer in comparison to the rear which seems hardly any stiffer, I assumed they would need to be of the same rate? which I don't think they are anyway!, I'll swap it back to the original and see how it go's that should drop the front in comparison to the rear as well.

I agree with Copemech regarding sag. I know many will disagree with this, but setting sag at 1/3 of the travel does not apply to trials bikes. Ohlins specs 45 -50% of wheel travel with their trials shocks. Don't take my word for it - set your sag at 1/3 of the travel and test it, then set it at 1/2 of the travel and see for your self.

I'll take your word for it and if that's what Ohlins say that'll do!

The spring on the rear with no pre load measures up at 79mm rider sag and 9mm of static sag so I'll try that.

Cheers

[copemech]

At 100 kilo, what I may think would be for you to keep the rear spring on as it will/ should settle in a bit, but go back to the stock front.

If for some reason you find the front bottoming out too often, there are other adjustments such as the damping, thicker oil blend, and changing oil level height(airspace) that can change the way they react.

[southwester]

I put the original spring back in the front and it does feel better than the +10, I've never had the bottoming but if I do I'll bear what you said in mind.

I think I'll play with the pre loads and rebound adjuster for a couple of months and then swap back to the original rear spring and see how it compares.

Do springs ware out? it was a good few mm shorter than the new one which I had to wedge some lengths of wood down from the rafters onto the collar with the shock body held in a vice to compress the spring to get the cir clip in!

The original more or less fell off!