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Spring Weight for VP Free?

kuksul08

Monkey
Jun 4, 2007
240
0
I've got a VP Free and I noticed that it is very stiff even when I have only 1 turn of preload.

The shock is a manitou 6-way swinger. The low and high speed compression are both completely off and the chamber is at 90psi. (recommended 50-175)

The sag is just right when I set it up but today I was riding on a rock garden and there was this kid in front of me who was going quite a bit faster than me. He looked pretty smooth and here I was getting kicked around pretty hard.

I dont know if its the spring or some adjustment or just the nature of this bike.... It has a 450lb spring and I weigh about 160lbs with gear.
 

kuksul08

Monkey
Jun 4, 2007
240
0
According to http://www.tftunedshox.com/springcalc.htm I should have slightly less than a 400lb spring but I thought I'd ask in case it's something else.


Also off topic...What do you guys do on rides with a lot of different terrain. Theres this mountain I ride on with dirt jumps, long rock garden DH, and a fire road climb. It's hard to get the suspension to work with all of them.
 

Udi

RM Chief Ornithologist
Mar 14, 2005
4,915
1,200
It's nice to see that in santa cruz land, 125psi and 175psi both magically equate to 6.9 bar.

:busted:
 

dhkid

Turbo Monkey
Mar 10, 2005
3,358
0
Malaysia
are you getting the right amount of sag on the 450 spring? if you are not getting 30% then you should drop to the 400. also you should drop the pressure in the chamber, maybe to 60-70 psi. dont go to low or the shock will stock working (temporarily) and give no rebound damping.

the vp free has problems with blowing through its travel, so if it is, then reduce the chamber size bit by bit.
 

ChrisKring

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2002
2,399
6
Grand Haven, MI
You should probably be using a 350. I ran a 400 on my VP Free with a weight with gear close to 210. The chart you have is for a DHX which is different than the chart for the 5th or the Manitou. Call SC Tech support and ask them for the recommended setup.
 

kuksul08

Monkey
Jun 4, 2007
240
0
Thanks guys. I figured it wouldn't matter what shock it is because the damping doesn't affect the amount of sag.

I have a 5th element 400lb spring that fits over the manitou shock body, but the inside diameter is about a millimeter too small to fit flush on the recess on the shock collar. I'm going to try to file it down slightly and then it will hopefully work.

Sag should be measured in the riding position, correct? When I sit on the seat I get perfect sag, but standing up I only get about 15%,
 

ChrisKring

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2002
2,399
6
Grand Haven, MI
Yes, sag should be set when you are standing in riding position.

The difference with your shock is that the air pressure in the resivour is also acting as spring preload.
 

kuksul08

Monkey
Jun 4, 2007
240
0
Yes, sag should be set when you are standing in riding position.

The difference with your shock is that the air pressure in the resivour is also acting as spring preload.
Yea I saw that the air pressure affects the sag so I'm supposed to set air pressure first.
Does it affect the rebound damping as well?