# How to set up a coil shock.



## hitek79 (Oct 24, 2008)

So it's time to learn how to set up the shock on my bike properly. I've had 5 full rides on it now, so I'm learning what I like and what I don't, but I'm totally lost on some stuff. Shock is a Vivid 5.1.

Finding sag. What's the easiest way to see how much sag I'm running currently? It's not as straightforward as with an air shock with the indicator ring. 

Adjusting sag. I'm assuming tightening down the coil?

How much sag? What's standard for a downhill bike?

I don't totally understand the difference in the two rebounds? 

Thanks for any input!


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## motochick (Jun 22, 2010)

1. Find someone to help you.
2. Write down all your settings and then set them all to full soft.
3. Have your friend measure eye to eye while you hold the bike up for them, not sitting on it.
4. Get dressed in your full gear, water pack if you use it.
5. Get on bike in attack position.
6. Have friend measure eye to eye exactly as before.
7. Do the math, 30-35% is a good place to start for DH. 
8. You either tighten or loosen the coil, depending on which way you are off. (or you buy a new spring if you can't get 30-35% on the one you have. I would replace if I needed to turn more then 3 full turns, or if I have less then .25 of a turn)
9. Put your shock settings back to what you had as a starting point, ride.

Brenda


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## Iggz (Nov 22, 2006)

1- Finding Sag: Scoot the little rubber bumper that's on the end of the shock shaft toward the shock body and use that like you would an indicator on an air shock. 

2. Adjusting Sag - You can make minute adjustments with the preload collar, yes, but it really comes down to getting the right weight spring for your setup. I really wouldn't recommend going past 10 turns of preload with the collar. 

3. DH Sag - That's totally a preference thing. I run in between 25 & 35% depending on the trail or zone I'm riding. I'd suggest you ballpark at the third-of-travel mark and just run it if minor adjustments go in over your head. 

4. Hi/Lo Rebound - That one is going to be a bit harder to grasp but I'll try my best. Low-Speed Rebound takes place in the initial stroke of the shock. Think of Low-Speed as your psuedo-Propedal knob where if you ADD a bunch of low-speed rebound it will make the beginning stroke really slow and make your bike feel dead and lame. I usually run hardly any low-speed damping so my bike stays extremely active in the initial travel. We ride downhill bikes, we don't care about pedal performance as much as keeping the rear tire trackin'. High-speed Rebound will take affect when you hit a big drop or G-out. Imagine landing a drop and how quickly the shock shaft gets sucked into the body - well the high-speed rebound will affect how quickly the shaft reappears. High-speed rebound can be a little tricky to dial in if you're unsure what it does so I'll try to be thorough as. If you run little to no high speed rebound your ending stroke will feel like a pogo stick, and that's a big no-no. You want the bike to rebound in a controlled manor so you don't go flying over the bars when you land something big. Now if you have too much high speed rebound it can be just as shltty because you'll land something big and just bog on the run out. So ideally, you want to find that middle ground where you can control the bike as it comes back up from bottoming out and be ready for the next impact. 

Well there you have it, I tried hahah


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## Uncle Six Pack (Aug 29, 2004)

hitek79 said:


> So it's time to learn how to set up the shock on my bike properly. I've had 5 full rides on it now, so I'm learning what I like and what I don't, but I'm totally lost on some stuff. Shock is a Vivid 5.1.
> 
> Finding sag. What's the easiest way to see how much sag I'm running currently? It's not as straightforward as with an air shock with the indicator ring.
> 
> ...


What bike are you setting up? A nomad (that is listed on your profile)? Check manufacturer rec. for the Nomad-I think you want like 30% sag, roughly.

Do you know the amount of shock stroke? 2.5, 2.75, 3, etc....? I have found the most accurate way (for me) is to slide the bottom out bumper up to the shock body, then sit on the bike and check how far the bumper got moved. Watch out, it is very easy to loose accuracy in these measurements if you don't have a system to keep your line of sight consistent.

So if you have a 2.75 stroke and want 30% sag, then you want to see that bumper moved .825 (a smidge over 13/16ths), for example.

I recommend you load the bike with your full weight plus camelback, pads, etc. no brakes. Turn compression knobs fully open. put one pedal in the 6 o'clock position, lean on the handlebar lightly and swing the other foot over. Don't lean back, don't sit down. Turn the pedals to 3-6 o'clock with most of your weight supported on the pedals (not handlebars), then carefully get off. (If you have a buddy to help, you may want to bounce up and down, then have him slide the bumper back into place, then get off)

As long as your spring is in the right ballpark, you should need anywhere from 0 (just touching) to 2 turns on the preload collar. You can probably go more, but it is usually not recommended. Excessive preload may give the correct amount of sag, but you will probably be undersprung-buy a heavier spring in that case.

I don't know about all the other stuff on the vivid, especially dual rebound control. If you have muti-speed compression, keep in mind low speed is for rider weight shifting (pedaling, mainly in the back) and high speed is to control hits that will make the shock go deeper into its stroke. I like to run the least compression that doesn't leave me bottoming or feeling like the shock is blowing through its stroke. The spring carries your weight, the compression "helps" the spring to keep it from oscillating too quickly. You really need to ride a bit to dial compression because its effect is when the suspension is dynamic.

As for rebound, I like the rear to be a little slower than the front, but that is kinda subjective and depends on you. I'd start with the rebound wide open, then add just enough that you can tell it is doing something. (put your elbow on the seat, bounce as much weight as you can, and quickly remove your elbow). This should be a decent starting point.

Lots of people have their own routines and things they would do differently, but this should be a good starting point. Good luck. Oh, and as you tune it, write things down (like 2 clicks of compression, nice ride, but bottomed on 2 foot flat drop, 4 clicks, nice ride, no bottoming, etc) then if your adjustments ever get messed up, you have something to go back to.


