Hey Crew,
A little bit of random info for you all, (especially SuMo 570 riders). Not hugely informative (yet) but it may help out another FS rider.
I went to a cool suspension seminar with Dave Moss in the weekend, (Feel The Track | Ensure your bike geometry, spring rates, hydraulic damping and tire size/compounds are in sync - he’s pretty well respected in little ol’ NZ).
Suspension tuning has always annoyed me as it’s such a subjective topic (I guess because it’s a personal thing), but since it’s free to adjust, I hoped to learn how to apply some science to my bike, in a practical way, to help customise and improve the bike.
The first hour tutorial was really good, and we covered off the basics while Dave demonstrated in practice how each setting effects the ride/performance. In the second part of the session we worked on our bikes, adjusting each bike to an “ideal benchmark” for the suspension, then making customisations.
Given I was the only ‘tard rider there, I had a lot of different questions. For me, I have a standard FS570, with Bridgestone S20 60’s. I also have the front forks dropped about 17mm up-front. It rides well, but my biggest complaint on the tarmac is that I wanted to help reduce “skittish” or “light” rear wheel hopping on uneven tarmac surfaces. I also wanted dampen the front without causing lack of feedback, which sometimes feels like it results in unsafe rebound in the front. It also felt out of balance a little, softer up front…
I weigh about 66kg and was surprised to hear that the default rear spring is too soft to achieve what I want. Basically the spring is too geared towards enduro (duh!) This makes perfect sense, but guess I never thought I’d need to replace the spring for road use. Effectively the tuning I had done (and had done) to my rebound and compression and preload on the rear to control the undesirable movement I was getting in corners meant that the suspension wasn’t functioning within the correct/beneficial range of motion of the shock – it was also resulting too little riding SAG to be effective
I’m going to get a new spring installed and will let you know how I go. I also will post my suspension settings to see if you like them, too.
Be keen to know if anyone else has changed out the rear spring on their FS570, and what impact it’s had on street riding? (I never take my FS off-road)
I’m still recovering from a broken arm (bloody dirt bikes), so it might be a week or so before I can get the shock out, but will keep you posted.
Cheers!
A little bit of random info for you all, (especially SuMo 570 riders). Not hugely informative (yet) but it may help out another FS rider.
I went to a cool suspension seminar with Dave Moss in the weekend, (Feel The Track | Ensure your bike geometry, spring rates, hydraulic damping and tire size/compounds are in sync - he’s pretty well respected in little ol’ NZ).
Suspension tuning has always annoyed me as it’s such a subjective topic (I guess because it’s a personal thing), but since it’s free to adjust, I hoped to learn how to apply some science to my bike, in a practical way, to help customise and improve the bike.
The first hour tutorial was really good, and we covered off the basics while Dave demonstrated in practice how each setting effects the ride/performance. In the second part of the session we worked on our bikes, adjusting each bike to an “ideal benchmark” for the suspension, then making customisations.
Given I was the only ‘tard rider there, I had a lot of different questions. For me, I have a standard FS570, with Bridgestone S20 60’s. I also have the front forks dropped about 17mm up-front. It rides well, but my biggest complaint on the tarmac is that I wanted to help reduce “skittish” or “light” rear wheel hopping on uneven tarmac surfaces. I also wanted dampen the front without causing lack of feedback, which sometimes feels like it results in unsafe rebound in the front. It also felt out of balance a little, softer up front…
I weigh about 66kg and was surprised to hear that the default rear spring is too soft to achieve what I want. Basically the spring is too geared towards enduro (duh!) This makes perfect sense, but guess I never thought I’d need to replace the spring for road use. Effectively the tuning I had done (and had done) to my rebound and compression and preload on the rear to control the undesirable movement I was getting in corners meant that the suspension wasn’t functioning within the correct/beneficial range of motion of the shock – it was also resulting too little riding SAG to be effective
I’m going to get a new spring installed and will let you know how I go. I also will post my suspension settings to see if you like them, too.
Be keen to know if anyone else has changed out the rear spring on their FS570, and what impact it’s had on street riding? (I never take my FS off-road)
I’m still recovering from a broken arm (bloody dirt bikes), so it might be a week or so before I can get the shock out, but will keep you posted.
Cheers!
