I put my bike up on the stand found my zero mark with my sag gage. dropped it down sat on it in my normal position, fully geared up. I am only seeing about 60 mm of sag. I spin the adjuster up a lot of turns to get me around my 110 mm sag mark. when i put the bike back up on the stand i can grab the spring and move it up and down at least 1/2 " so that would mean that the current spring is to heavy for my weight correct? thanks in advance
setting sag
- Thread starter brett mccracken
- Start date
Joined Apr 2014
689 Posts | 252+
Chilliwack, BC, Canada
Ok Brett,
Setting sag is the one thing that every rider thinks he can do but normally does wrong. You would think that making two measurements and subtracting one from the other would be simple. Not so! Here are some tips.
(1) Do not measure the sag with the rider standing up.
(2) Bounce on the suspension before measuring.
(3) Sit where you actually ride, not some dream position.
(4) Measure in line with the arc of the rear wheel.
How do you measure sag? Put your bike on a stand with the rear wheel off the ground, and measure from the rear fender to the rear axle. Write that number on your buddy’s forehead. Next, remove the bike from the stand and climb on board. Once you are positioned on the bike, have your buddy make the same measurement again. Subtract the new number from the one written on his forehead. The result should be 4 inches or 100mm, whichever comes first.
What should you do if it isn’t 100mm? Loosen the shock’s preload ring and turn the collar in the proper direction to make the spring stiffer or softer. Then, measure again and again until you get 100mm.
SAG IS A HOT PRODUCT
I know this sounds like a broken record, but that is better than a broken bone. Check your sag before each race. It changes. One caveat: do not check the sag when the shock is hot? and it gets hot very quickly. If you’ve just ridden your bike in the first practice and think that you should check the sag before the second practice, save yourself the trouble. The hot shock will not give you an accurate measurement. Wait until the shock cools down. You can use sag as a tuning tool. Jeremy McGrath liked to set his sag at more than 100mm. Why? He wanted the rear shock to feel dead in the whoops. On the other hand, setting the sag at less than 100mm can make your bike handle quicker in the turns, because it raises the rear of the bike, which steepens the head angle. As a rule of thumb, every MXA test rider starts at 100mm, and most stay there.
THERE IS ANOTHER KIND OF SAG: FREE SAG
Free sag is a measurement of how much the bike sags under its own weight (without you on it). Free sag can only be checked after race sag is set.
How do you check free sag? Once you have the preload set at 100mm for your weight, position the bike on level ground, grab the bike under the rear fender and lift up? like you are going to pick the bike up off the ground. Did you feel the shock move? How far could you lift the rear fender up before the rear wheel tried to leave the ground? Was it 25mm? Was it 3mm? The amount of slop in the rear end is called “free sag.”
How much free sag should there be? Free sag should be between 30mm and 40mm. If you have more than 40mm of free sag, your shock spring is too stiff. Less than 30mm and your spring is too soft.
This is so important and so basic that you need to repeat after us: if you have excess free sag, your shock spring is too stiff. Now ask yourself, why? That’s simple; you haven’t been eating enough. Gain weight and you will have to preload the shock spring more, which will take up the excess free sag. If you don’t want to pork up, you should consider a lighter shock spring.
If you have very little free sag, your shock spring is too soft. Why? Because to hold your body up, the shock spring has to be preloaded way down into its stroke. It is overstressed, so overstressed that it is working overtime to hold up the bike; thus it has no jangle left in the rear end. The solution? Buy a stiffer shock spring (or go on a diet).
Race sag and free sag are kissin’ cousins. Once you set the proper 100mm of race sag, you need to measure the free sag. If your bike has more than 40mm of free sag, you need a softer shock spring. If it has no static sag, you need a stiffer shock spring. Many times a rider will set the race sag at 100mm and find out that he has no static sag at all, but he wants to race the bike. What should he do? Back the race sag off until there is at least 10mm of static sag. Free sag trumps race sag in this extreme condition.