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## sandwich (Sep 24, 2005)

Here's a fair guide 2008 RockShox Vivid 5.1 - Pinkbike

Sounds like you have some good tips on sag. I suggest using a spring calculator (like TFtuned) to determine your approximate spring rate. That's really the only way to adjust sag. You can tune it with preload, but ideally you want just enough preload to keep the spring from rattling around. Any more, and you risk top out or reduced travel. Steel springs are pretty cheap. Try and see if you can borrow ones until you find the ideal setup for you.

Looks like 5.1 has 3 adjustments, not totally newb friendly. Ending stroke, other rebound, and low speed compression. You can use the PB suggestions and adjust from there however you feel the shock needs. For me, I would probably set everything to full open. Then, adjust the main rebound until, while bouncing around in the lot, you have a smooth and controlled rebound, with no top out, that's very fast. I prefer mine to be pretty fast so the suspension doesn't pack up. Ending stroke can be a bit slower to prevent top out, but it shouldn't be too bad with regards to packing up.

For compression, just dial it in two or three clicks at a time until it feels harsh, then back it out one at a time. Low speed mostly affects pedaling, pumping, and jumping, so you ideally want a firm base for those things. High speed controls more of the braking bumps, roots, and rocks. Remember that low speed refers to shaft speed, not bike speed.


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## roxtar (Sep 7, 2009)

motochick said:


> 1. Find someone to help you.
> 2. Write down all your settings and then set them all to full soft.
> 3. Have your friend measure eye to eye while you hold the bike up for them, not sitting on it.
> 4. Get dressed in your full gear, water pack if you use it.
> ...


Don't make the common mistake of measuring sag as a percentage of eye to eye length. You're looking for 30-35% of stroke, not overall length.

After subtracting the loaded shock length from the initial (non-loaded) length you need to divide that number by the shock stroke, not the eye to eye length.


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## motochick (Jun 22, 2010)

Yes, I did not make that clear at all! I assumed he would have known during the math part to use the stoke length, my bad for assuming!


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## howardyudoing (Mar 31, 2010)

is it really not eye to eye?

Tech Tuesday - Suspension Setup part 2 Video - Pinkbike

7:35


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## roxtar (Sep 7, 2009)

howardyudoing said:


> is it really not eye to eye?
> 
> Tech Tuesday - Suspension Setup part 2 Video - Pinkbike
> 
> 7:35


You only use the eye to eye measurements to get the sag amount (subtract the loaded length from the unloaded length.
To get the percentage, you need to divide that number by the stroke, not the eye to eye
He says that at 8:16 of the video.

Think about it with a typical 9.5"x 3" shock. If you tried to figure 30% sag using the eye to eye length, you'd get 2.85" of sag. That'd be pretty deep in the stroke of your 3" travel shock :yikes:.


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## howardyudoing (Mar 31, 2010)

roxtar said:


> You only use the eye to eye measurements to get the sag amount (subtract the loaded length from the unloaded length.
> To get the percentage, you need to divide that number by the stroke, not the eye to eye
> He says that at 8:16 of the video.
> 
> Think about it with a typical 9.5"x 3" shock. If you tried to figure 30% sag using the eye to eye length, you'd get 2.85" of sag. That'd be pretty deep in the stroke of your 3" travel shock :yikes:.


Thanks for clearing that up. I measure solely based on feel lol. Works for me every time, since I ride lots of different stuff. As you can see I am not a role model.


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## Iggz (Nov 22, 2006)

Hahaha I feel like no one read what I said

To each their own I suppose - good luck with the shock buddy


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## sandwich (Sep 24, 2005)

Iggz said:


> Hahaha I feel like no one read what I said
> 
> To each their own I suppose - good luck with the shock buddy


well, for one thing the Vivid does not have hi/lo speed rebound, but Beginning stroke/ending stroke, which is really 20%/80% stroke, it sounds like. Calling it hi/lo speed rebound is a misnomer, and is more reflective of what cane creek has than the vivid.


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## hitek79 (Oct 24, 2008)

Damn, I forgot I posted this last week! Thanks for all the great info, heading back out tomorrow to ride, I'll be making these adjustments. 

BTW, bike is a SC Driver 8


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## DHgnaR (Feb 20, 2008)

Uncle Six Pack said:


> Turn the pedals to 3-6 o'clock


Impossible!!!! 
Dialing suspension is a process. It usually takes me about a month to dial in a new bike, sometimes longer. I actually feel like my current bike could be even better and I've been on it for about a year. 
Someone stated earlier that LSC is used mainly to tune out rider input like pedal bob ect... Which it does, but I tend to run a bit more LSC than some to help fight dive in hard cornering. It helps keep the bike level and stable so you don't blow through all your travel. I basically run enough LSC to keep me up in my travel but not so much the bike gets harsh and looses traction, more so in the front than rear but it still applies to rear shocks. 
For the vivid I noticed the beginning stroke rebound sort of acts like a LSC adjustment in terms of chatter bump and cornering traction, i tended to run very little BSR to keep it fast and active, and a lot of ending stroke rebound to keep from getting bucked on landings and off lips. The CCDB is a bit different but regardless I have fast LSR and slower HSR.


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## Uncle Six Pack (Aug 29, 2004)

DHgnaR said:


> Impossible!!!!


oh, yeah, 3-9 o'clock... ooops.

Well, you could mount the cranks that way though, would make for an interesting ride.


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## hitek79 (Oct 24, 2008)

The bike rode absolutely amazingly today. I fiddled with the rebounds a lot. Great pop off the jumps and landed like it was landing on pillows. Thanks for all the help!!!


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