FEEDBACK - @Wes Suspension and #wednesdaywaffle (This video is quite broad so I believe it qualifies as a waffle, I was interrupted quite a bit and i did edit it on Tuesday 🤣) Trials riders all say "don't worry about the suspension, just ride it". Wes has ridden a friends bike with a higher spring rate and it felt good/better, and asked should he buy the higher rate spring? My Short answer is Yes. Buy it. If it doesn't break the bank.... Experiment and play with it. Trials doesn't really expose your suspension to forces larger than your body can deal with, so we correct so much with technique, and a bad set up won't be dangerous like in MX or othe speed disciplines. With suspension there is no magic setting or device. Its literally dependant on, related to, and affects so many aspects such as and not limited to; - Your weight (pre or post christmas 🤣) - Bike maintenance - set up damping (both directions) and spring - geometry - your riding skills (now and in the future) - your habits and thinking - your body/fitness/range of movement - the terrain/location that you ride You will always gain and lose at the same time! One set up can be great in one area, but you will then lose some performance in other areas. I highly recommend you experiment with set up. It may cost you some money if you get something wrong (just don't release GAS if you don't know what to do about it), but you will learn constantly in the process. The key if you do experiment is to do it in a very systematic or scientific approach. Don't just randomly make alterations Set your goals in place as to what you want to achieve, and when you do, then look at where that has a negative effect in your riding. "Feeling" is also subjective and generally a set up that really performs well, won't give you a feeling of certainty. Most riders actually tend to prefer a feeling of certainty but the data and evidence may show its a bad set up. There will be set up content in the learning centre in the future, on how shocks work, spring effects and sag set up etc. that is a few months away yet. But for your progression of your bike skills, I would not put too much time into suspension. Get the bike generally within an "acceptable range". If you are 10kgs either side of the 75-85kg range, spring changes are probably a good thing, but may not be necessary. The decision is ultimately yours.

Posted by Neil Price at 2022-01-19 04:55:09 UTC