[sanjuro]

I want to hear your tips about fork sag. While I know the percentages of sag for XC, DH, etc, I wonder about body position when you set the pressure.

Should be sitting in the saddle, standing on the pedals, or even leaning forward?

Setting rear sag is easy: sit on the saddle and measure sag. But the front seems like I do it on feel.

 

[gonefirefightin]

when i set up racers/freeriders I will have them at a ready position rather than on the saddle. i will tend to move to more of 30-35 percent for the big forks and error on the stiff side.

sets up will usually consist of body weight in air and bleeding out from there each time the zip tie is pushed back down on the seal after the rider rocks back and forth and settles in a race ready crouch.

it never made sense to set race forks for sag on a person riding with thier ass on the seat.

i will normally make more than 6 attempts at the perfect pressure/rebound for the rider.

 

[dhkid]

^ what he said. and.....

another important thing for me when setting up suspension is the balance between the front and rear suspension.

so that when you pump something, maybe a berm, they both dive pretty evenly. and the rear diving a bit more then the front is acceptable, but i hate it the other way round.

i have talked to a few suspension 'guru's' and even they say front sag is not as straight forward as rear sag.

right now i have less then 20% sag on the front, only had it for just about a month, haven't decided if i like it yet. the next spring rate down gets me way too much sag, and i cant run enough compression to keep it from diving too much.

 

[FreeRide-Junkie]

I never set sag sitting down. Always as close to "attack" mode as I can get on flat ground.

 

[bullcrew]

I set sag when I am sitting on the couch lookng at it, start twisting dials and springs till it looks right then I blame my bad riding on a crappy suspension tuner!

What they said is spot on, I agrea with the less front dive I almost OTB'd 3 times this weekend on stupids stuff going really slow and it went into a dip and kept going down!

 

[Kanye West]

Setting fork sag on anything less than a true incline like you'll be riding on is stupid. You need to be on the bike with the bars and your pedals supporting your weight evenly on a surface that will be similar to that which you're riding on, otherwise you'll end up with a really divey fork setting that will make it want to tuck under in corners when you get to a true DH. For forks I honestly think you have to go by feel to see what gives you the balance of the most compliance with the least diving. At standstill my DH bike is always super soft in the back and significantly stiffer in the front but feels perfectly balanced and controlled heading down hill as I manage to use just about all my travel at each end with no true bottoming out.

 

[freakrock]

Setting as I manage to use just about all my travel at each end with no true bottoming out.

then, why aren't you running a bike with half the travel and save some weight?

 

[gonefirefightin]

I manage to use just about all my travel at each end with no true bottoming out.

that has nothing to do with sag, this only means you arent tuning your compression and rebound correctly.

you should tune from the couch

 

[demo8razor]

this thread was already here, so i thought i would ask here. with my fork, I have never gotten the recommended 30% sag, no matter which springs or how much or how little preload, i know fork sag is not as straight forward, but any suggestions as to why this is?

 

[Bicyclist]

that has nothing to do with sag, this only means you arent tuning your compression and rebound correctly.

you should tune from the couch

You're telling me spring rate has *nothing* to do with how much travel is used?

 

[jonKranked]

I think some riders tend to put a lot of their weight over the rear wheel more than the front wheel. I have a green spring in my 40 (for a weight range of 180-210). I weigh about 200 and don't have any preload on it. My bike also has a pretty long TT fwiw.

 

[demo8razor]

i am on a demo 8 and with the first 888 i ran the medium springs, then went to extra firm never got proper sag with either, but bottomed it out harshly a lot with the mediums, newer 888 i can run preload or no preload on stock springs and never get the proper sag. i have not bottomed this fork, but also have not ridden anything too crazy with it yet

 

[DirtyMike]

I think rear sag is more important over front, you can get away with alot more incorrect sag int he fron than the rear. I think its pretty much what everyone else has already listed though as to get it right, go with being in an attack position, and feel on the actual trail.

 

[slowmtb]

Points to remember - the springs function is to support the mass placed on it ( rider and bike ).
Damping takes care of the characteristics ( dynamics ) of the suspension system.
This becomes more obvious on basic shocks / dampers / forks as you can not "dial" in the compression or rebound precisely to get the characteristics you require ( everyone has their own preference ).
Setting your sag gives you your start setting, from here on you dial the damping until it "feels" or works right for you. Some people try and use the damping to overcome incorrect spring settings = bad practice ( eg; dial in heaps of compression to make up for a too soft spring setting ).

NB:The following needs to be done carefully and with control.

Set up your static sag setting at home. Now go to a familiar trail somewhere and wind all the compression/rebound knobs right off. Pick a good corner that your familiar with and loads the front end, hit it hard enough to get a reading on your zip tieometer ( about 80-90% commitment ), if it uses a lot of travel and feels as though the front dives then you need more preload ( or in really bad cases a heavier spring ) and vice versa. Once you have it set where you think is right start dialling in the damping to complete the set up. Rebound will stop it bucking you ( springing back too quickly ) and compression will help control the bumps ( LSC ), and "dive" ( HSC ) usually associated with aggresive movements ( drops, stuffing into corners hard etc ) .

Hope this makes sense and helps someone on here

 

[englertracing]

Hmm nobody mentioned the proper way of measuring sag in the garrage....
Have someone hold you up and another person with a tape measure. Mr tape measure needs to pull up on your bike and let it drop and settle down. Say you get 2" of sag on your 8" fork and then they need to compress the fork an let it rise measure again 3" of sag now you average them its 2.5 and the 1" is your friction zone. You want this as small as possible.
I prefer stiffer spring no preload.

 

[norbar]

I think rear sag is more important over front, you can get away with alot more incorrect sag int he fron than the rear. I think its pretty much what everyone else has already listed though as to get it right, go with being in an attack position, and feel on the actual trail.

I remember Steave/Socket claiming a firmer fork gave you 5% better avg time. That's pretty important. Though with a regular sprung fork it's hard to fine tune it anyway. With an air spring I'd test it on the trail and just make it as hard as you feel comfortable (and still have traction). It's easier to get away with too much rear sag than it is on the front.

 

[Wa-Aw]

Setting sag in fork like you do in a rear shock never seemed to work for me. I've always ran air forks so I've always been able to adjust it.

Set it 'till it feels about right. About right for me is getting most of the travel when bouncing up and down on it hard with all your weight. Go on a ride with your shock pump. If it feels kinda hard or it feels like it rides low, change it. Doesn't work as easily in coils but the steps between springs are so large and the fine tuning in preload so low (only affects ride height) it doesn't really matter anyway.