I went on my weekly night ride on the Fullerton Loop yesterday. Before heading out I made some suspension setup changes that actually worked out really well based on some information I found in 
My full squish is currently a ‘04 Specialized Enduro Comp. It comes with a Fox RL shock in the rear and a Manitou Black Platinum up front.
Sag
First step was to set up the sag, so I put some zip ties around the shock shafts to measure the sag. Most people say to set up sag around 25-33%. My front fork seemed fine. The rear shock needed a little more sag, so out goes some air pressure.
Compression
I set compression right around the middle setting on the rear shock. You could set a little less compression for a plusher ride, but I found it to bob a little too much while pedaling.
For the fork, I left it on the lowest compression setting just because the few times I did set it a little firmer, I had some problems. The compression knob on the Manitou Black forks is this little red lever on top of the right leg. At the lowest setting, it’s at the 11 o’clock position. The one time I tried to firm up the suspension, I put it at the 1 o’clock position. BAD IDEA! I guess at some point it caught on some brush or something and decided to go to the 5 o’clock position - which basically locks out the fork. Can you say…design flaw??? (Actually..maybe say lawsuit if I actually hurt myself next time)
Long story short - screw the compression setting on my fork.
Rebound
This is what I had set up entirely wrong on both the front and rear. What I read was to set it to the lowest rebound possible but at the same time, not letting it pogo stick you on the bumps. I had both set to a fairly high rebound setting, because I thought that more dampening was good. Well, I was wrong.
Conclusion
I have to say, these changes made a world of difference. The bike tracked a hell of a lot better, tires staying firmly planted to the ground. The ride even seemed a little plusher. Thanks Zinn.
Leave a Reply