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ShockWiz Consistent Suggestions – Rear Suspension – 21 Rides

ShockWiz is Consistently Telling Me to “Soften Up!”

ShockWiz Rear Suspension - 21 Rides
The ShockWiz Suspension Tuning System can provide solid knowledge on ways to improve the comfort, control, and performance of the suspension on your mountain bike. Click on the image to get to a short video summary. 

The ShockWiz Suspension Tuning System continues to reveal ways to help me optimize my suspension. Peavine Mountain in Reno, Nevada, is exposed and rocky. The trails are a mix of sand and exposed, boiled Andesite rock. The trails are about 2 feet wide, with LOTS of rounded rock heads, sharp rock heads, and sagebrush. It’s classic mountain bike terrain, with winding climbs and twisty descents. Good suspension is a must, and the ShockWiz will help you optimize damping, compression, and preload.

Let’s Start With the Rear Suspension

ShockWiz Rear Score 21 Rides
Over the course of 21 rides on my home terrain, the ShockWiz Suspension Scoring system Varied from 70-92 points, but settled in at 92 points on 6 of the last 7 rides.

I’ve been using two ShockWiz units, one up front and one in the rear. This blog post is about the rear suspension, because the values have been consistent since about the fourth or fifth ride.

I began using the ShockWiz to set my suspension sag. Once that was dialed in, I followed the suggestions provided by the ShockWiz app, and tweaked compression, rebound, and air pressure. Small adjustments were made. However, no matter what changes I made, ShockWiz continued to suggest that I soften up Compression. I ended up with about 30% sag on the Fox Float DPS. Rebound was pretty dialed in. But Compression suggestions were consistent. The video with the GIF shows this.

Let’s Go Visit Mike Davis at MAD RACING!

Mike Davis MAD Racing
Mike Davis at MAD Racing in Reno, Nevada is my go-to for suspension tuning and service.

Mike Davis at MAD RACING in Reno, is my Suspension Specialist. I trust him to make internal changes to the rear shock. My bike is now at the shop, and when it returns, I’ll immediately perform a ShockWiz recalibration. THEN, I’ll head out to Peavine for more rides, and data collection. I’ve asked him to help me get sag back up to about 25%, and to make Compression softer by about 15%. He’ll use a combination of oil weight, air pressure, and valving. I can’t wait to try it out!

On Another Note….

Peavine Peak Recovery Benches
Peavine Peak is covered in trails for hikers, runners, bikers, and equestrians. Having this mountain in my back yard has been a true blessing. Here I am with my wife and my Brother From Another Mother, Jeremy, our first week in Reno in 2019.

It looks like my time in Reno is temporarily coming to an end. Our family will be relocating to Pueblo, Colorado, by the end of the month. We do intend to return to Northern Nevada at some point. However, Southern Colorado has plenty of mountain, road, and gravel opportunities and I’m excited about learning to read the terrain some place new.

Thanks for reading, and ENJOY THE RIDE!

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12 Rides With ShockWiz Front and Rear – An Update

The ShockWiz Continues to Provide Great Insight For Proper Suspension Setup

ShockWiz Front Rear 12 Rides
Rides on the new bike have yielded improvements in time and performance, especially when descending. The ShockWiz is helping me set up air pressure, compression and rebound damping, as well as sag. It really is making a difference in my Competence, Confidence, and Cornering Capabilities.

The ShockWiz Front and Rear Suspension Tuning devices continue to provide me with great information as I learn more about my bike and its’ performance capabilities. I set the phone up on my handlebars, and change the settings on the phone so I can see the ShockWiz app the entire time. I always review the previous day’s ride score and suggestions. So far, I haven’t made too many changes to the air pressure. However, I continue to adjust the compression and rebound settings, based on those suggestions.

The Limits of a Cross-Country Rear Shock

On my old bike, a 2012 Trek Superfly 100, I eventually replaced the rear shock with a Fox DXP2. The DXP2 had a Nitrogen chamber and was infinitely adjustable. Going with the Fox Float DPS has left me with fewer options. For example; While the ShockWiz app continually recommends softening the dampening, on the Fox Float, there are just 3 settings for this. On rebound, there are a larger number of clicks, but they don’t seem to be showing much of a difference.

