# Rear Shock Rebound



## rjcobra (Mar 18, 2004)

For a heavier guy, should the rebound be set faster or slower than average?
I ride mainly rooty single track .


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

No such thing as "average" on this one. You set rebound where it "needs to be".

Try this. Find yourself a curb with a smooth approach before you ride down it. 

Set both your fork and your rear shock so that when you ride off of it, both rebound to the normal, sagged amount after one cycle of the suspension, fairly quickly.

You don't want the rebound to be so quick that the suspension tops out before your wheel can hit the ground. You don't want it bouncing several times before settling into its normal, sagged position. You also don't want the rebound so slow that the suspension doesn't extend at all before the wheel hits the ground. And you don't want it so slow that the suspension doesn't extend quickly enough before you reach the next theoretical bump.

The rebound setting you choose only partly relates to your weight. It also depends on the specific shock you're using, the rear suspension design of the bike you're riding, the terrain you ride, and your riding style. So you have to go through the steps of figuring it out. Sometimes it's useful to set the rebound to "full fast" and then "full slow" so you see how those feel first, and then adjust.


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## -Todd- (Jun 13, 2011)

I've found that the rebound rates are setup for "average" weight and with all the air pressure in the spring (to get the right sag), you're only going to be stable with the slowest rebound damping...

Set it as slow as you can make it without it feeling dead. Dial it all the way down, then bring it up 1 click at a time till it feels "not dead". Too much will kill your bunny hop potential. Too much will buck you off the next booter...

Good Luck!


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## jeffj (Jan 13, 2004)

-Todd- said:


> I've found that the rebound rates are setup for "average" weight and with all the air pressure in the spring (to get the right sag), you're only going to be stable with the slowest rebound damping...
> 
> Set it as slow as you can make it without it feeling dead. Dial it all the way down, then bring it up 1 click at a time till it feels "not dead". Too much will kill your bunny hop potential. Too much will buck you off the next booter...
> 
> Good Luck!


Bucking off the next booter is more about being balanced with the fork. If the rebound on the fork is too slow (compared to the rear shock), the bike will 'buck' you up in the back. If the fork rebound is faster than the rear shock, the front end will come up too high as you jump. When the fork and shock are set up to work together, your bike will be 'neutral' in the air and you won't have to fight it to keep either end down. That is regardless of rebound speed.

As for initial setting of rebound speed, that will vary depending on the rider, their style, the terrain, and their pace. If you want the suspension to absorb every bump in the trail, and track better at higher speeds, set the rebound faster. If your biggest concern is landing big jumps, or riding over large obstacles, you may like the suspension better if it is set to react slower.

I am a bigger rider, and I prefer the suspension to be more on the fast side even though I do like to get the wheels off the ground when I can. I usually end up with the sag on my bikes being between 30% to 35% too. I want to use the travel I paid for. There is no perfect setting that applies to everyone.

Regardless of which way you prefer, you should work to get the bike to be balanced in the air between the front and the rear for the way you ride the bike. The last thing you need is to be shot over the bars because you didn't take the time to adjust your fork/shock to work together correctly.


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## Lone Rager (Dec 13, 2013)

^^^ yes. Generally, the higher the pressure needed in fork or shock the more rebound is needed. If you find initial suspension setup recommendations for a bike, this is what they'll say. That said, there is variation in preference and riding conditions so you need to experiment to find what works best for you in which conditions. The curb rebound test is a good place to start.


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## rjcobra (Mar 18, 2004)

Will the shocks/fork bottom out if the rebound is set too slow? I'm not even close to bottoming out now. Both sags set at around 30%


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## idividebyzero (Sep 25, 2014)

Weight doesnt have anything to do with it, setting rebound is based on speed not clicks, set it so it doesnt rebound too fast or too slow depending on terrain. Rocky trails should be a bit faster, flowy trails with single bumps here and there can be a bit slower.


