Levo Gen 3 Suspension Tuning Guidance for 300 Lb rider

[Damin]

Hey there,
I'm looking for guidance on setting up the suspension on my 2022 Levo Comp Carbon for myself and a buddy. We are both over the 250 lb weight limit. Yes, we realize this is not recommended, but we are also both losing weight and the bikes are helping us reach out goals. We aren't expert riders and we aren't going to be dropping off 5 foot cliffs or hitting any massive jumps.. Just want to run the stock suspension on the stiffer side to help absorb some of the abuse and protect the frame, avoiding bottoming out the fork.

As such, I am looking at the Fox Front Fork PSI settings, and they stop at 106 PSI for a 250 Lb Rider. The max PSI for the fork is 120 PSI. If I extrapolate the curve, that means I would need 126 PSI for a 300 Lb rider.

Clearly, that's not going to happen, so my though is to run the front shocks at 115-118 PSI and add volume spacers to stiffen it up a bit and try to run stiffer at a 15% sag.. and then ease into the more technical terrain as we both start hitting weight loss milestones. We can tune from there.

Am I on the right track here or am I going to blow out the forks? Can I run at 120 PSI? Should I run at 120 PSI?

 

[Bones]

I would try max pressure, 3 volume spacers, fully open rebound and fully closed compression. If its bottoming out then stick some more volume spacers in. Unless someone your weight has some settings, you are the crash test dummy

 

[LeeG]

I would try max pressure, 3 volume spacers, fully open rebound and fully closed compression. If its bottoming out then stick some more volume spacers in. Unless someone your weight has some settings, you are the crash test dummy

I'd have the rebound 1 click from closed. With the the high air pressures you will need to run there is going to be a lot of energy returning which needs to be controlled with rebound dampening.
For air pressure - run max allowable and go from there.

 

[Bones]

But he is 50lb heavier than the air pressure setting. That's why I suggested wide open to help get the fork back up quickly.

 

[Damin]

Thanks guys. I'm going to do a few runs trying both settings and see the difference in the response.

Any advice on the rear shock?

 

[ebikerider]

Hey mate, put the fork and the shock at close to max pressure with the rebound close to closed to control it and try it out. Test and adjust is key here. You might even find you can run the fork slightly softer than you think.

 

[Rod B.]

Hey there,
I'm looking for guidance on setting up the suspension on my 2022 Levo Comp Carbon for myself and a buddy. We are both over the 250 lb weight limit. Yes, we realize this is not recommended, but we are also both losing weight and the bikes are helping us reach out goals. We aren't expert riders and we aren't going to be dropping off 5 foot cliffs or hitting any massive jumps.. Just want to run the stock suspension on the stiffer side to help absorb some of the abuse and protect the frame, avoiding bottoming out the fork.

As such, I am looking at the Fox Front Fork PSI settings, and they stop at 106 PSI for a 250 Lb Rider. The max PSI for the fork is 120 PSI. If I extrapolate the curve, that means I would need 126 PSI for a 300 Lb rider.

Clearly, that's not going to happen, so my though is to run the front shocks at 115-118 PSI and add volume spacers to stiffen it up a bit and try to run stiffer at a 15% sag.. and then ease into the more technical terrain as we both start hitting weight loss milestones. We can tune from there.

Am I on the right track here or am I going to blow out the forks? Can I run at 120 PSI? Should I run at 120 PSI?

View attachment 115815
View attachment 115816
View attachment 115817 View attachment 115818

Hey there,
I'm looking for guidance on setting up the suspension on my 2022 Levo Comp Carbon for myself and a buddy. We are both over the 250 lb weight limit. Yes, we realize this is not recommended, but we are also both losing weight and the bikes are helping us reach out goals. We aren't expert riders and we aren't going to be dropping off 5 foot cliffs or hitting any massive jumps.. Just want to run the stock suspension on the stiffer side to help absorb some of the abuse and protect the frame, avoiding bottoming out the fork.

As such, I am looking at the Fox Front Fork PSI settings, and they stop at 106 PSI for a 250 Lb Rider. The max PSI for the fork is 120 PSI. If I extrapolate the curve, that means I would need 126 PSI for a 300 Lb rider.

Clearly, that's not going to happen, so my though is to run the front shocks at 115-118 PSI and add volume spacers to stiffen it up a bit and try to run stiffer at a 15% sag.. and then ease into the more technical terrain as we both start hitting weight loss milestones. We can tune from there.

