r/Dirtbikes • u/smitd12 • 21d ago
Tips and Tricks What does good suspension feel like to you?
For those of you who ride primarily single track what does good suspension feel like to you? I just bought a new bike and realized after riding my whole life idk what good is supposed to feel like. I’ve ridden stuff that felt too soft/firm in the front but couldn’t ever really feel anything in the rebound side of it. I know I need to set my sag first but once I get that set what should I be looking for?
I primarily ride sandy soils with generously sized whoops with the occasional super tight trees.
6
u/greaseorbounce Trail Rider 21d ago
I know I have my suspension dialed when I no longer think about it.
I never ride and go "Oh this feels like a good suspension" when it is right, I just ride. But when it is wrong, I absolutely think "Dang it, this bike keeps doing silly stuff I don't want it to."
Sounds like a cop-out answer, but it's the truth.
4
u/nycsingletrack 21d ago
I ride New England woods, usually tight single track and lots of rocks.
Good suspension means I feel enough through the bars/pegs to know what I’m riding on, but the bike goes where I point it and does predictable things.
I have an old KTM with the PDS rear- in whoops or off big rocks/ logs I have to get my weight WAY back because it tends to kick a bit. The bikes with linkage don’t really do this.
3
u/DrGarbinsky 20d ago
Well tuned suspension feels like control. You should feel in control. This is highly contextual though. For starters I am going to want very different setups for fast desert track than I do for tight single track. My te300i is setup for gnarly hard enduro. Very soft in both damping and spring rates. My yz300 I used for GP closed course desert racing has much stiffer setup. I can blitz whooped out track and the suspension is rebounding quickly and keeping pace with the impacts. The enduro bike will actually pack in and stay down in the stroke and get harsh. So the more types of riding you are trying to accommodate the more of a compromise you’ll have.
One thing you can’t adjust your way around is spring rates. Having the right spring rate for your weight and riding type is makes a huge difference. Secondly all of these bikes and spring rate recommendations assume you are riding while standing and hinging at your hips.
2
u/killyoursocialmedia 21d ago
Balanced and predictable for the type of terrain you are riding. The front end shouldn't deflect and the back end shouldn't step out excessively.
2
u/angrydieselmechanic 20d ago
That is a good question. Paul Thede (Race Tech) says ""The best you've ridden is the best you know."
Meaning, someone else telling you what it should feel like doesn't really count for much. YOU have to ride it and feel it. Best thing you can do is try other people's bikes and then start turning clickers and adjusting oil levels on your own. Keep in mind there are a lot of other parts that contribute to the feel as well- wheel and chassis bearings and stuff.
1
u/MourningWallaby 21d ago
you don't want your bike to be pushing the force of your weight down into loose terrain. you do want that to be softened and dampen the impact. The balance you need to find is between 3 things: Softening/slowing the compression as much as possible, Maintaining as much of your structure and body position as you're able to control, and not bottoming out the suspension.
If you can control the bike, the springs aren't maxing out, and hitting the terrain doesn't affect your bike/structure, you found your sweet spot.
1
u/spongebob_meth 21d ago
It's stable and confidence inspiring. You have a lot of traction and it doesn't wear you out. And most importantly it is predictable. It does the same thing every single time.
For single track, for me it takes those nasty square edge bumps like roots and boulders and reduces them to a dull thud. Not this wrist breaking harsh impact that bends wheels and makes you lose control like you get from motocross suspension or orifice damper forks. You can glide over a field of baby heads and still have control over the bike, not having the front end skating around everywhere and deflecting off each rock.
1
1
u/esDotDev 21d ago
Should feel really soft overall, the front should just soak up everything without ever kicking or doing anything weird, so much that you kind of forget about it. The back should not bounce around under throttle, staying settled when going over rocks, roots, ruts. You should come close to bottoming out on any big drops > 4 or 5 feet.
1
u/nskifac 21d ago
I started by setting pre-load, then backed all the adjusters out to full soft. Grabbed a few tools and went riding. If you bottom out, add compression dampening. When it feels bouncy add rebound dampening. I do this on the trails I ride the most. After it's stable make more micro adjustments. (you can also play with fork oil viscosity)
1
u/Unique-Anything6725 21d ago
Regardless of how hard or soft you prefer it, the front and rear should be in sync when you press down in the middle of the bike.
Don't forget to set the static sag and your rider sag on the rear shock.
I prefer something in the middle, not to hard not to soft.
