High and low speed compression adjustment - how much

hellmansam

Likes Bikes and Dirt
So I've had two days riding at Linga Longa since the weekend and really liking the Trace 36mm fork. But it's got all these extra knobs and farked if I know how much compression damping is enough, I just put a few clicks on from minimum and concentrated on getting the air pressure and rebound right. Seems really good thus far. Do any of youse have a good method for getting these settings dialled ?
 

JTmofo

XC Enthusiast
My method, may not work for everyone, but works for me. I don't like the "set both rebounds first" method, because both Comp and Rebound have a huge effect on how the bike feels and should be adjusted together.

  • Set to factory/suggested/mid point on all adjustments (if suspension manufacturer has recommended settings, I start there)
  • Get the sag set ~ 30% and go ride the bike on well known trails with variety of terrain.
  • Set up ramp up/travel first. If I have harsh bottom outs too often, I'll add a volume spacer and reset sag. Repeat if required.
  • Once sag and ramp up is set, I'll look at Comp and Rebound.
  • I know how I like my fork/Shock to feel (lots of people don't and this is the hardest part of setting up. You can't get to where you want if you don't know where you want to go.)
  • HSR and HSC are the first on my list. I feel that these have the most effect on the way I like my bike to feel. Ride the bike and hit some rock gardens and chunder. Dial in the HSR and HSC to dampen and smoothen as much of the chatter feedback as possible (2 or 3 clicks of each in the desired direction). I'll ride the same section 2/3/4 times after each adjustment to get a good feel for each change.
  • LSR and LSC are next, off to some fast flowing trail with g-outs and drops. I usually feel less pedantic with the slow speed settings, and can usually find a happy place pretty easily. Same again I'll ride well known section of trail 2/3 times after each adjustment.
  • After all 3 main adjustments are set, I'll start again. Sag/ramp, HS then LS, just to make sure they all feel as they should. More often than not, some of the adjustments will affect the settings on the other damping circuits.
If after a couple of rounds of tuning doesn't get where I want to be and run out of adjustments, I'll look at damper circuit changes and modifying shim stacks etc.
 

hellmansam

Likes Bikes and Dirt
  • I know how I like my fork/Shock to feel (lots of people don't and this is the hardest part of setting up. You can't get to where you want if you don't know where you want to go.)
I think I'm learning this bit right now
 

herbman

Likes Dirt
So I've had two days riding at Linga Longa since the weekend and really liking the Trace 36mm fork. But it's got all these extra knobs and farked if I know how much compression damping is enough, I just put a few clicks on from minimum and concentrated on getting the air pressure and rebound right. Seems really good thus far. Do any of youse have a good method for getting these settings dialled ?
If you can, get your hands on a shock wiz. They are a great bit of kit and the app presents the the data it captures really well and the recommendations it makes.
 

teK--

Eats Squid
If you can, get your hands on a shock wiz. They are a great bit of kit and the app presents the the data it captures really well and the recommendations it makes.
Yeah this.

There is no one set of settings that works for everyone, and also one tuning method doesn't necessarily work on every type of fork or damper depending how the settings are implemented inside the adjuster knobs. There is almost always overlap as well between LSC/HSC as in one setting affects the other.

You could go on for hours or days reading about all this and get more and more confused for all the reasons above.
 

hellmansam

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Snip
You could go on for hours or days reading about all this and get more and more confused for all the reasons above.
Sounds like me ! And being a compulsive tweaker doesn’t help either.
However I seem to have arrived at a good place with the settings at both ends. On the fork I’ve got two or three clicks of LSC and one of HSC. Been shuttling at Linga Longa all day today and half of yesterday. Feeling fast in the chopped up rutted corners and landing drops feeling more in control. Some timing issues, buzzed my bum with the back tyre a couple of times but only once today.
 
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