[Avy Rider]

Hey folks, I recieved a phone call today from Craig Seekins at Avalanche Downhill Racing and he explained the ins and outs of high and low speed compression circuits and what they actually do. It was much appreciated that he still takes the time to talk to his customers after all the years he's been doing this. I emailed him this information so he could ensure that what I'm posting is correct. He gave me the go ahead to relay what he talked about on the phone here with you.

It turns out that I was thinking of what high speed compression does the wrong way. What you want your shock to do when it experiences high shaft speeds is to not spike or feel harsh. Backing off the high speed adjuster actually makes the bike feel soooo much plusher over square edged hits as it can quickly allow more oil flow.

Turn your low speed compression adjuster in so that the bike doesn't wallow or feel mushy.You want it to remain higher in its travel over low speed dips and have enough remaining travel to allow the high speed valving to be able to absorb any sudden jolts such as roots or rocks. Each bike will need it's own unique settings where the bike will feel lively over whoops etc and then also feel super smooth over any high speed impacts.

After reading how many folks set up their suspensions the wrong way he realized that a common mistake was that they set up their low speed compression too soft, run too little spring preload and then wonder why the bike still feels harsh. Keep sufficient preload on your spring so that it can overcome the compression on the rebounding stroke and track the ground.
It's important to keep your rebound as fast as possible but without being like a pogo stick so that the shock can expand after each successive bump it absorbs.

It turns out that many of the jumps that I was expecting my high speed compression to work on were actually being controlled by the low speed valving due to the transition of the landings. The high speed circuits need a very sharp impact and sudden high shaft speed hit to open up allowing that additional oil flow. As your suspension goes through its travel on a drop, it is slowing down and therefore is really being contolled more by the low speed compression towards the end of the travel.

What I didn't realize is how important it is to be able to dial in your low speed compression without having an increase in high speed compression. It makes a huge difference when the bike is screaming down a trail at top speed and the high speed compression is backed out to where it sucks up all the square edged hits with ease. That allows the bike to feel lively but super plush at speed.

Now I run a firmer low speed compression and back out the high speed compression. I get a balanced feel over whoops, g-outs and big drops to transitions where I used to sink too far into the bikes rear travel before.

Backing out the high speed compression instead of cranking it up enables the rear end to react to any harsh impact and the quick rebound setting makes sure that it's back up high in the stroke to absorb the next bump.

Thanks to Craig for phoning me and explaining things so clearly. He's right on the money and my bike has never felt smoother or faster.

 

[Transcend]

And now you know why no serious racers run avalanche, and why many people feel that the shocks are overdamped, overpriced nonsense.

That's pretty much the opposite of how you want your shock set up in any circumstance. You want the low speed extremely soft at the bottom over small hits to maintain traction, and you want it to ramp up as you hit bigger things so as not to blow through your travel.

You should rename this thread "how to not set up hi/low speed compression."

 

[stiksandstones]

I think thats how Jurgen sets his bike up.

 

[zedro]

That's pretty much the opposite of how you want your shock set up in any circumstance. You want the low speed extremely soft at the bottom over small hits to maintain traction, and you want it to ramp up as you hit bigger things so as not to blow through your travel.

might be a semantic problem between your two explanations, i think your describing the same thing....high shaft speeds mostly occur with small amplitude bumps (rock gardens at speed) and that would fall into requiring a lower rate hi-speed compression setting (basically what you said). Broad hits (tall rocks, landings, deep whoops) usually land in the low speed category. Basically bump frequencies above the suspensions natural frequency is high speed, equal or lower is low speed. Frequencies above the natural frequency wont displace the riders mass, so the wheel will be able to float, so you want a lower damping rate to take advantage. Lower frequencies need the higher rate to keep the mass from moving (i.e resonating at the natural frequency)...like my slow speed endos with a blown Shiver damper... BTW, a cars natural frequency is about 1 Hz, not sure what a bike/rider is.

Rebound rates have the opposite requirement.

 

[Avy Rider]

And now you know why no serious racers run avalanche, and why many people feel that the shocks are overdamped, overpriced nonsense.

That's pretty much the opposite of how you want your shock set up in any circumstance. You want the low speed extremely soft at the bottom over small hits to maintain traction, and you want it to ramp up as you hit bigger things so as not to blow through your travel.

You should rename this thread "how to not set up hi/low speed compression."

So you think it's better to have your low speed compression backed off so that your bike now uses up waaaaay to much of its stroke on whoops, berms and g-outs and then has the high speed compression cranked in so that it now is making every true high speed impact harsh by not allowing the oil to flow.

