More rebound damping produces a slower returning fork, less rebound dampening produces suspension that returns faster. The goal with rebound is to find a balance where it absorbs consecutive impacts but not too quickly that it forces the wheels to lose traction and feel like a pogo stick!
Rebound is recommended to be set after setting your sag. Suspension set up is deserving a whole other article, so stay tuned later in the series for our guide to setting up your suspension. Lockout: Many forks come equipped with either a fork or handlebar-mounted suspension lockout. This essentially gives the option to turn the suspension on and off, or provide some level between. Ultimately, after some experimentation, the damping settings will help you feel more controlled and smoother on the trail.
The Kashima coating used by Fox makes for a smoother and better-performing suspension parts. When deciding between bikes, typically more expensive bikes will be equipped with more expensive suspension, but what does that mean? Suspension savvy mechanics will tell you that cheaper suspension will simply not have the same quality internals, the implications being that the internals break down under repeated usage due to the heat and friction generated from riding.
This results in oil degradation, leading to loss of performance and function. Also, more expensive suspension components are built to higher standards and often with more complex designs, so not only are tolerances tighter and parts smoother, but often the function is more advanced.
So if you are rider likely to push the bike to its limits, you will want your suspension to match your riding ambitions. Stanchions coated with a microscopic coating to fill in imperfections on the metal surface and provide a smoother feel, for example, Fox Kashima coat or Rockshox Diamond coat. Most bikes will come standard with either Fox or RockShox Suspension. However, there are many other brands on the market with some more boutique than others, or just specialising in rear shocks only, you may come across the following;.
A suspension system will require regular servicing and cleaning, as well as proper cleaning and care at home. Our next series will look at what is involved in a suspension set-up, how to upgrade and why with first-hand advice from suspension experts from Cyclinic and MTBSuspension. Thanks to The Ride Cycles for helping out with the creation of this article. Check out our comprehensive Guide to Buying a Mountain Bike for more information. This is assuming that both are set for the same rider weight.
This reduces the likelihood of the fork bottoming out during a big drop, hard hit, or after landing from a jump. Air forks also allow you to easily adjust the bottom-out resistance by changing the spring rate or the progression. Increasing the pressure in the air chamber stiffens up the suspension, making it harder to compress and bottom out. Decreasing the volume in the air chamber by adding spacers makes the fork more progressive.
This makes the suspension harder to compress earlier in the range, making it harder to bottom out. This feature is important because bottoming out too hard or frequently can cause damage to your bike.
For example, bottoming out particularly hard could bend a wheel or frame. You want to adjust your suspension so bottom outs are rare. The adjustability of air forks makes them much more versatile than coil forks. For example, you can easily adjust the spring rate to match the type of riding you plan to do for the day.
If you plan to ride a rough trail with lots of drops and jumps, you can add some spacers to increase the progression to reduce the likelihood of bottoming out during landings. If you loan your bike to a lightweight friend, you can let some air out to reduce the spring rate to make the fork softer. Maybe you want to load your bike up with bikepacking bags and go camping. You can increase the PSI to make your fork stiffer so it can handle the extra weight.
To make these adjustments, all you need is a shock pump and a few minutes of time. You could optimize your suspension for every ride if you wanted. Being able to easily change the spring rate before a ride makes air forks much more versatile.
You can use the same bike for multiple types of mountain biking. For example, you could easily use the same bike for trail riding, bikepacking, enduro, and cross country riding with some minor adjustments. To make the same adjustments to a coil fork, you would need to take the fork apart and swap out the coil springs. Air forks operate very quietly as long as they are properly maintained.
There are more air forks on the market as well if you want to buy a new fork for your existing bike. You simply have more options to choose from if you decide to go with an air fork. This is the case because air forks are more adjustable, easier to adjust, and more popular.
Most mountain bikers seem to prefer air forks as well. Due to the progressive spring rate, air forks offer a bit more lively ride. The bike wants to pop and bounce. This makes it easier to lift the bike off the ground.
It also makes the bike feel a bit more supportive while landing. The lively ride characteristics make air forks a great choice for those who like to jump, hop, and ride rolling terrain. Air forks have more seals than coil forks.
These extra seals are required to hold the pressurized air inside of the air spring. Because there are more seals, air forks are more likely to be affected by dirt, dust, and other contaminants than coil forks. The seals can get contaminated and the air or oil can begin leaking out, causing the fork suspension to stop working.
In addition, air forks create a bit more heat due to friction from the tight seals. For these reasons, air forks require more frequent maintenance than coil forks. You will need to service your air fork every months, depending on how often you ride. Most manufacturers recommend that you perform a basic service every riding hours. This involves cleaning and inspecting the stanchions and fork lowers and replacing the lower seals and dust wipers.
You may need to top up the oil as well. You will have to do this basic service times between full rebuilds. Every hours, you should have your forks fully rebuilt by a professional. For most riders, this will be around once per year. A full rebuild involves replacing all seals and oil and thoroughly cleaning all components and inspecting them for damage.