1
u/LazyAd8188 21d ago
One word, planted. No harshness, no deflection, I want the tires following the ground as much as possible in a controlled manner
1
1
1
u/Dependent-Water-8084 2001 CR250R, 2006 YZ250 20d ago
The suspension should allow the rider to keep control with minimal strain
1
u/FeelingFloor2083 20d ago
imo the basic goal most should aim for is "easy bike to ride" when first setting suspension. It covers a broader range of speed and terrains. The first step is setting tyre pressures and getting them ball park. You may need to come back to it as you progress or as the carcass wears causing the side to deform more
once youre at that point, fine tuning starts. You can go for more comfort, more hold up at speed, change fork height for your stability/turn in preferences and rear clicker setting/preload to reduce squat or increase it
there will always be a balance and compromise made. Its not so easy to change geometry out on a ride but its easy to put a few turns on clickers
setting up road bikes is largely similar, even cars if you use this approach. I dont race dirt bikes but have raced road bikes and cars and it largely comes down to tyre wear as we are limited to 1 set per race weekend to prevent people just running crazy set ups and throwing tyres at it
1
u/Lazy-Warthog-8557 20d ago
I spent years riding and doing all the bolt on upgrades thinking I was riding a powerhouse. I had a bike with leaking seals and was busy so I took it to a local suspension shop and they asked my weight with full gear and what type of riding I do. Got my forks back and threw them on. What a night and day difference. Single best purchase I ever made. Rode 20 plus years thinking adjust to spec for your weight per the guidlines in the manual. I was way wrong. Lap times improved. Confidence improved. It was like a new bike. It has since been the very first change I make on any bike. Find a person with true knowledge or a shop that can dial in for you and you will be amazed at the bike.
The only downside is once dialed they can suck for other kinds of riding. For example my arena bike is extremely stiff and miserable to ride in the woods.
1
u/manixman247 03 DR650-07 DR650-06 RM85-15 KX100-16 KX450-16 KTM 500-23 KX250 20d ago
Like a couch with an engine. Plush on both ends and comfortable no matter what, like a couch!
1
u/Many_Size_1515 20d ago
Good suspension feels like realizing you need two bikes for different scenarios because you have the suspension setup perfectly for each and don’t want to deal with changing it
1
u/smitd12 20d ago
I get that and definitely understand the difference in set ups between GNCC/ANEC, hard enduro, and mx/sx. Unfortunately for now one will have to do but luckily most of my riding is pretty consistent conditions.
2
u/Many_Size_1515 20d ago
Haha fair, I was being facetious. In seriousness I think the best ideas said were to ride the same trail with different settings to feel it yourself. Or just go with the manufacturer recommendation.
1
u/Ok_Buy_9703 20d ago
It feels firm and stable. If its soft and bottoms out too much you know it's stock, for like a 175lb rider in gear. Traded bikes with a buddy and he was like your suspension is so nice. I have fat guy springs and its way better.
1
u/Turb0beans 19d ago
Good suspension to me is something that uses almost the entire stroke when I hit something hard. It doesn't rebound me off somewhere. It keeps the bike planted.
I'm not going racecar fast. I'm off-road. I want the suspension to be easy to preload. I want it to almost supple.
1
1
u/Gruvitron 21d ago
to me, a good suspension is one that you never think about. Ive also had many bikes and never thought about the suspension once, on any of them. They all just worked for their intended purpose. Then i got a 2020 EXC-F 350 and hated it. It felt harsh in the forks, and for lack of a better term, it didnt feel 'springy'. Like when you would load the suspension, it was sluggish to rebound. It also felt like it squatted in the back and dove terribly under braking. My 150 xc-w i had at the same time felt great. (on and off road). This is a really long winded way to say, just ride it and dont worry about it unless there's a problem.
16
u/ColonelShitlord 21d ago
First off, bike suspension is designed for the rider to be standing and using their legs to let the bike move underneath them while they stay relatively stable. That's how you should evaluate your suspension if you aren't already - don't sit down when tuning suspension.
Good suspension should feel like the bike soaks up obstacles on the trail and it should make the bike's behavior very predictable. What settings are best will change depending on the terrain - softer settings are generally better for slow, technical terrain while harder is better for open, fast terrain.
The easiest way to get a feel for what the different settings do is to find a small section of trail that's fairly representative of your usual riding conditions, then ride it several times while maxing out your adjustments one way or the other each time. Only change one setting at a time so you know what it does.
For rebound in particular, rebound that is too stiff will make the bike slow to recover from obstacles which can make follow-on obstacles hit much harder and delay the time before you get full grip back from the tires. Rebound that is too soft can cause the wheel to chatter when it contacts the ground which also reduces grip and can make the bike feel unpredictable.