...Right.

If you think about what Craig is saying you realize that
"small hits" will feel super plush if you are hitting them at speed as the high speed valving is opening up allowing the shock to move and absorb them. If your low speed is backed out, the shock is using far too much travel on rider input just from you pushing down on the bike.

Very small bumps are absorbed by running the correct tire pressure and anything bigger hit at high speeds is opening up the oil flow letting the shock do what it meant to do...absorb energy.

Big drops are NOT handled with your high speed compression unless they are to flat and you dead sailor off them. In that case, you aren't downhill racing and your set up will only work on big flat drops.

Trust me it took listening to Craig explain it to make me see the light. Think of low speed compression as your friend. It supports you as you use body english to push the bike hard into corners and pop off lips of jumps etc.

The high speed being backed out is allowing the shock to make use of the available travel to soak up sudden hits like rocks and roots at 50 mile per hour but the quick rebound ensures that it returns to its sag ready for the next one.

I set up my suspension as Craig explained and the difference is night and day at high speed. The parking lot feel has absolutely nothing to do with what happens with the valving when the bike is going at full speed.

 

[Transcend]

might be a semantic problem between your two explanations, i think your describing the same thing....

Nope, not on the low end anyways. Avalanche told him to turn in his low speed compression adjuster, which on all bicycle suspension I know of, is for parking lot style adjustments. Ie: low amplitude, low speed hits. Crank this in, feel the damping when you bounce on it in the parking lot. Maybe they are named wrong, I don't know and it is entirely possible, but this is how it is on Fox etc.

Crank up the high speed adjuster for when you slam into a square edged hit or when you huck off of a building and don't want to blow through your travel.

This is also why avalanche suspension usually feels like overdamped junk.

 

[profro]

Good grief Fraser, you have no idea what you are talking about.

Olhins says, Seekins says it and you still think its wrong. These guys have so much experience. By the way, how do your fantastic suspension setups help you WALK through rock gardens these days?

However, the reason racers don't run Avy is because Avy doesn't give shocks away.

 

[Transcend]

Good grief Fraser, you have no idea what you are talking about.

Olhins says, Seekins says it and you still think its wrong. These guys have so much experience. By the way, how do your fantastic suspension setup help you WALK through rock gardens these days?

However, they reason racers don't run Avy is because Avy doesn't give shocks away.

Sure thing! Funny how the double barrel shocks I have ridden all worked extremely well and were extremely supple over low amplitude hits, and felt absolutely nothing like an overdamped avalanche with the low speed compression damping cranked up.

 

[Avy Rider]

Crank up the high speed adjuster for when you slam into a curb really hard or when you huck off of a building and don't want to blow through your travel.

This is also why avalanche suspension usually feels like overdamped junk.[/QUOTE]

You couldn't be more wrong actually. If you crank up your high speed compression then run into a curb really fast, you've now succeeded in NOT letting the shock move oil quickly enough and therefore making the hit very harsh. High speed compression is designed to allow the oil to flow, not restrict it. That is what your low speed settings are for.

Everyone has this image of minimal low speed compression being what makes the suspension feel smooth at high speeds. At high speeds, your low speed compression isn't making any real difference in the shock absorbing impacts. You want the bike's suspension to handle like a race car ie: firm and responsive until you need it to absorb something at high speed like a root or rock.

Picture driving a Caddilac around hitting pot holes on a back alley. The Caddy has that same super mushy vague feeling that you get when running minimal low speed compression. It wallows and handles like ****.

 

[Transcend]

You couldn't be more wrong actually. If you crank up your high speed compression then run into a curb really fast, you've now succeeded in NOT letting the shock move oil quickly enough and therefore making the hit very harsh. High speed compression is designed to allow the oil to flow, not restrict it. That is what your low speed settings are for.

Everyone has this image of minimal low speed compression being what makes the suspension feel smooth at high speeds. At high speeds, your low speed compression isn't making any real difference in the shock absorbing impacts. You want the bike's suspension to handle like a race car ie: firm and responsive until you need it to absorb something at high speed like a root or rock.

Picture driving a Caddilac around hitting pot holes on a back alley. The Caddy has that same super mushy vague feeling that you get when running minimal low speed compression. It wallows and handles like ****.

There's a difference between cranking it up like a buffoon and slowing it down to thepoint where it doesn't work, and turning it up enough to slow down the shaft before you slam into the bottom out bumper. I agree that you don't want the thing dialed all the way in, you may as well not run a suspension then. I'm not sure many people do this however? (Crank it way in).

