first, ride on the levo today

[nappa]

Had my first ride on the today, don't done any fiz for 2 years since I have my neck fused.

Done a bit of motocross over the years and played around with MTB's but never done trails or anything.

WOW, the bike was mint but it ain't very nimble, and don't seem to jump very well, front kept washing out and does not want to change direction very quickly, I guess it's going to take some time to get used to it.

had 25psi in the front and 27 in the rear.

Might need to change the tires, not sure.

 

[All Mountain Coaching]

It's probably due to being out of practise and not having your eye in. I found the opposite lol

 

[Mina08]

Tyres, psi and suspension set up are key, get to a good bike shop to help you set up the bike

 

[lenny74]

Interesting you say that. I expected to have a fairly harsh introduction into how a Levo would ride having never ridden a 29er or an ebike on trails before but I found it the COMPLETE opposite. I felt at home straight away and was popping jumps and wheelies much easier than I ever expected.

You know the extra weight is there but to be honest I felt that made me more stable and stopped me getting carried away. I ride an XL.

Definitely get straight back on try some things again, this bike should give you confidence if you push it.

 

[Wiltshire Warrior]

yes 25 in the front is like 40 in a normal lightweight mtb tire - so try 15. Also make sure the forks are plush by trying the lowest air pressure in them and backing off the rebound and damping to thier softest'slowest settings and see how this transforms the front end for you. I am 14 stone and the setings I just mentioned work for me. also try dropping the front of the bike and make sure it doesnt bounce. also I use 21 in the rear

 

[Gary]

Wow! ^^
That's almost exactly the opposite advice you'd want to follow for how to set up a stable supportive front end for good jumping performance and cornering support.
What do you weigh @nappa and what tyres does the bike have? (Size, model, compound & casing?)
For jumping you need to set up your rear suspension supportive too/
The front end washing out could be anything from poor rider/weight distribution/technique to bike set-up to tyres/conditions.

 

[nappa]

Wow! ^^
That's almost exactly the opposite advice you'd want to follow for how to set up a stable supportive front end for good jumping performance and cornering support.
What do you weigh @nappa and what tyres does the bike have? (Size, model, compound & casing?)
For jumping you need to set up your rear suspension supportive too/
The front end washing out could be anything from poor rider/weight distribution/technique to bike set-up to tyres/conditions.

Thanks for the info, im around 100kg loaded up, its a meduim and as for the tires there stock that came on it.


FRONT TYRE Butcher, GRID casing, Gripton compound, 2Bliss Ready, 27.5 x 2.8"
REAR TYRE Butcher, GRID casing, Gripton compound, 2Bliss Ready, 27.5 x 2.8"

Thanks paul

 

[Gary]

Ok. this is going to sound harsh but if jumping is what you like sell those tyres and fit no larger than 2.5s. and run them at significantly higher pressures.
if you just got on the bike and rode it with the stock suspension set-up it's probably under sprung for jumping and agressive corenering for a guy of your weight.
You really don't want a soft wallowey midstroke for jumping so higher pressures and less sag will work best. (at the slight detriment to comfort with small bump compliance). you also don't want slow rebound, you want fairly fast (not so fast it oscilates, shoots your bars back at you or tops out) in the front and slightly slower in the rear - but not slow
you haven't said which fork/shock you have so i'll leave my advice as basic as this for now.

 

[nappa]

Ok. this is going to sound harsh but if jumping is what you like sell those tyres and fit no larger than 2.5s. and run them at significantly higher pressures.
if you just got on the bike and rode it with the stock suspension set-up it's probably under sprung for jumping and agressive corenering for a guy of your weight.
You really don't want a soft wallowey midstroke for jumping so higher pressures and less sag will work best. (at the slight detriment to comfort with small bump compliance). you also don't want slow rebound, you want fairly fast (not so fast it oscilates, shoots your bars back at you or tops out) in the front and slightly slower in the rear - but not slow
you haven't said which fork/shock you have so i'll leave my advice as basic as this for now.

There rock shock, they only have rebound and compression not H or L speeds.

 

[Gary]

There rock shock, they only have rebound and compression not H or L speeds.

That's no bad thing really TBH
Check how many tokens the fork has as stock. for jumping with a longer travel fork less is often actually better. (i'll explain this later).
Firstly with your fork wind off all rebound (full open) and set comp to full open too.
Next connect your shockpump and set your sag to around 25% (just as a starting point).
Roll along stood up on the flat at walking pace and simultaneously grab the front brake and compress your fork while pushing down as fast and hard as you can with all your strength to try and bottom it out. depending on your strength you're aiming to almost use full travel here but never bottom out. Add/remove pressure to get to this point. This is a good starting point for spring rate for an aggressive rider who jumps.
next set your rebound. pushing down fast and letting go try to get it close to the point where the wheel just stops trying to rebound upwards from the floor. (it helps to have decent front tyre pressure when doing this also). this should be within a couple of clicks of optimum for pop/support when hitting lips. it's unlikely you'll need much comp damping wound on for jumping but you might want a little for grip/stability. (but don't try to use it for bottom out control)
if the fork doesn't seem supportive enough on lips don't be afraid try more pressure/less sag. folk will tell you to put tokens in but tokens actually make the first part of the travel LESS supportive and not so good for pop or lips. You did check how many tokens at the start didn't you? if the fork isn't supportive enough in the beginning and mid stroke but doesn't use all travel. remove one token at a time and start again with spring rate/pressure.
I don't know the rear suspansion characteristics/leverage ratio etc. of the levo well enough to offer anything comprehensive about sag/pressures etc. but a little more sag and slightly slower rebound should work well with the fork set-up ho I've described.