After 12 rides, the ShockWiz app suggests that I make the rear suspension SOFTER on Compression, and SLOWER on Rebound. The Compression is as soft as I can get with this setup. I’ll tweak Rebound a bit more, Suggested rebound is 8 Clicks, but I’m already at 5 clicks, and I’ll now go to 4. This will increase Damping on Rebound even more, so we’ll see what that does.

Shockwiz niper T Rear Suggestions 6 Rides
This is a GIF of the most recent 6 Rides on the rear suspension. The ShockWiz consistently suggests Softening up Compression, and I’ve done what I can with the dials as they exist right now.

I’m certain that I’ll need to do some revalving under the experienced eye of Mike Davis at MAD Racing in Reno, NV.

Front Fork Improvements via ShockWiz

The Front Fork has really impressed me. It’s a 34mm Fox Fit4, with 120mm of travel. The first 3 rides revealed a low score of 74 points. The suggestions were all over the place. But after about ride 5, the Fork began to break in and show improved scores.

The most consistent suggestion that the ShockWiz reveals is to slow down Rebound. About every third ride, if the suggestions are consistent, I will rotate the Rebound knob 1-Click Clockwise to increase and slow down Rebound. The scores continue to improve, and honestly, my descending times on this one segment continue to decline as a result.

The ShockWiz App DOES suggest that I soften up Compression as well, but that feature is as light and open as it can be right now. I have ordered 10cc volume spacers for the front fork, and I will blog about those over the next few weeks. On my previous bike, I purchased a 32mm, 120mm travel Fox Fork, and the addition of Spacers yielded multiple 96-100 point rides! I definitely felt the difference!

Shockwiz Sniper T Front Suggestions 6 Rides
On the front fork, ShockWiz consistently suggests that I SLOW DOWN (“+”) my Rebound settings. I’m doing this one click every 2-3 rides.

Optimizing Suspension Makes for More Confidence, Competence, and Cornering!

It does NOT turn me into an aerial specialist – I’m too old and too scared. That said – the ShockWiz devices and app with data collection is helping me make tuning decisions that I would otherwise be unable to make, given my status as a novice in the world of MODERN mountain biking. I started racing in 1993 with a RockShox Mag21, and I can only dream of what type of performance we would have enjoyed had we had these devices way back then.

Thanks for reading and use this hardware and app to ENJOY THE RIDE!

 

 

Intense MTB Ride Number 4 With the ShockWiz

ShockWiz Shows 84 Points on the Rear With Just 49% Confidence In the Values

Rear Suspension 84 Points
Not sure why the Confidence Interval was so low, but hey – it means I get to ride more!

One of the most important things to remember when you purchase a new, high end mountain bike, is that it can take 20 – 50 hours for a suspension system to ‘break in’. It’s like buying a new car – everything is tight. Over time and with terrain, the suspension seals settle in and the ShockWiz starts to reveal more consistent numbers.

That said – right now, I fully expect ShockWiz scores and recommendations to be a bit scattered. We’ll know more in two to four weeks.

Initial Values for Sag seem Really Close

I set the rear suspension for about 30% Sag, and for the front, I set it for about 10% sag. Generally speaking, most rear suspensions start around body + gear weight. I’m REALLY heavy right now, so I set the rear suspension at roughly 178 psi. Sitting on the suspension with the ShockWiz app open showed a sag of about 30%, and I’ll make changes based on this.

For the front, I followed the directions on the fork; 80psi or thereabouts. Sag was about 10% and the shock really performed poorly per the Shockwiz data.  I am almost certain that I will need to add spacers to the front fork. I have those on order, but I will not install them until after the 20 hour mark.

What Is “Pogo”?

Pogo is a term that means the suspension can’t keep up with the terrain.

The ShockWiz showed that my rear suspension is suffering from “Pogo”. This is a term that means the suspension is not keeping up with terrain on rebound, and is instead ‘bouncing’ off the rocks and ridges.

Ideally, a rear and a front suspension have no pogo. Instead, they react to the terrain, absorbing hits and rebounding for the next hit. To be honest – this is terrain and speed-specific. I may get more “Pogo” over the next several days as I ride, and I won’t worry about it unless it shows up consistently.

