Trek Rail 9 volume spacers?

[Matt Seabrook]

I am trying to get my head around suspension set up and have a Trek Rail 9 2021. So fare other than fiddling with the compression and rebound setting and to be honest I dont have much idea about what I’m doing. So I have purchased a ShockWiz to see if it can get me to a point where my bike is handling as it should and also I am hoping to learn something about my suspension. So to set the ShockWiz up it needs to know how many if any volume spaces are in the shock and fork. So far I have not opened up either fork or shock so can anybody tell me if there are any in there to begin with or not from new? The bike has a Zeb up front and a Super Deluxe Ultimate RT3 out back. I have found the rear to bottom out on some rough terrain but the fork seems not to bad so any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance Matt.

 

[DeRailled7]

Hi, for your fork the best way to find out how many tokens (spacers) you’ve got is simply to remove the cap over your left leg. Simple to do, just deflate the fork and unscrew the cap. Nothing special other than removing it and counting the number of tokens. Otherwise you can use the charts (page 17) in this specs manual.

https://www.sram.com/globalassets/document-hierarchy/service-manuals/rockshox/front-suspension/2022-front-suspension-oil-air-coil-token-and-specifications-english.pdf

 

[steve_sordy]

Ref removing the cap at the top of the air leg. The removal method required can be either a very thin hexagon flat or the same connection that is used to fasten your cassette in place or the centre lock brakes. Depends upon brand and size.

If it's a hex flat be extremely careful with it! Don't use any type of adjustable gripper. Don't even use a 12-point socket. It will need a hexagon socket. Even worse, it needs a hexagon socket that has no chamfer at the opening. The torque specified for these caps is high and 40Nm is not unusual. If you don't have a good grip on those thin soft alloy hex flats, you will damage them.

You can either buy a socket ready done without chamfer, or you can convert or buy a standard socket cheaply and grind off the chamfer. I bought a 32mm across flats socket and borrowed a mate's angle grinder. With the socket securely clamped, ten mins work later and I was good to go. Don't forget to remove any burrs.

 

[Matt Seabrook]

Ref removing the cap at the top of the air leg. The removal method required can be either a very thin hexagon flat or the same connection that is used to fasten your cassette in place or the centre lock brakes. Depends upon brand and size.

If it's a hex flat be extremely careful with it! Don't use any type of adjustable gripper. Don't even use a 12-point socket. It will need a hexagon socket. Even worse, it needs a hexagon socket that has no chamfer at the opening. The torque specified for these caps is high and 40Nm is not unusual. If you don't have a good grip on those thin soft alloy hex flats, you will damage them.

You can either buy a socket ready done without chamfer, or you can convert or buy a standard socket cheaply and grind off the chamfer. I bought a 32mm across flats socket and borrowed a mate's angle grinder. With the socket securely clamped, ten mins work later and I was good to go. Don't forget to remove any burrs.

Many thanks for the advise. I know my fork uses the cassette type so that should be a bit easier to deal with.

 

[Doug Stampfer]

Have you had a good read of the suspension setup on the main page? There is some great advice buried in there but a lot to go through.

I did the same as you getting my head around how to get my rail working right with the shockwiz. What you must remember is that the shickwiz is constantly changing as you ride so I'd suggest sessioning your favourite track, get the results, adjust till it reads all green & then save the suggested LSC & HSC settings on your phone before trying other tracks & gettting the information from those tracks. The recommended adjustments may change depending on what type of track & style of riding required.
It took the shockwiz to get me to a baseline level where I knew where to start from & the reassurance I was within cooee before I started adjusting to my prefernces. i have my fork pretty well adjusted now & only give the HSC a bit of a twist when heading down a droppy track but it took a while to get it feeling good across different terrain.
Good luck

 

[Matt Seabrook]

Have you had a good read of the suspension setup on the main page? There is some great advice buried in there but a lot to go through.

I did the same as you getting my head around how to get my rail working right with the shockwiz. What you must remember is that the shickwiz is constantly changing as you ride so I'd suggest sessioning your favourite track, get the results, adjust till it reads all green & then save the suggested LSC & HSC settings on your phone before trying other tracks & gettting the information from those tracks. The recommended adjustments may change depending on what type of track & style of riding required.
It took the shockwiz to get me to a baseline level where I knew where to start from & the reassurance I was within cooee before I started adjusting to my prefernces. i have my fork pretty well adjusted now & only give the HSC a bit of a twist when heading down a droppy track but it took a while to get it feeling good across different terrain.
Good luck

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I love messing about with this sort of thing so at least if I get thing wrong I can get it back with shockwiz. Interestingly I rode this morning and found out the rear shock was too soft.