 

[nappa]

That's no bad thing really TBH
Check how many tokens the fork has as stock. for jumping with a longer travel fork less is often actually better. (i'll explain this later).
Firstly with your fork wind off all rebound (full open) and set comp to full open too.
Next connect your shockpump and set your sag to around 25% (just as a starting point).
Roll along stood up on the flat at walking pace and simultaneously grab the front brake and compress your fork while pushing down as fast and hard as you can with all your strength to try and bottom it out. depending on your strength you're aiming to almost use full travel here but never bottom out. Add/remove pressure to get to this point. This is a good starting point for spring rate for an aggressive rider who jumps.
next set your rebound. pushing down fast and letting go try to get it close to the point where the wheel just stops trying to rebound upwards from the floor. (it helps to have decent front tyre pressure when doing this also). this should be within a couple of clicks of optimum for pop/support when hitting lips. it's unlikely you'll need much comp damping wound on for jumping but you might want a little for grip/stability. (but don't try to use it for bottom out control)
if the fork doesn't seem supportive enough on lips don't be afraid try more pressure/less sag. folk will tell you to put tokens in but tokens actually make the first part of the travel LESS supportive and not so good for pop or lips. You did check how many tokens at the start didn't you? if the fork isn't supportive enough in the beginning and mid stroke but doesn't use all travel. remove one token at a time and start again with spring rate/pressure.
I don't know the rear suspansion characteristics/leverage ratio etc. of the levo well enough to offer anything comprehensive about sag/pressures etc. but a little more sag and slightly slower rebound should work well with the fork set-up ho I've described.

No never checked but there were 2 tokens in the box, to be fair I found the manual to be very vague.

 

[nappa]

I think the best thing will be to find someone to help me set it up or to get that shockwiz.

 

[highpeakrider]

For Rock Shox you can now enter the serial numbers to get the manuals , tuning etc.

RockShox Setup Guide | SRAM

Long term it will be better to just read what Gary said, learn the terms and have a ride where you just focus on say the fork first and slowly get it set as you like it.

We all ride different trails and expect the bike to handle differently.

I’ve got a bad back so have a plush rear but live in a hilly area so have the forks so they are supportive and gain some plushness from a lower tire pressure, but I’m not jumping.

Learning is all part of the game, not tried a shoxwiz but I guess it wants us all to have the same setup.

 

[Gary]

Shockwiz is an educated guide. AFAIK you can tell it what sort of rider/riding you are/do. So if you sit firmly in one category of riding it's probably pretty decent tool to use.
I've no interest in using one myself as my needs have always been "special"

 

[MattyB]

In addition to Gary’s in-depth advice above re: jumping setup, something more basic from me re: the front end...

Don’t forget that since you last rode a mountain bike geometry has changed quite a lot; this bike is certain to have a longer front centre with a slacker head angle than whatever you rode last. That means you need to make a more pronounced effort to weight the front end in order to get it to bite, especially given the wide 2.8” front tyre. I certainly found this out when in came back to mountain biking around 18 months ago on a non-ebike, and it took a while to adjust my cornering technique (to be honest I still haven’t quite got used to it, but corner speeds are rising and I wash out a lot less these days!).

 

[Gary]

I think the best thing will be to find someone to help me set it up .

I just did

 

[Gary]

Don’t forget that since you last rode a mountain bike geometry has changed quite a lot; this bike is certain to have a longer front centre with a slacker head angle than whatever you rode last. That means you need to make a more pronounced effort to weight the front end in order to get it to bite, especially given the wide 2.8” front tyre. I certainly found this out when in came back to mountain biking around 18 months ago on a non-ebike, and it took a while to adjust my cornering technique (to be honest I still haven’t quite got used to it, but corner speeds are rising and I wash out a lot less these days!).

Newskool sizing/geometry also makes a difference in weighting and pre-loading the face of a lip. It makes little to no odds for an experienced rider but I tend to forget how much this must effect less experienced jumpers, new riders or riders returning to mtb after a break. If you can jump well, you can jump any bike (and switch to other sizes/types quickly) but if you're a little less compitent or confident it'll be more difficult to get the timing/positioning right.

 

[All Mountain Coaching]

Wow! ^^
That's almost exactly the opposite advice you'd want to follow for how to set up a stable supportive front end for good jumping performance and cornering support.
What do you weigh @nappa and what tyres does the bike have? (Size, model, compound & casing?)
For jumping you need to set up your rear suspension supportive too/
The front end washing out could be anything from poor rider/weight distribution/technique to bike set-up to tyres/conditions.

+1

Who is this dude giving duff advice?!

Wiltshire warrior... Maybe start your posts with "from my own experience..." Because it sounds like you know what you're talking about and that's so ill advised.