Advice wanted re setting suspension

[Labrador29]

I haven't asked for help for yonks, but need some advice.
I purchased new a 2022 Giant Trance X +1 in May 2022. The front fork is a Fox 36 Float Perfomance e-E optimised. A setting label on the right fork suggested it is a Fit Grip 36 E.
My riding weight with all safety gear/protection is 92kg. As per instructions, I set the sag at 30mm and the rebound at 4.
I am now 77 years of age and don't do any punishing riding like jumps or flying over tree roots.
I want to 'soften' the ride.
What should I do?
At the moment most rides only use two/thirds of the fork travel going on the O-Ring,

 

[RustyMTB]

I'd say you don't necessarily want to use all of the travel in your fork, changing it to do so will lead the front of the bike into diving & risk you going over the bars & bottoming out the travel regularly isn't good for the internals.

What you can do easily is adjust the compression & rebound via the dials, that can easily give you a softer ride. You can also add or remove volume spacers in the fork & shock. It's very easy to do & especially so on Fox rear shocks but if you're unsure of the process, the local bike shop can so this in minutes. Golden rule, change one thing at a time, so you can keep up with the changes & reverse them if necessary - work by feel but the quick wins will be in compression & rebound, letting those off a little will mellow the ride.

There is also a wealth of suspension tuning guides online, youtube is a digital Narnia for this kind of stuff. Good luck!

 

[Labrador29]

I'd say you don't necessarily want to use all of the travel in your fork, changing it to do so will lead the front of the bike into diving & risk you going over the bars & bottoming out the travel regularly isn't good for the internals.

What you can do easily is adjust the compression & rebound via the dials, that can easily give you a softer ride. You can also add or remove volume spacers in the fork & shock. It's very easy to do & especially so on Fox rear shocks but if you're unsure of the process, the local bike shop can so this in minutes. Golden rule, change one thing at a time, so you can keep up with the changes & reverse them if necessary - work by feel but the quick wins will be in compression & rebound, letting those off a little will mellow the ride.

There is also a wealth of suspension tuning guides online, youtube is a digital Narnia for this kind of stuff. Good luck!

Thanks Rusty, appreciate the advice. Will work on reducing the compression and rebound in small steps.

 

[Bones]

Take the compresion damping all the way off. That's what a lot of people do as even fully open it's probably too harsh.

 

[Rubinstein]

Agree with Rusty on removing the volume spacers. make note of your current settings before doing so and try it without any spacers. There is probably 2 in there from stock that can come out, doing this gave me the ride I wanted. I run fox factory on my trance without spacers and the compression fully open, normal sag with slightly less psi for my weight. This gives me the soft ride that I like for trail riding, even when I get aggressive I still don't use all the travel. On the rear the shock is run open with the usual sag, making sure the o ring is almost coming off the shaft on full compression.

 

[steve_sordy]

This is useful.

Bikerumor Suspension Setup Series: Full Series PDF - Free Download!

Last week, we wrapped up our six-part suspension setup series. But, we realize it’s not always practical to hunt down the particular session you need,…

bikerumor.com

 

[Plummet]

Think of the fox recommendation at a starting point.

Here's what I do. I find s peaces of track that will test small bump, medium and bottom out.

I set the fork up as per man manufacturers instructions. I ride the track then make ane adjustment at a time ride again and keep doing that until I get to a setting I like.

 

[Mikerb]

I run Fox 38 on 2 bikes............1 emtb optimised Fox Factory, the other a Performance Elite ( not EMTB optimised)

The Fox factory is set up almost in line with Fox recommendations except for air pressure .......quite a bit less than Fox recommendation
The Performance Elite being non EMTB optimised is very different. On that fork I am again quite a bit below recommended air pressure and all damper controls significantly more open than recommended.

so if yours is E bike optimised and you have 30% Sag I would first try opening rebound progressively to get a more plush performance.

 

[Labrador29]

Agree with Rusty on removing the volume spacers. make note of your current settings before doing so and try it without any spacers. There is probably 2 in there from stock that can come out, doing this gave me the ride I wanted. I run fox factory on my trance without spacers and the compression fully open, normal sag with slightly less psi for my weight. This gives me the soft ride that I like for trail riding, even when I get aggressive I still don't use all the travel. On the rear the shock is run open with the usual sag, making sure the o ring is almost coming off the shaft on full compression.

Sounds a good plan thanks. I will give it a try

 

[John Beedham]

let a few pounds of air out, ride and evaluate .... softer 'air spring' will give a more plush ride ..... find the sweet spot for you ... you can always add air .... i'm assuming you have a high pressure shock pump

 

[irie]

So in other words you have to muck around a bit finding what works best for you on your bike on your typical terrain. To reinforce what's said above, small changes to air pressure can make large changes to 'feel'. Don't get hung up on sag, it's only a starting point. And don't ignore tyre pressures, they're also part of the suspension. So take two pumps with you (Presta and Schrader).