You want the suspension supple at low speeds and in corners to maintain traction. This is people's biggest gripes about single pivots in fact, when you brake the rear end stiffens up and you lose traction when you need it most.

When you crank up the low speed compression and firm things up the wheel will start to skip around and you will lose traction. An off road vehicle and a tarmac race car have VERY different suspension setups. Check out the suspension settings for rally cars when they go from a tarmac stage to a dirt stage. Completely different ends of the spectrum, same car.

On that note, I'm going to sit back and watch this thread deteriorate from here on out.

 

[banrider]

Im quite interested in these thread as a (happy) Avy owner myself but Im sometimes lost in techy stuff as English isnt my mother tongue soo..could someone clarify using clockwise or counterclockwise the meanning of "back off" "crank in" "crank up" and so on??Id kindly appreciate it!!

 

[Avy Rider]

There IS such a thing as using too much travel on your bike. If you are using your bikes full travel on whoops and dips etc, it is not going to have enough remaning travel available to let the high speed compression circuit do its thing. You will make the suspension feel more harsh.

Keep your bike higher in the travel until it really needs to move enough to suck up a hard fast hit. You'll have a responsive feeling bike that tracks the ground and enough rear travel left over to suck up a big drop with ease. The LOW speed compression is helping more than the high speed if you are landing on a transition and the effect is eggagerated as the shock slows down the further it gets into its travel.

I'm not trying to make anyone feel like they are dumb or that I'm a know it all. I was doing things the wrong way too until i really listened to what Craig was saying and then applied it for myself. What he said for me to do was to increase my low speed compression therefore making the bike sit higher until it neds the high speed compression circuit to open thus allowing the shock to quickly absorb a high speed impact. Trust me, he was 100% correct.

The problem many people are experiencing is that their shock increases the high speed compression at the same time they are increasing the low speed which is not what you want at all. That will most definitely cause spiking and a harsh ride.

 

[Jeremy R]

Im quite interested in these thread as a (happy) Avy owner myself but Im sometimes lost in techy stuff as English isnt my mother tongue soo..could someone clarify using clockwise or counterclockwise the meanning of "back off" "crank in" "crank up" and so on??Id kindly appreciate it!!

back off = reduces compression
crank in = normally means increasing compression
crank up = increase compression
crank off = spanking

 

[Avy Rider]

Im quite interested in these thread as a (happy) Avy owner myself but Im sometimes lost in techy stuff as English isnt my mother tongue soo..could someone clarify using clockwise or counterclockwise the meanning of "back off" "crank in" "crank up" and so on??Id kindly appreciate it!!

Turning your adjusters clockwise is increasing their effect.
Backing them out means that you are turning them counter clockwise and reducing the compression or rebound depending on which you are adjusting.

I have to also emphasise that it is crucial to have a fast enough rebound setting to allow the shock to extend after the high speed hits. otherwise the rear end packs up and can't absorb consecutive high speed impacts.

 

[banrider]

that helps!, cheers!

back off = reduces compression
crank in = normally means increasing compression
crank up = increase compression
crank off = spanking

 

[CBJ]

So I am in the crank off business?

Anyway let the fun continue. I would never dare to go against the avy cult.

 

[Avy Rider]

At low bike speeds, gravity is allowing the rear tire to track the ground as you aren't skipping over bumps any more. That's where tire pressure and tire choice comes into play.
A hardtail has no trouble riding a DH run at low speeds. in fact it might even be quicker. However when things get fast and rocky/rooty you want that high speed valving to open up and let the rear tire move up and over whatever it encounters not spike up and bash INTO it.

 

[Ian Collins]

Nope, not on the low end anyways. Avalanche told him to turn in his low speed compression adjuster, which on all bicycle suspension I know of, is for parking lot style adjustments. Ie: low amplitude, low speed hits. Crank this in, feel the damping when you bounce on it in the parking lot. Maybe they are named wrong, I don't know and it is entirely possible, but this is how it is on Fox etc.

Crank up the high speed adjuster for when you slam into a square edged hit or when you huck off of a building and don't want to blow through your travel.