Hope this helps
Setting sag is the one thing that every rider thinks he can do but normally does wrong. You would think that making two measurements and subtracting one from the other would be simple. Not so! Here are some tips.
(1) Do not measure the sag with the rider standing up.
(2) Bounce on the suspension before measuring.
(3) Sit where you actually ride, not some dream position.
(4) Measure in line with the arc of the rear wheel.
How do you measure sag? Put your bike on a stand with the rear wheel off the ground, and measure from the rear fender to the rear axle. Write that number on your buddy’s forehead. Next, remove the bike from the stand and climb on board. Once you are positioned on the bike, have your buddy make the same measurement again. Subtract the new number from the one written on his forehead. The result should be 4 inches or 100mm, whichever comes first.
What should you do if it isn’t 100mm? Loosen the shock’s preload ring and turn the collar in the proper direction to make the spring stiffer or softer. Then, measure again and again until you get 100mm.
SAG IS A HOT PRODUCT
I know this sounds like a broken record, but that is better than a broken bone. Check your sag before each race. It changes. One caveat: do not check the sag when the shock is hot? and it gets hot very quickly. If you’ve just ridden your bike in the first practice and think that you should check the sag before the second practice, save yourself the trouble. The hot shock will not give you an accurate measurement. Wait until the shock cools down. You can use sag as a tuning tool. Jeremy McGrath liked to set his sag at more than 100mm. Why? He wanted the rear shock to feel dead in the whoops. On the other hand, setting the sag at less than 100mm can make your bike handle quicker in the turns, because it raises the rear of the bike, which steepens the head angle. As a rule of thumb, every MXA test rider starts at 100mm, and most stay there.
THERE IS ANOTHER KIND OF SAG: FREE SAG
Free sag is a measurement of how much the bike sags under its own weight (without you on it). Free sag can only be checked after race sag is set.
How do you check free sag? Once you have the preload set at 100mm for your weight, position the bike on level ground, grab the bike under the rear fender and lift up? like you are going to pick the bike up off the ground. Did you feel the shock move? How far could you lift the rear fender up before the rear wheel tried to leave the ground? Was it 25mm? Was it 3mm? The amount of slop in the rear end is called “free sag.”
How much free sag should there be? Free sag should be between 30mm and 40mm. If you have more than 40mm of free sag, your shock spring is too stiff. Less than 30mm and your spring is too soft.
This is so important and so basic that you need to repeat after us: if you have excess free sag, your shock spring is too stiff. Now ask yourself, why? That’s simple; you haven’t been eating enough. Gain weight and you will have to preload the shock spring more, which will take up the excess free sag. If you don’t want to pork up, you should consider a lighter shock spring.
If you have very little free sag, your shock spring is too soft. Why? Because to hold your body up, the shock spring has to be preloaded way down into its stroke. It is overstressed, so overstressed that it is working overtime to hold up the bike; thus it has no jangle left in the rear end. The solution? Buy a stiffer shock spring (or go on a diet).
Race sag and free sag are kissin’ cousins. Once you set the proper 100mm of race sag, you need to measure the free sag. If your bike has more than 40mm of free sag, you need a softer shock spring. If it has no static sag, you need a stiffer shock spring. Many times a rider will set the race sag at 100mm and find out that he has no static sag at all, but he wants to race the bike. What should he do? Back the race sag off until there is at least 10mm of static sag. Free sag trumps race sag in this extreme condition.
Hope this helps
Joined May 2014
115 Posts | 23+
Tassie
Joined Oct 2014
28 Posts | 5+
Peterborough uk
2 days of searching and I come across this little gem of advice! My friend was not amused when I used a sharpie but he will get over it now that we both can remember the damn measurement and do the math in the dirt........Thanks FE 350!
Any tips regarding fuel level when setting race sag? Full tank? Half tank? What about for the subframe tank guys?
I am guessing set it with 1/2 a tank of fuel, but curious what you all think.
I am guessing set it with 1/2 a tank of fuel, but curious what you all think.
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