i was just over at n* with my bullit and it felt like my bike was a hard tail. i have no idea where or how to set the spring and rebound on my fox rc. i think the rebound was so slow that going downhill fast bottomed out my shock and it just stayed bottomed out. can anyone fill me in on how i should set my spring, my compression, and my rebound for different types of riding ex. dh, drops. jumps. thanks again.
need to learn how to set my shock
- Thread starter awholelota
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Rebound is personal thing for the most part, I like my rear shock to rebound fairly slow compared to my fork which I like to feel more lively. On a Fox RC the compression is a good band-aid for too light of a spring, so if you think the shock blows through all of it's travel too easily then I would suggest getting a heavier spring. Your shock also has a pre-load adjustment (tightening the coil-spring) but you should only have enough pre-load to keep the coil snug with out any free play (no more than 5mm.) otherwise I again recommend a heavier spring. What do you weigh and what is your spring rate?
i'm at about 165lbs, but i'm not too sure on the spring weight. i can almost say it's 450 but not very sure on it. i'll get back to you on that.
from what I have been told, you should always keep your compression knob (blue) backed out unless you have a friend that works at Fox. Tends to make those RCs blow up. Never experienced first hand, but that's the advice I got when I asked your same question.
yup, that's what I meant by using it as a band-aid...jmvar said:
also consider that if you are needing to crank in the compression, then the shock is obviously too soft (spring/valving) for you to begin with and that alone puts it at a much higher risk for blowing out...
If you only weigh 165 and the spring rate is stock, it sounds to me like you might just need to speed up the rebound somewhat. On a lot of rebound adjusters, the middle 8 (generic #) clicks don't do much, it is just the last one that drastically changes. So it could be as simple as backing it out just a click or two...
My entirely unscientific method:
I tend to fiddle with the rebound until it doesn't kick me off the bike by rebounding too quickly. Then I adjust the compression to match the rebound and take the worst of the pedal-induced bob out without making things too firm and slow.
For XC I'm probably running about 2/3 on both rebound and compression on my Craftworks, although this is on a custom valved Vanilla RC with a 700lb spring. For a lift-assisted DH day I ran a lot less compression to make it more supple.
Basically, run what feels right for you. Everyone has their own tastes and requirements.
I tend to fiddle with the rebound until it doesn't kick me off the bike by rebounding too quickly. Then I adjust the compression to match the rebound and take the worst of the pedal-induced bob out without making things too firm and slow.
For XC I'm probably running about 2/3 on both rebound and compression on my Craftworks, although this is on a custom valved Vanilla RC with a 700lb spring. For a lift-assisted DH day I ran a lot less compression to make it more supple.
Basically, run what feels right for you. Everyone has their own tastes and requirements.
I think start with it full out, then close it in click by click (whilst on the trail) until it doesn't bounce all over the place. It's very easy to set it too slow (because it's often hard to tell), but you can definitely tell when it's too fast.