This is also why avalanche suspension usually feels like overdamped junk.

i gotta disagree with you a little on this one man......last weekend i rode a bike that had LOADS of low speed damping and the only place it felt harsh was in the parking lot......it's hard to describe but the bike i rode actually felt better than mine.....whenever i came into a berm or a chute where my bike would dive in the travel(due to lack of low speed) and feel unbalanced this bike felt really centered and i never felt like i had to shift my body around as much.....it was really neat, and i'm kind of striving to set my bike up that way......the bike on small hits, medium successive hits and big stuff, the bike felt just like mine.....the only thing that felt different was that the bike's suspension stayed centered better, and didn't dive as much....pedalled better too....that's how moto's are set up.....loads of low speed

 

[Avy Rider]

Ian...well said!!! That's exactly what I'm talking about.

 

[Bicyclist]

Yeah, I'm kinda with you on more LSC. I feel like it's not more harsh when I crank up my Propedal a bit, but the bike doesn't wallow and I still have good traction. I feel like I lose traction when my LSC is backed out and the bike dives too much.

 

[dhkid]

can anyone explain ohlins philosophy that compression keeps the wheel on the ground that rebound keeps the wheels off the ground?

i have always been a believer of less is more, the less work your damper does. the better. be it rebound or compression.

 

[zedro]

You want the low speed extremely soft at the bottom over small hits to maintain traction

Nope, not on the low end anyways.

those small hits are in the high speed range (they are high frequency) but you're right in the resonning...thats why i'm saying its semantic here, you guys are using the terms hi and low speed differently.

hey and lets throw in position sensitive rates into the mix....that will definitely differentiate how different shocks feel...for example the Fox's are position sensitive so they can be more underdamped in the initial stroke vs. standard shimmed-only setups which may need to be over damped to suit a wider performance required (believe this is what you're noticing Frasier). So between two technically correct setups, one has that edge of finer tuning.

 

[zedro]

can anyone explain ohlins philosophy that compression keeps the wheel on the ground that rebound keeps the wheels off the ground?

i have always been a believer of less is more, the less work your damper does. the better. be it rebound or compression.

compression damping can keep your wheel from over-shooting the bump...ie once the suspension starts moving, it will keep moving via its own inertia after the ground disappears and the rider is still level.

analogously, too much rebound will delay your wheel from returning to the ground after that condition (i think thats what they mean here, the rebound part in their statement is kinda confusing)

 

[bullcrew]

back off = reduces compression
crank in = normally means increasing compression
crank up = increase compression
crank off = spanking

Back off= she doesnt like you or your breath is rank!
Crank in = Ghetto for street party
Crank up = turn your bass up!
Crank off= 5.0 is coming turn the beats down!
Just helping a fellow monkey learned englash!

 

[bullcrew]

compression damping can keep your wheel from over-shooting the bump...ie once the suspension starts moving, it will keep moving via its own inertia after the ground disappears and the rider is still level.

analogously, too much rebound will delay your wheel from returning to the ground after that condition (i think thats what they mean here, the rebound part in their statement is kinda confusing)

GO ZEDRO! GO ZEDRO! GO ZEDRO!

 

[skatetokil]

I seem to recall DW explaining that the Sunday leverage curve was designed to emulate significant low speed compression damping without relying on a platform shock. The problem with the platform damping and the reason it feels harsh at high speeds is there is a rough transition in the middle of the shock travel, a noticeable clunk when the platform blows off. if the transition between low and high speed compression were less clunky, lots of lsc would be great. Also, progression and bottom out resistance are different from hsc damping but it seems to me we conflate them. You may want low hsc damping to avoid a spiking feel but still want a shock that doesn't bottom harshly either. there is a trade off (and thus the ability to user adjust both). If there weren't trade offs involved in suspension set up, everything would just come from the factory pre-tuned. Take transcends preference for low lsc and a shock that ramps up hard at the end of its travel. he might be objectively faster on a bike set up like that because of certain moves and techniques he has developed to overcome the tendency to wallow in turns and g outs. or its all in your ****ing head and you should just ride more. I dont know.

 

[Avy Rider]

I think you guys are beginning to understand what Craig is saying, am I right? "Small" bumps at high bike speeds feel like very big bumps unless the shock is able to displace oil rapidly allowing the rear end to compress. Somethings gotta move so it's either the bike bucks the rider or the rear wheel moves quickly over the obstacle.

Blowing through rear travel is almost always a result of too little low speed damping and is basically a g-out as the riders own weight is coming down onto the pedals after his arms and legs took the edge off the initial impact. If there wasn't that low shaft speed resistance (compression)dialed in, you would use all the travel up on drops that the suspension didn't really need to use to absorb it.