To compare, coil forks can usually go for longer intervals without maintenance. They can go hours between services and up to hours between rebuilds. If you neglect maintenance, performance will degrade. You can also cause unnecessary wear and tear. For more info on maintenance, check out this great guide. Because they need to hold pressurized air inside, air forks have more seals than coil forks. Some of these seals need to fit tighter as well.
The seals rubbing against moving parts creates friction in the system. As a result, air forks have more static friction or stiction than coil forks. Sufficient force is required to overcome the stiction for the fork to begin moving. The amount of force required to overcome the stiction is called breakaway force. Air forks require more breakaway force than coil forks. This makes air forks less sensitive to small bumps. For example, riding over a small root may not create enough force to break the stiction on an air fork.
That bump could be transmitted through the fork into your arms. That same small root may create enough force to break the stiction of a coil fork and be absorbed. The ride may feel a bit rougher when you use an air fork for this reason. There are a couple of ways to improve small bump sensitivity.
You can reduce the spring rate. When you do this, the fork tends to blow through most of the travel then ramp up quickly at the end. You can also choose an air fork with negative springs to help overcome stiction and improve small bump sensitivity.
This negative spring opposes the air spring to help reduce breakaway force. A good negative spring system can make air forks almost as sensitive to small as coil forks but not quite. The bike may bounce off of some roots, rocks, and bumps instead of absorbing them. The progressive spring rate can also make the fork feel a bit less responsive. As a result, you may not be able to corner quite as hard with an air fork on some surfaces. The front wheel can wash out more easily. Braking performance can suffer as well.
Air forks feel a bit more lively than coil forks. Due to the progressive spring rate, the fork feels a bit more bouncy. In addition, the poor small bump sensitivity of air forks can make the ride feel a bit rougher on some surfaces.
For these reasons, air forks may not be ideal for those with back or joint pain. The ride is a little bumpier and less comfortable. In addition, the bouncier ride of air forks can make the bike a bit harder to control on very rough terrain. As a result, you may maintain a slightly slower average speed with an air fork.
That said, the difference in performance between a modern air and coil fork is pretty minimal. It might slow you down by a second or two on a typical downhill run. Having said this, there are some situations where air forks allow you to ride faster.
For example, air forks can be better for riding trails with lots of jumps, drops, and rollers because they provide more support. This extra support allows you to hit these obstacles faster and harder without having to slow down or risk bottoming out. Air forks have more parts that can wear out or fail. For example, there are more seals inside that can get contaminated and begin leaking. The Schrader valve on top could leak or fail. You may have to add a bit of air before a ride.
Even when your fork is well maintained and in good condition, you may have to add some air every month or so. Having said this, modern air forks are incredibly reliable. They are highly unlikely to leave you stranded if you properly maintain them. In general, air forks cost more than coil forks over the course of their lifetime. The initial price difference is pretty minimal.
In fact, air forks often cost a couple of hundred dollars less than comparable coil forks. Where air forks become more expensive is in maintenance. An air fork usually requires a full rebuild every months while a coil fork may only require a full rebuild once every months. Between full rebuilds, forks need basic service on fork lowers. An air fork may need basic services between full rebuilds while a coil fork may only need 1 basic service.
You save some money by doing the basic service by yourself. You will have to buy some parts and tools. Coil fork maintenance costs about the same but the intervals are longer. All of this additional maintenance adds up. If you neglect maintenance, your air fork becomes even more expensive. Air forks tend to be softer at the beginning of the travel and through the mid-stroke. When you brake hard, the front of the bike can dip down far into the mid stroke.
When you dip down so far, it can be hard to steer. Worst case, you could fly over the handlebars. There are a few ways to solve the problem of brake dive. You can add some air to increase the spring rate.
You can also increase the low speed compression damping if your fork offers that setting. The problem is that these adjustments can reduce small bump sensitivity.
Good technique can also help reduce brake dive. When you have to brake hard, try to shift your bodyweight back as far as you can. Because air forks are progressive, the force required to compress the springs increases throughout the range. Toward the end of the range, it takes an incredible amount of force to further compress the fork. The end of the travel will only be used in rare situations where the fork is taking a particularly large hit and bottoming out.
To make more of the suspension usable, you can lower the PSI to reduce the spring rate. The internal seals inside the air sleeve slide against the tube. Skip to content ». Home News. And the rear shock for that matter. No, the rear "lockout" just changes the low-speed compression, so it takes more low speed force to dive through the travel. It will never fully be locked out, but depending on the suspension design and shock setup, it can pretty much be for the most part.
How much suspension do I need? The answer may seem obvious: millimeters 4 inches for cross-country, millimeters 5. What is a suspension fork? A suspension fork is based around a spring and a damper - yet it is far from that simple! On lower-end models or the occasional gravity-focused fork, a metal coil spring features. An air spring is the more popular spring type on more expensive forks, which sees the spring rate controlled by air pressure.
Why do road bikes have no suspension?
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