Ironically, the front fork is also showing some “Pogo” from this ride, though the ShockWiz score went up to 84, equal to the rear. Again, I’m not going to worry about this too much, unless it shows up consistently after 20 hours of use.

14% Sag on the Front

The Front Fork recommendations from ShockWiz asked that I take air out of the front fork. I lowered the front by about 3-5psi, and this is what led to the 10 point improvement over the previous ride.

Use of Segments

This may be a bit controversial, but I decided to put the suspension to the test on a new ‘segment’ that I created. I used Garmin Connect for this because I do not want to generate controversy over speed and safety with other, more popular segment programs. I AM BY NO MEANS A HOT DOG. In fact, I really am NOT FAST on descending. Why? Well, I have the world’s worst health insurance, and there’s no doubt that speed, in my case, might kill. That said – if I can measure Time and FLOW in Garmin Connect, this MIGHT give me some better ideas about how the suspension is helping or hurting.

Here’s the segment; it is public, but I don’t expect anyone to to really care, and if you do break my times, bravo; you’re braver and more skilled than me.

Here’s the Garmin Connect Segment

That’s really about it – I’m going to head out and ride some more. I’ll keep you posted on the results!

Are you enjoying this series? Please feel free to buy me a Cup of Coffee!

ShockWiz Suspension Assessment on a New Bike!

ShockWiz Helps Anyone Understand Suspension

I studied many different bikes and suspension systems before I settled on this rig.

After 8 months of waiting, I finally received my new mountain bike last week! The Intense Sniper T Pro is a modern Cross-Country bike with All-Mountain Geometry. The Front and Rear suspension are Fox components, and the first thing I did was place a ShockWiz unit on the front fork and rear shock.

The ShockWiz is a component that measures air pressure in pneumatic suspension systems. Using a cell-phone app, the ShockWiz looks at compression, rebound, and travel to make post-ride recommendations in the following areas.

  • Base air pressure
  • Spring Rate
  • Compression
  • Rebound

Suspension Tuning is Usually a Guessing Game

Suspension is a guessing game
More air? Less air? How much damping? How much rebound? The ShockWiz can help come up with answers

ShockWiz removes a lot of the work required to properly dial in a bike’s suspension. Over the course of a ride, the app will provide a “Confidence” Percentile, followed by a “Tuning Score”. Recommendations about what to ride next are also displayed. I’m fortunate to have a perfect, traditional Cross Country Trial course up on the mountain behind my house. Using this course, and starting from the first hour of ownership, I’m blogging the changes that I’m making to the suspension, based on ShockWiz recommendations.

So far, I’ve had about Six rides on the Sniper T. I must say; after riding a 10-year old bike with “Old School” Geometry, having a modern bike that fits me properly, and has modern suspension, is a game-changer. Suspension requires about 20 to 50 hours of time to properly break in the seals, but the ShockWiz has already provided some fascinating information. This is helping me improve more quickly and setsuspension settings with more confidence.

Ride 3 ShockWiz Review and Changes

My goal with this series is to produce multiple short videos reviewing the data from the ShockWiz app after each ride. I was unable to adequately collect data from rides 1 and 2, but here is Ride 3’s review.

Going forward, after each ride, I will write up a quick review, make a short video, and then make changes for the next ride. I’ll also be using the same trail repeatedly, along with downhill segments to properly assess speed, comfort and control. Let’s see what the system says, how the changes are made, and whether this improves performance or not.

Thanks for watching, and ENJOY THE RIDE!

 

Did you enjoy this article? Please feel free to buy me a Cup of Coffee!

Billat 30-30’s – Part Two

"Billat 30-30's are intervals that require a hard effort for 30 seconds, followed by an easy recovery for 30 seconds. Over time, the body ends up playing 'catch-up', through heart rate, breath frequency, demand for oxygen at the muscular level, and a buildup of lactate in the system.  We can see this buildup through lactate testing, which is invasive and cumbersome, but we can also see it through SmO2 values, as muscles de-saturate and re-saturate. Lactate is getting processed back into energy, but sometimes the demand for oxygen is greater than the body's ability to provide it. "
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