I should point out that the reason large drops aren't activating the high speed compression like you'd think is because the riders arms and legs absorb the impact also. If you straight armed and straight legged every landing then yes, the high speed compression would need to be dialed in more as the shocks shaft would be needing to move from still to super fast. You don't land that way in real life though and as I said, the low speed circuits are helping to reduce unecessary travel being used up.

 

[OGRipper]

Mmmmm popcorn.

So. Let's say I am going 20 mph off a drop that is 15 pinkbike feet to flat. Is that fast enough to use my hi-speed adjuster, or should I just crank up the low speed adjuster?

 

[skatetokil]

I use my balls for high speed compression on drops to flat.

 

[Avy Rider]

Mmmmm popcorn.

So. Let's say I am going 20 mph off a drop that is 15 pinkbike feet to flat. Is that fast enough to use my hi-speed adjuster, or should I just crank up the low speed adjuster?

Here's where there needs to be a balance of settings. You would want BOTH adjusters turned up for landing very high drops to flat. From a height such as that with no transition the rider can only do so much to help with the impact upon landing and the high speed circuits would open briefly. Remember that the high speed valving doesn't stay open, it only opens to allow excess energy to be dissipated via oil flowing through holes inside.

What seperates Avalanches shocks from many others is the smoothness of that transition from high speed and low speed. Avalanches mid speed valving is second to none.

 

[dhkid]

so let try as see if this makes any sense, you want:

low speed compression so that the shox doesn't wallow and use up too much travel,

less high speed compression so that there is no spiking for those high shaft speeds,

but a certain amount of mid/high speed compression so that the wheel does not continue moving upwards after it has cleared the obstacle.

but also some sort of position sensitive compression damping towards the end of the travel because of the hard impacts associated with mtb riding?




ouch, so whats the word on traction and low speed compression?

 

[Avy Rider]

ouch, so whats the word on traction and low speed compression?[/QUOTE]

You've basically said it all. Any bump that would only require low speed compression to absorb it would not be enough to really need suspension any way. Your tires and arms and legs would pretty much take care of traction.

That same bump at high speed now requires a sudden movement of the shock shaft to let the wheel react to it and not "spike" or feel harsh. You do need some high speed compression dialed in and it's a trial and error type of thing.

Ultimately we want to have a "feel" for the trail, the ability to use body english to pump through turns and maintain the geometry of the bike.

Only when a bump has sufficient force that it would cause the rear end to buck the rider and/or lose traction do you want the high speed damping to open up and absorb it quickly.

I keep hearing people say that they want the bike to feel super supple over the small stuff. What small stuff and at what speed? Our tires eat up most "small stuff"if you run the correct pressure. That's why we have air in tires in the first place so that they flex and provide traction.

If you combine that perfect tire pressure with the proper compression settings, you'll float over the smallest ripples without feeling them and then also float over chatter bumps and rocks. The shock will be riding higher in the stroke where it needs to be so it can quickly compress and rebound as needed.

You want to tune the perfect balance between tire pressure,sag and compression and rebound to absorb the maximum amount of traction robbing bumps while maintaining the geometry and riders position on the bike.

If your low speed compression is backed out too much, your bike is now wallowing over every low velocity dip on the trail and when it does encounter a hard impact, there not enough travel left to suck it up. Therefore your ride feels harsher even though you'd think it wouldn't.

 

[Avy Rider]

I must emphasise that not every shock allows you to seperate the effects of the low speed compression adjuster on its high speed compression. Now that I have the hi/low adjuster, I can reduce the high speed compression so that the rear end will open up just enough to absorb fast hits but not so open that it uses excessive travel on those high shaft speed impacts.

 

[Bicyclist]

any way. Your tires and arms and legs would pretty much take care of traction.

BS. Have you ridden a hardtail? Don't tell me you can't push a DH bike 2x harder into flat corners, even when the hardtail has DH tires.

 

[Udi]

And now you know why no serious racers run avalanche, and why many people feel that the shocks are overdamped, overpriced nonsense.

That's pretty much the opposite of how you want your shock set up in any circumstance. You want the low speed extremely soft at the bottom over small hits to maintain traction, and you want it to ramp up as you hit bigger things so as not to blow through your travel.

You should rename this thread "how to not set up hi/low speed compression."

Without reading the entire thread (just the first post and your reply), I think you're WAY out of line here.

Avy Rider's first post (which is obviously second hand info from an experienced suspension tuner) describes quite accurately how low speed and high speed adjusters should be set up, and explains the how and why quite well.

