Suspension Adjustment
The sag measurement is the amount that your fork, rear shock, or both will compress when you are sitting on your bike. While a standard recommendation is 20% of a shock's available travel, the proper amount of sag really comes down to a rider's personal preference. Adjusting air pressure until you achieve your target sag will help you determine the appropriate amount of air pressure for your fork or shock, or both. If you are more of a cross country rider some will run a higher air pressure, reducing sag to firm up suspension. If you are more of a downhill rider, some will run lower air pressure to add a softer feel to your ride. But once again, it all comes down to the specific rider's preference.
Different shocks will have different ranges of pressures to use. The best way to figure out an initial pressure is to look up the make and model of your shock and use the chart the manufacturer requires. If you are unable to locate a chart or do not feel like spending time figuring out an initial setting there are general guidelines you can go by.
For a rear shock, take your body weight in lbs and subtract 20%. Make sure any lockouts the shock may have are disengaged. Set the shock. Get on the bike and check the sag. If there is too much, add air to increase pressure by 5-10 psi. If the bike does not have enough sag, let 5-10 pounds of pressure out, get on the bike and re-evaluate. Continue this until you sit on the bike and your are in the 20% range of your shock.
For a suspension fork, a similar test is required. Take your body weight, subtract 20% and set your fork. Make sure any lockouts the fork may have are disengaged. Get on the bike and give it a few light pedals forward. Check the sag of your fork and adjust, 5-10 psi at a time.
Next we come to rebound. Rebound is the rate at which your fork or shock returns to its full travel. You do not want your suspension to buck you around like your riding a pogo stick, but you want it to recover fast enough from one hit in time for the next hit. Not enough rebound will cause your suspension to feel sluggish and allow multiple hits to stack up before your suspension can recover.
To set your rebound, start by turning the rebound dial to the fastest return. For Fox, this is the "-" symbol. For RockShox it is a symbol of a rabbit. Again, turn your dial to the extreme, and then back it off 3 clicks. This will be a good reference point for setting your rebound. After that, you can play with your rebound to find your ideal return rate to match your specific riding style.
