[Del]

I have had the toughest time dialing in my rear shock on my Preston FR. It is a Manitou Swinger 4Way and no matter what I have done, it still bottoms out too easily. I know about the high leverage ratio of the bike but in every review one of the most raved about things was that the rear suspension felt bottomless, despite the short stroke and shock length. I can't ride down a rooty trail without hearing the awful sound of bottoming out. I've switched to a higher rate spring, increased the air pressure with a pump and increased the air pressure with the adjustment knob on the shock.

So if you ride a 2006 Preston with a 4Way Swinger in the rear, please let me know how you have your shock set up - please include your weight, the air pressure of the shock, the spring rate you run, and any other information you think may be helpful.

Thanks

 

[TRANSITION-MJR]

I have a 2006 Preston with a Swinger 4-Way, my weight is 160lb and i run about 80 for air and i have a 600X1.5 spring on the back. i have never had any problem with the rear bottoming out and i have put it to the test. you may have a junk or blown rear shock, might need a rebuild. just a thought but what kind of air pump are you using? i had a 5th Element high pressure pump and it didnt fully fit the shock so when i thought i was pumping air into the shock it was only reading the build up of air pressure in the pump hose. i finally figures out what was going on and switched to a marzocchi high pressure pump and now it works great. sorry to hear your having problems with yours. hope this helps.

 

[Del]

I'm a little heavier than you (190 lbs) but I'm also running much higher pressure (around 155) and a 650 lb spring. I'm not sure what kind of pump was used because I had a shop take care of it but they did mention it being a high pressure pump.

Last night I went for a ride and before I rode I adjusted the air pressure control on the resevoir of the shock. How does turning that adjuster affect the air pressure inside the shock? In other words, how many turns does it take for the pressure to increase?

 

[saturday2112]

i run a 6-way on a weyless but it shoudl be the same basic principle, the more you turn the red hex in, the smaller the air chamber, the harder to bottom out. if your having that much trouble try adjusting it and riding, adjusting it and riding, youll find the place

 

[saturday2112]

oh and i think 1 turn= 5psi but its more for bottom out

 

[brittmtb]

The problem isn't that you aren't setting your shock up right. The bikes have a regressive ramping rate. You can look at the angle formed by drawing a line from where the seat tube pivot is to the shock mounting bolt on the rocker link, and then to the shock mounting bolt to the frame. The angle starts off at 90 degrees where you get the most resistance from the shock and goes to angle greater than 90, meaning that the spring rate is falling so you will bottom out. You'll just have to run a stiffer spring than normal to conpensate for this if you don't want to bottom out.

 

[Fire Rider]

The other problem with the Preston/Swinger setup, is that they don't make a heavier spring than a 650lbs (6.5x1.5). They claim that a 700or 800lbs. spring, because of the diameter of the coil, will hit the reservior on the shock. That was at least what they told me when I called Manitou and it was the same story when I called Transition.

I've been riding a large '06 preston, with a Swinger 4-way 650lbs coil, for a little over a year. I'm 200lbs. I love the bike, but that little problem with bottoming has been a thorn in my side! I pretty much ride with it in the 4" position for drops and street and 5" when I do all-mountain riding (with smaller than 2ft. drops). Switching to a pro-tuned Romic or 4-way air may help, but I don't want to spend the money yet! I'm still having fun with it in the current set up.

 

[Sir_Crackien]

having/had a preston i can tell you that the bike ride much better with an air shock. this is because of the progressive spring rate of the air shocks. this counter acts the regressive rate of the bikes suspension telelimetery

 

[shroomtoon]

Sir crackien... you still out there? waking up an older thread..
My 4 way swinger is crap at this point and I'm considering an Air shock replacement.. I mainly run it in 4" mode.

Would an 08 roco Air 3 PL hold up to some freeride jumps? Haven't seen much info on new short stroke air shocks for the older Prestons..

Any other recomendations? anyone...

 

[Sir_Crackien]

the roco would probably be a good fit for the bike. i have the WC (air) model on my current dh bike. the roco i have seem to be very well mannered and likes to jump. it also has very goof bottom out protection. the think i like the best about it though is how smooth it is.

if you need to pedal the bike around alot read below

the shock i had on my preston was a rockshox MC-3. that shock has been replaced by the monarch which i think for be a great fit for the bike. it has a good pedaling platform and should prove to be plenty tough

 

[Mike.rider]

Ride the bike for a day in the 4 in travle mode and you wont go back... I had an 06 and now have an 05 the 4in travle position rides way better. Im 220 and ran a 600lbs spring 150 psi and never botomed unless i was really casing big jumps.

 

[clemsonbiker]

i love my coil. it so much more plush than the air. like mike said, run the 4" setting. the longer travel setting is just too squishy and bottoms easily. good luck dialing it in.

 

[Sir_Crackien]

as for the plushness thing i would argue that to the day i die at this point. i have ridden many air and coil shocks at this point and both are good the air shocks have better bottom out characteristics for us bigger guys (i weight 260 w/o gear). definitely run the bike in the 4" mode though. in the other mode (5") the rear bottoms way too easy.