I'm only stepping in because you are obviously a respected member on here and people may view your opinion as correct over a newer member's, but in this case (and in cases i've seen in the past) it's not.

 

[pinkshirtphotos]

all these letters hurt my head. ahh im not going to buy an avy now because of all this hog wash. to many words

 

[Bicyclist]

to many words

Hehehehe

 

[Avy Rider]

I'm the first one to tell you that for years I was setting up my suspension the wrong way thinking that less low speed and more high speed compression was the way to go.
The proof is in the riding and after setting up my suspension the way Craig told me, it's like riding a rocket! Now when I need to lean back and lift the front end it pops right up instead of the rear end wallowing in its travel. When I smack through rocks and curb type square edged bumps, the high speed valving ports allow the rear end to move quickly over them thus feeling plush. It's so noticably the RIGHT way to be set up that once you've tried it you'd see for yourself.

Remember though that this will only be the correct tuning if you are able to both increase low speed and back off your high speed compression plus keep your rebound nice and fast.
Don't think that I'm telling you not to run any high speed compression or to have your low speed cranked up super stiff either. You need to tune them both to where they make your bike ride more stable and allows it to handle the types of terrain that you ride.

The added benefit of my frame is that the rearward arcing travel further smooths out those square edged hits and compliments the valving perfectly.
Parking lot tests will only give you a general idea of how your low speed compression is affecting pedal bobbing and rider input as you shift your weight on the bike. You can't feel the real benefits of having it set firmer and having less high speed compression until you are going fast and hitting bumps.

Now the bike will feel like a different animal altogether. It will suck up all the small stuff and still not blow through the travel on your landings.

 

[Udi]

That's spot on.

Seriously - I don't think you need to sit here and defend your argument, anyone that has half a clue about suspension tuning knows that info is correct; it's common knowledge (and is the whole point of seperating compression adjustability into different shaft speed ranges in the first place).

If anyone is reading, I suggest taking note of Avy Rider's posts, and trying to skip past Transcend's - it's incorrect babble at best, and a nasty way of misinforming people at worst.

 

[Transcend]

If anyone is reading, I suggest taking note of Avy Rider's posts, and trying to skip past Transcend's - it's incorrect babble at best, and a nasty way of misinforming people at worst.

Yup, I'm 100% wrong. Same way these tuning manuals from various manufacturers are wrong... (fork info as it is much more prevalent, and not many rear shocks actually differentiate between the 2 with knobs aloneand only the DB can actually perfectly seperate the 2 circuits).

High speed - High speed compression dampening allows you to adjust the suspension rate when the suspension is moving at high speed. Hitting a big square edged bump will cause the forks or rear shock to move through their travel at a high speed.

Low speed - Low speed compression dampening adjusts oil flow through the base valve and would be used for tuning the suspension when you are hitting obstacles that are more rounded or perhaps landing on the down ramp of a jump, any situation where the suspension is moving though its travel at a slower speed.




HSC - High Speed Compression damping is the damping circuit in the shock absorber or suspension fork that is tuned to provide suspension travel control at high speed over square edged bumps. All Fox products are HSC tuned by extensive lab and field testing. Too low of HSC damping will cause excessive bottoming out in rough terrain. Too high of HSC damping will minimize suspension travel in rough terrain and cause loss of traction.

LSC - Low Speed Compression damping is the damping circuit in the shock absorber or suspension fork that is tuned to provide suspension travel control at low damper speed conditions. All Fox products are LSC tuned by extensive lab and field testing. Too low of LSC damping will cause the excessive travel use, brake dive and wallowing of the bike on small bump terrain. Too high of LSC damping will cause loss of traction on small bump terrain.





High-speed compression damping controls the force it takes to move the fork through its travel and how the wheel reacts to a bump. This adjuster rotates to stops at each end and has 15 clicks of adjustment.

Soft Compression
Maximum wheel traction and bump compliance. If setting is too soft, you may bottom often on square-edged hits and G-outs.

Firm Compression
Reduces bottom-out and provides maximum bump absorption. If setting is too firm, you may experience a harsh ride with bad traction and use too little available travel.


Low-speed compression damping controls the influence of the rider’s weight shifts and bike attitude under braking. This adjuster rotates to stops at each end and has 17 clicks of adjustment.

Soft Compression
Maximum wheel traction and bump compliance. Too soft and you maybe have excessive brake dive and wallowy feel.

Resists brake dive and keeps the fork up in the travel. Too firm and you may have poor traction in loose conditions.[/QUOTE]