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So I bought a new whyte s150 with a rockshox deluxe rt shock a few weeks ago and I'm not getting near full travel. Set up with 230psi to give 30% sag and I made sure I equalized the positive and negative chambers as per the rockshox set up video. So far the o rings sitting 15mm from bottoming out so approx 40mm travel if my maths are right. First thought was too many volume reducers but there's none fitted.
I'm not thinking I'd use full travel on every ride but would have expected to have come close to bottoming out by now.
Any thoughts before I send it back to sram?
what does it do if you let all the air out.
It fully bottoms out when I release all the air.
Similar on my bike. I posted a thread about it. Some designs seem to behave that way - presumably highly rising rate towards the end of the travel
How many volume spacers do you have in?
What do you weigh and what tune is the shock?
What travel do you get with 25% and 20% SAG?
Without sounding like an arse, are you hitting big enough stuff to bottom it out?
I know there's a 'full travel every ride' thing, but the problem with that is, if you have a bike that performs best at 25% sag, and you aren't getting big dogs/you ride very light, there's absolutely not an issue with not bottoming out.
I've had a few really progressive bikes that I only used the last 5mm or so on really harsh hucks and proper smashy cock ups. My current bike isn't super progressive, but I still don't use full travel that much.
At 30% I get 37mm off 40mm from my shock. You have to bear in mind all that air has nowhere to go....
I know there’s a ‘full travel every ride’ thing, but the problem with that is, if you have a bike that performs best at 25% sag, and you aren’t getting big dogs/you ride very light, there’s absolutely not an issue with not bottoming out.
I've definitely come round to "full travel" being a special occasions thing that I specifically deemphasise in targeting my setup.
Which position are you setting sag in.
Your riding /attack position .or sat on your saddle static.
Riding your weight will be further forward than just sat static.
I changed my Ibis to hit sag while I was up in attack and it transformed how the bike rode it was good before but just tracks the ground much better when giving it beans . Just turn on the pro pedal for the uphills and life's good doesn't Bob about just sits in its travel when I'm sat.
Of course depends what your doing. That's more for winch and sled riding for long days out I'll run it set up for my seated climbing position as it's probably 60-70% of the riding.
Thanks for the replies, I'm setting sag sat on the saddle and weight approx 95kg including backpack. There's no volume spacers installed and it's a ML3 shock tune. Maybe I just need to hit stuff harder but just checking there's nothing wrong with the shock, I just thought it that with no volume spacers it would be easier to bottom out especially as I'm hardly a lightweight.
Whyte recommend sag of 25% so maybe try that but imagine that would give even less travel. I know the frame is designed to be used with a coil shock so maybe it's just very progressive towards full travel
Sag is purely a ride hight setting. The point where you are going to get the best amount of anti-squat for the suspension design. This also depends on the chain ring and the gear you normally run it.
Not getting full travel is only an issue if the settings you have the shock at make the rest of the travel poor. Are you satisfied with the way the bike rides? Does the shock provide enough support in low to mid range? Don’t get too hung up on sag or full travel.
"Maybe I just need to hit stuff harder"
It's only on larger drops with flat-ish landings that I reach full travel on my 140mm Spitfire - that's running about 28% sag with a DBair and the frame has pretty strongly progressive kinematics (goes from about 3:1 to almost 2:1) but is linear-regressive in the last bit of travel so the final ramp of the air shock doesn't mean the last few mm never gets used.
I know the frame is designed to be used with a coil shock so maybe it’s just very progressive towards full travel
There's your problem. (not that it's a problem per say, I personally love a super progressive leverage curve). Your bikes leverage curve is fairly progressive but it doesn't really ramp up towards the end it's pretty consistent progression. The shock being air sprung will ramp up deeper in it's stroke. it's the effect of the two together that's causing you to struggle to reach full travel with your current airshock pressure (and sag). the solutions are to just ride it harder or get a bike more suited to your less agressive riding (or fit a coil shock if you like everything else about the bike)
eg. send it or GTFO bro
May be a daft question but have you checked for spacers or are you just assuming none because you haven’t installed any? My G160 came with 3 installed as standard.
That is really not a daft question
I've unscrewed the air can and there's defiantly no volume spacers, it's not really a massive problem how it is just now but just checking there's nothing wrong with the shock as I expected to install spacers since I'm over 14 stone, not sure how lighter guys would find it.
I like the feel of a rising rate. Means you can run it softer and enjoy a smooth ride and not worry about bottoming out when you hit bigger stuff. Took me ages to set my bike up but I am there abouts now. It does use quite a lot on big hits but I'm happy it's not bottoming out.
I would recommend taking the bike out with a shock pump. Use the sag as an initial starting point and work from there. 30% is only a rough guide anyway. Just keep dripping 5psi until you are happy with the travel you are using. You will have to push it a bit though to make sure you are happy on it when the bikes taking bigger hits.