Am I on the right track here or am I going to blow out the forks? Can I run at 120 PSI? Should I run at 120 PSI?

View attachment 115815
View attachment 115816
View attachment 115817 View attachment 115818

Damien,

My buddy and I both bought 2022 Levo Comp Carbons. We modified our Levo‘s by installing 170mm ZEB forks and Fox X2 rear shocks. The ZEB has a stouter frame fork than the Fox 36 Rhythm. I like the coil like feel of the Fox X2. My buddy weighs over 260 lbs., and crushes jumps and drops on his Levo like a good thing.

When suspension manufacturers design their suspension components, they try to tune the components to fit a large bell curve of rider weights. Your 250 lb. weight puts you at the outer edge of the bell curve.

Adding volume spacers will allow you to stay within the maximum allowed air spring pressure. But, this is only part of the cure. Keep in mind that adding volume spacers will change how the air spring in your fork or shock ramp ups, i.e. instead of the fork/shock compressing at a steady linear rate, it will instead become progressive and stiffen quicker at mid and end stroke. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does impact compression and rebound settings, as well as ride quality, and how your suspension will behave when you encounter small trail chatter, drops, jumps, etc.

Fortunately, there are things you can do to help with all of this. Most good bicycle shops will have in-house suspension experts that can perform work on your fork and shock dampers to offset your weight and the higher air pressures which will impact compression and rebound. This is done by re-shimming the damper. The cost to custom tune a fork or shock to your weight and riding style is fairly cheap and well worth the expenditure.

While maximum air pressures should never be exceeded, the sag, rebound and compressions settings which Fox, Rockshox etc., list on tuning guides are not written in stone. They are more of a basic starting point to get you somewhere in the ball park, but should not be religiously followed. Absolutely experiment with your settings.

You are doing the right thing by seeking knowledge. Before installing or removing a volume spacer or two, know why you are doing it and what you want to achieve. The same applies to rebound and compression settings. There are many good articles online which will educate you further on suspension tuning. Here are a few which I consider exceptional:

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Check out PinkBike.com for the latest in cycling and mountain biking news, freeride videos, photos, events and more. Submit your own biking pictures and videos online. Buy the latest biking DVDs and videos. Check race results.

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Be safe,
Rod

 

[Damin]

Aaron Graber from Dirt Craft was amazing! We were both pleasantly surprised to find out that we really didn't have to do very much to achieve the results I was looking for. The front shock shipped with two spacers in it and a 0.2 mm spacer in the rear shock.

Results of my tuning session/ride check outs...

"Awesome! Thanks again for your part in the process. It was great to meet you and hear about everything you've got going - on and off the bike.

The final settings we ended up with:

Fork:
100 PSI
2 Volume Spacers
Reb - 7 clicks in
Comp: 1:00 on the dial
Resulting Sag: 32%

Shock:
280 PSI
.2 volume spacer
Reb - 7 clicks in (we were at 6 before we hit the trail, then added one more during that process)
Comp - open position
Resulting Sag: 33%

Tire Pressure : 35 rear / 32 front

Recommendations: play around with dropping tire pressure a bit (1-4 psi) to see if it helps add additional grip without introducing any unwanted sidewall squirm. On the rear shock: adding 5-10 psi may help with pedal strikes on very rough trails with lots of high rocks/roots.

As everything progresses and you start riding even harder and losing more weight, if things start to feel different and you need advice on tweaks to make, just email, text or call!

Thanks,
Aaron"

 

[Bones]

32% sag seems far to much for the fork, seeing as fox recommends 15 to 20%. But if it works for you then go for it

 

[Shjay]

One picture of the Levo, the bike comes with a DPS & Fox34 then setup guide is for a 36! Which is it on the bike?

 

[Damin]

One picture of the Levo, the bike comes with a DPS & Fox34 then setup guide is for a 36! Which is it on the bike?

36 on the Comp Carbon. Maybe slightly different components on the Comp Alloy.

 

[Damin]

32% sag seems far to much for the fork, seeing as fox recommends 15 to 20%. But if it works for you then go for it
View attachment 116077

Yeah... I may pump it up a bit. To be honest, it's set up for me a little soft but I'm losing a few pounds every week. I'm going to ride it a few more times and see how I do with pedal strike and bracket clearance.