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## rjcobra (Mar 18, 2004)

idividebyzero said:


> Weight doesnt have anything to do with it, setting rebound is based on speed not clicks, set it so it doesnt rebound too fast or too slow depending on terrain. Rocky trails should be a bit faster, flowy trails with single bumps here and there can be a bit slower.


Now I'm really confused. Most threads I've read say the exact opposite.

Maybe I should ask a different question. If I'm not getting bucked at the fastest setting and I'm not bottoming out at the slowest setting, should I adjust to the slower side or faster side if I just wanted the most comfortable, cushiest ride?


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

rjcobra said:


> Now I'm really confused. Most threads I've read say the exact opposite.
> 
> Maybe I should ask a different question. If I'm not getting bucked at the fastest setting and I'm not bottoming out at the slowest setting, should I adjust to the slower side or faster side if I just wanted the most comfortable, cushiest ride?


Use the setting that you like.

Also, it's not necessarily that you'll bottom out on the slowest setting, or that you'll get bucked on the fastest setting. If you're riding in particularly chunky or aggressive terrain, that might happen. But if your terrain is mellower, it probably won't. But that doesn't mean that you can't or won't be able to feel a difference.

The takeaway lesson isn't what might happen if it's not the right setting.

The takeaway lesson here is that YOU should experiment with different settings on the trails you ride and YOU should choose the setting that you like the best.


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## jeffj (Jan 13, 2004)

If his problem is that the back end is bucking him up, it isn't terribly complicated. He is getting bucked because the fork is rebounding slower than the shock. Speed up the fork, or slow down the shock. Once it is neutral in the air, then you can tweak the other stuff.


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## tuckerjt07 (Nov 24, 2016)

jeffj said:


> If his problem is that the back end is bucking him up, it isn't terribly complicated. He is getting bucked because the fork is rebounding slower than the shock. Speed up the fork, or slow down the shock. Once it is neutral in the air, then you can tweak the other stuff.


That's not necessarily accurate. If the rebound is set too high on both ends you'll still get bucked in the air.

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## jeffj (Jan 13, 2004)

tuckerjt07 said:


> That's not necessarily accurate. If the rebound is set too high on both ends you'll still get bucked in the air.
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk


By being 'bucked', that generally means the back end is going higher than the front rather than the whole bike jumping too high.


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## tuckerjt07 (Nov 24, 2016)

jeffj said:


> By being 'bucked', that generally means the back end is going higher than the front rather than the whole bike jumping too high.


And even if they are set the same when set too high the rear can go higher. It's the last point of contact so it is affected the most.

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## jeffj (Jan 13, 2004)

tuckerjt07 said:


> And even if they are set the same when set too high the rear can go higher. It's the last point of contact so it is affected the most.
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk


Then you would slow the rebound on the shock until it doesn't. Then you can worry about the overall speed of both the fork and the shock.


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## tuckerjt07 (Nov 24, 2016)

jeffj said:


> Then you would slow the rebound on the shock until it doesn't. Then you can worry about the overall speed of both the fork and the shock.


Exactly, which is why you can't just say make the front equal to the rear to cure "buck".

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## jeffj (Jan 13, 2004)

tuckerjt07 said:


> Exactly, which is why you can't just say make the front equal to the rear to cure "buck".
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk


It's not about 'equal', it's just getting the bike to be neutral in the air.


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## tuckerjt07 (Nov 24, 2016)

jeffj said:


> It's not about 'equal', it's just getting the bike to be neutral in the air.


So in other words you want the front and rear end to apply an equal amount of force on take off so that both ends are equally balanced in the air and that weight remains equally distributed while airborne yes?

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## jeffj (Jan 13, 2004)

tuckerjt07 said:


> So in other words you want the front and rear end to apply an equal amount of force on take off so that both ends are equally balanced in the air and that weight remains equally distributed while airborne yes?
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk


I want the bike neutral in the air. Period. I can usually achieve that by adjusting as I stated before. If I want to fiddle with other settings (including the rebound) for other aspects of the ride, I can do that too, and then tweak the rebound here or there a little to get them back in sync. The fork and the shock need to work together to get the best from them.


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