 

[Matt Seabrook]

“Have you had a good read of the suspension setup on the main page?”

Sorry for being thick but where abouts is this as I have just tried looking for it? Cheers Matt

 

[Doug Stampfer]

“Have you had a good read of the suspension setup on the main page?”

Sorry for being thick but where abouts is this as I have just tried looking for it? Cheers Matt

Suspension set-up guides and info

@Rob Hancill There are a lot of threads on the forum asking questions about suspension set-up. I think it would be good to sticky a guide to suspension set-up for all users to easily find. @steve_sordy just posted an excellent and fairly thorough PDF guide to suspension set up in the commencal...

www.emtbforums.com

 

[Matt Seabrook]

Thanks Doug I will have a read when I get a chance.

 

[WNH]

I am trying to get my head around suspension set up and have a Trek Rail 9 2021. So fare other than fiddling with the compression and rebound setting and to be honest I dont have much idea about what I’m doing. So I have purchased a ShockWiz to see if it can get me to a point where my bike is handling as it should and also I am hoping to learn something about my suspension. So to set the ShockWiz up it needs to know how many if any volume spaces are in the shock and fork. So far I have not opened up either fork or shock so can anybody tell me if there are any in there to begin with or not from new? The bike has a Zeb up front and a Super Deluxe Ultimate RT3 out back. I have found the rear to bottom out on some rough terrain but the fork seems not to bad so any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance Matt.

The Zeb on the Trek Rails come stock with 2 tokens.

 

[High Rock Ruti]

I am trying to get my head around suspension set up and have a Trek Rail 9 2021. So fare other than fiddling with the compression and rebound setting and to be honest I dont have much idea about what I’m doing. So I have purchased a ShockWiz to see if it can get me to a point where my bike is handling as it should and also I am hoping to learn something about my suspension. So to set the ShockWiz up it needs to know how many if any volume spaces are in the shock and fork. So far I have not opened up either fork or shock so can anybody tell me if there are any in there to begin with or not from new? The bike has a Zeb up front and a Super Deluxe Ultimate RT3 out back. I have found the rear to bottom out on some rough terrain but the fork seems not to bad so any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance Matt.

High Rock Ruti

I identify with your confusion. I was mystified by suspension set up, which why the reply is long winded

An important thing about spacers is they allow the fork/shock to remain high in the stroke, low in pressure and progressive during deeper compression, any attempt to slow down compression with the dials immediately affects plushness and on 50 pound bike our upper bodies are taking the brunt of the forces tired arms, shoulders, elbows, wrists and hands.

By playing (experimenting) with the number spacers various pressures, various compression settings and rebound settings I've found a happy set up. I use volume spacers to have the suspension ride high in the (Fox 38 3 spacers) stroke, I set the pressure to do the same for sag, and set rebound so the wheel stays on the ground most of the time
I'm old I don't do giant jumps maybe 6 or 10 feet in the air or drops maybe 3 foot drops. I'm looking for plushness while I'm seated over roots, rocks and undulations, (staying relaxed without the death grip) looking for ramp up in progression when standing and rolling fast with no harsh bottom, so far I've found little use for high/low compression, it reduces plushness so the dampers are wide open. Let me reiterate I experiment all the time. This is the only way I've found actual feel between various settings too much pressure, to much compression and too much rebound it takes time particularly with fox who offers so many setting combinations. I've never been able to get the plushness from RockShox of fox not far off mind you, it has taken several years of changing settings over and over to detect the feel of small adjustments very satisfying however. Your looking to develop your "feel" here, when you can feel one click of adjustment in any setting your there. Watch Dialed on YouTube Jordey Cortez is the master mechanic for Fox one episode he takes a rider out makes settings by moving 3 clicks do a short run ask for impressions "is it better or worse?" New settings same run same question. Every time we ride the opportunity to change settings exists you just have to adjust enough times and the mystery becomes awareness and understanding and finally feel


Warm Regards Ruti