[Dog Welder]

What would be considered a high ratio. What bikes have high ratios. Are there any benefits to a high ratio?

What would be considered a low ratio? What bikes have low
ratios. Are there any benefits to a low ratio?

Just real simple. Not trying to get real indepth. Thanks.

 

[edoz]

Bike sometimes use high ratios to get longer travel out of a shock with a given stroke at a higher air pressure or spring rate. Obviously with an air shock this is less than ideal. You have to run higher air pressure, which means shorter seal life. Generally, you'll have to run more damping on the rebound side than with a lower ratio. Sugars and FSRs Fuels are low ratio. My Titus Motolite is rather high. Look at the shocks mounting position on the link or swingarm. If you had to move it with your hand think of where you would want to put it and that's about as high leverage as you'll get. Compare your actual position and you can get an idea. I hope this helps, but I'm not into downhill, so I don't have as much knowledge about suspension as I would like.

 

[Micro-Sanjay]

Originally posted by edoz
My Titus Motolite is rather high.

you got that right....

but it was still a fun bike for me...just needed a little tweaking on the pivot points..however, it's replaced by the SwitchBlade model..which is a bit more refined..

Doug, it's always better to find a suspension design with a slightly or lower lev ratio. One, it won't overtax your rearshock. Two, you can run lower spring rate which helps eliminate the harshness on the first initial stroke (compliance)... Are you in the market for a racing frame for next year????

Ozzer

 

[KonaDude]

Fun stuff.

High leverage depends on the travel of the bike. For shorter travel bikes, anything pushing 3.5:1 is getting high. 4:1 is bad, in my opinion. For longer travel DH bikes that use 3" stroke shocks (there isn't really much longer out there aside from Avalanche's MTN 3.5, which is 12" eye to eye), 3.5:1 or so is alright if you're going for 10-11" of travel and get the right spring rate. On some designs I'm more concerned with leverage on the linkage components causing frame durability issues (exemplified by Rocky Mountain's RM6/7/9 lineup.

High leverage bikes (off the top of my head):
Brodie 8 Ball,
Rocky RM 6/7/9,
Older Karpiel Disco (new ones updated to use lower leverage, longer stroke shock),
SC Super 8,
etc...

Low leverage can be good or bad, depending on the extent to which it is used. Low leverage can eliminate tuning options for light riders, as it will be more difficult to set up soft. However it will increase frame and shock life, and can be extremely beneficial for big hit freeriding or DHing, as the tuning options utilized will be better felt and have more control over the suspension. Bikes with low leverage:

CPC Patriot,
Kona Stinky (5" travel model),
Norco VPS Launch/Drop (the 5" ones with 2" stroke shocks),
and etc..

Hope this helps a bit.

 

[kafin8ed]

high leverage ratios are bad for air shocks because they require higher air pressure thus reducing reliability. high leverage ratios are also "bad" for both air & coil shocks because the shock's rebound dampening becomes insensitive to rider input (rebound knob). the shock has to be built & valved specifically for the high ratio set-up or else turning the dampening knob isn't going to do much. I'm sure the Avalanche, 5th Dim., & Curnnut can handle this sorta thing... it's gonna be a gamble with other brands though & you will probably need to have them rebuilt more frequently...