The Alps is a top location for extreme rides (and others). The slopes are steep and endless with many types of elements (rocks, roots, mud etc.). It is very important to set up the bike right. Overlooking the setup can make a significant impact on how the bike behaves and over the total riding experience. Since the terrain is on the extreme so will a lousy setup feel – extremely lousy! Let’s go over a quick basic setup that can make a whole lot of a difference:

Suspensions:

Most modern forks have all the twicks & whistles. With advanced damping controls such as high/low compressions, return, floodgates, stable platforms etc you can fine tune your ride to every situation. It is much more tunable then your motorized ride (car, motorbike) where it is pretty much a black box, a factory pre-setup.

As suspensions technology is advancing it offers us higher resolution of tuning which takes time, but the whole idea is to ride more and fiddle with all the adjusters less, catch 22?

To be realistic, in my experience, most riders set it up once and forget about it. Why shouldn’t it be like that?

Problem is some riders don’t even set it up once; they just ride it out of the shop with the factory setting. I say, we are different, not only physically but also in the way we like our bikes behavior on the trail.

We should invest the time to dial in our shocks to our liking and if we pay the right attention we will enjoy our ride much more. We don’t need to touch it often after that, only maybe if there is a major change in one of the riding parameters like going to the Alps for a week, an unusual terrain to most of us. Basic tips to set up your suspensions then:

Fork

1. Start with the Sag - it is the way the shock goes into its travel on a neutral position with the rider on the bike. Especially long legged DH forks need to have some sink as to allow the suspension to absorb small pits along the way without transferring it to the rider. Since the rider weight is not exactly balanced between the rear and front suspension, sag should not be equal. A 20% sag up front should be just fine. How to dial it? With an air spring fork put the right amount of air to achieve this, with coil springs you may need to play with internal spacers for fine tuning or replace the factory spring with a softer/firmer spring (all manufactures offer a proper range) to achieve the proper sag.
   
2. Rebound damping compression – even very simple non adjustable forks have this adjuster. You want your fork to return quickly enough to be ready to absorb the next hitch without ‘kicking’ your arms. Too much slow rebound will cause the fork to ‘pack’ and have less travel to offer for the next obstacle. Especially in downhill runs where the time from one bump to the other is very short, it is extremely felt.
   
3. High & low speed compression – most of modern forks offer both adjusters some offer only compression which is normally the high speed one. High speed compression handles square edges and strong impacts that pushed the fork through its travel at once. Increasing it will make the fork more resistant at the end of the travel, best used when big drops and violent rock gardens are expected. Low speed compression controls the behavior of the fork on smaller bumps along the way as roots, chatters and small rocks. In general the slopes in Les-Gets are pretty smooth and highly maintained but often with many roots (especially when inside the woods). It is recommended to set the fork less on high speed compression to make it more linear feel and also less on the low speed to better absorb the roots. Run the low speed compression higher if the run is pretty smooth to obtain more dynamic and overall ride faster.
   
4. Platform – Some forks have a dumping adjuster to control the stable platform. It means that the fork will be locked (or have very little travel) until the fork hits a bump which opens/bypass the mechanism and uses the whole travel of the fork. It is more applicable in climbs or when a lot of paddling induces force on the suspension. When riding at the Alps, it is not very practical and I usually turn it of (or to minimum).

Rear shock have the same principles with some minor changes:

1. Sag for DH should be between 35%-45% (a matter of personal preference). Achieved either with the right amount of air or using the right coil spring load. Be advised that if more then 4-6 full turns of the compression ring on a coil spring is required to obtain a proper sag then it is not efficient and also not recommended. You should move to the next firmer spring.
   
2. Rebound is the same principal as the fork, replace the word “Arms” with “Arse”.
   
3. High/low speed adjustments - Most advanced rear shock will offer it. Follow the tips as with the fork. A very common shock out there is the DHX 5 which offer air (boost) assist to control how linear or progressive the shock moves into its travel. Make sure to keep the minimum PSI required (usually 75 psi).
   
4. Platform – Same function as with the fork however it is recommended to add some ’stable platform’ as you want to have an efficient paddling at times, for example when G-out from corners.
   
5. Bottom out – Some high-end shocks offer this control which adjusts the shock resistance to close its travel at the end of the stroke. Apply it if you plan on hacking to flat big stuff. In general you should close the shocks travel once or twice a ride so you know you exploit the entire travel of the shock.

Dialing suspensions make a significant impact on how the bike will ride. Take the time to tune it. Feel free to experiment and fine tune it until you know you’ve pined it!

Ride on!

Part II – Next …. Brakes & Tires

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