phishalot21

how do you activate rebound adjust on a fork and how do you set it proportionate to your weight? recommendations for a 155lb guy?

Riles

depends on the fork - on rock shox you simply hv to turn a knob at the bottom of the right stantion & it's really trial and error to get it right - I hv found. You want it to rebound as quickly as possible without kicking up so fast that it you get jolted up.

Not all forks have rebound adjust - if yrs does, shud be fairly straightforward to do - check out the owners manual

snakehunter

turn it 432 clicks to the left

aballas

turn it up to 11!

Flak

have
have
your's
should

This isn't IM.

mx_599

is this a hard fast rule?

ViperZ

It's a good rule of thumb.... You want to set the damping to be fast enough to return to full extension with out kicking up, but with out being too slow (excessive damping) to let the fork pack up. When the fork packs up, it typically does not return to full extension fast enough before the next bump comes along and compresses the fork even more.... A few series of these and the fork can bottom out.

The way I have set it up is I press down on the bars quickly with open hands, I feel for how quickly the bars return, or if they start to feel like they are slapping my palms, then I'll dial in just a bit more damping (slowing rebound) until it feels right. It's one of those things I think you have to get a feel for. Try some adjustments on the trail and just be sure the fork isn't packing up. I have ridden with a zip tie on my stanchion at times just to see what the suspension is doing.

nmn25

I know that when I ride Dirt jumps, or am doing some larger drops or hucks, I like my rebound slow, to help soften the landing and simulate that "floating" feeling.

jm01

depends...its a combination of setting the preload and then the rebound...how much travel does your fork have?

ViperZ

It is a personal thing I suppose...

pinkrobe

Good point. Fast rebound works great for XC, but I like to slow things down a bit. I usually have mine set up pretty stiff, but then damped down just enough to give that smooth feel on small drops. Which reminds me, I need to take my fork in to get serviced.

ViperZ

Yep, I can see wanting a slower rebound on a Jump bike

jm01

Are you guys sure you're not thinking of the preload here?

phishalot21

100mm of travel. it's a rockshox dart 3

cryptid01

I think everyone's referring to rebound except for the OP.

Matt Gaunt

I take your point, as does the rest of the forum I'm sure, but yours is spelled thus, not with an apostrophe. Sorry. Thread jack over.

jm01

OK...nice fork

Step 1 is to set the preload...with 100mm travel, you want the fork to compress about a half inch when you sit on the bike...no bouncing, just put a tie on the strut and set it so that it compresses about a half inch...this is really where your weight matters

Because the Dart 3 has a lockout...you can play with the rebound...it depends what kind of riding you do. Roots, rockgardens, XC, I like a cushioned ride so I set my fork to "float" through the harsh stuff, using the lockout for the climbs. When racing, I set the rebound very stiff, but don't use the lockout in case I hit a big bump and it blows out.

So, preload for control...rebound for comfort

Happy trails

cryptid01

Rebound damping adjustment on any shock or fork I've ever seen is either "+" (more damping, slower rebound) or "-" (less damping, faster rebound). Where exactly do "float" and "very stiff" fall on that scale?

jm01

I'm not sure that I understand the question...the forks on my XC bikes are both Fox...a Vanilla RLC coil and a Talas Float RLC...both have rebound controls on the right strut...

...so, starting at 0, if a want a plush ride, I set it at around +3 clicks, letting the fork travel the 5" failrly smoothly...in extreme conditions I'll go +10 clicks, resulting in about 3"travel at most...it will do 5" on bigger dropps, but remain very stiff under most ride conditions

I hope this makes sense

cryptid01

I'm afraid it doesn't - the rebound damping control regulates the speed at which the spring is allowed to extend after compression. It shouldn't make your fork stiffer or softer or affect the amount of allowable travel.

jm01

actually, it does...last point first...the rebound adjusts the amount of force needed to compress the fork. It doesn't adjust the amount of travel, but it does adjust how much force is needed to maximize it.

see:

https://www.off-road.com/dirtbike/tootech.html

PART II of Too Tech's Suspension Performance Tips Fine Tuning the Suspension

The rebound adjustment does exactly that...makes your fork stiffer (slower)...I think we're saying the same thing, just a different vocabulary

MgC

No. Rebound has nothing to do with compression. And increasing damping does not increase the amount of force needed to compress the "spring", it only slows it down.

Gravity Worx

I think I see some confusion here in a few posts about rebound and compression dampening.
Gastro, it looks like you see this as well.

Rebound dampening slows the rebound of the fork or shock to control the pogo feel,

Compression dampening will control how fast the fork or shock compresses, and this part will have a little effect on bottoming etc.

Then spring rate and preload control the bottoming and how much sag when the rider sits on the bike.

Now we normally set up the spring rate first in that we get the springs in the propper rate for the riders weight and riding style.

Then we set up the sag with the preload for the rider and the type of riding.
1/3 to 1/2 travel for DH depending on the course and the equipment, stiffer for DJ. Normally 1/3 travel here.
For XC I like to set up with about 15 to 20% travel in sag making it just a little stiffer and less prone to bob, sometimes for certain courses 25% depending on conditions.

Then dampening gets set up last and this will entail first pushing the bars down as described above and feeling for that slap in the hands and controling this, then riding and making some adjustments to tune it in to your prefference.
Compression damping is normally adjusted to smooth out the compression stroke of the shock or fork and slow the really big hits.

The zip tie is a great way to see exactly what you are doing for shock stroke or fork travel.
We've done this for years on both the mountain bikes as well as on the motorcycles and all.

You should bottom out just a little on every ride as that is the only way that you are using all of your forks travel or shocks travel.
Otherwise you are not using your equipment to it's full potential.

Hopefully this brief run down helps a little.

never

Like others have said...rebound does not equal compression, they are two separate components.

Rebound does make the fork slower (or faster), but not stiffer. And by slower/faster, they mean the amount of time it takes for the fork to 'rebound' to the 'uncompressed state' following a 'compression'. The two adjustments are generally independent, you can have the fork set stiff (with the compression setting), and have either faster rebound or slower rebound.

mx_599

[quote=Gravity Worx]
Compression dampening will control how fast the fork or shock compresses, and this part will have a little effect on bottoming etc.

not entirely true...you seem confused too

Then spring rate and preload control the bottoming and how much sag when the rider sits on the bike.

no...air space/ oil height are important for bottoming resistance, not preload


The zip tie is a great way to see exactly what you are doing for shock stroke or fork travel.
We've done this for years on both the mountain bikes as well as on the motorcycles and all.

zip tie can be abrasive, O-ring better