santa cruz/ float rl/ sid sl's

stevemtbsteve

Hi all,

I am after a bit of help. I have ridden rigid/ hardtails since mtb's were atb's, and I happily thought I would see this full suspension thing out. But a recent trip(several trips really) to my doc's revealled that the cartlidge was separating from the bone of my lower spine.

So I have bought a second hand 02 santa cruz super light with a fox float rl rear shock. the manual suggests an air pressure of between 50-300llbs?. this seems a bit broad!!, I weigh 73kg and ride in the peak district in the uk, plenty of rocks and mud. I do not xc race, but do a few trail quests. Any suggestions for the pressure in the shock?

The bike also came with a sid sl, which I have to admit is a bit flimsy, but I cannot swap my old forks on to it because of a short steerer tube. I am running manual pressures (for my weight) in the positive and negative springs. Anyone of my weight found any better settings? This is the first air shock I have had, so could it feel crap because air shocks just are not as smooth as coil shocks?

Cheers
Steve

Hecubus

In the rear shock you need to put in roughly 1 PSI for every pound of your weight as a starting point. You weigh 160 pounds so put in 160 PSI. Sit on the bike leaning against a wall or with some one holding you in your normal riding position and don't bounce around. Get of the bike then. The shock should have an o-ring that measures how far the shock has traveled. You should sink in about 10mm or 25% of the shocks travel when you sit down. That is what is known as sag. Take off or add air in 10PSI increments from there on until you reach the desired sag.
As far as the sid goes, for a 160 pound rider it takes about 120 PSI in the positive chamber and about 100 to 120PSI in the negative. The more air in the negative will give it more small bump smoothness, and less air will make it stiffer for a racing setup. Got the the rock shox website. They have the setup guide for the SID's online.

stevemtbsteve

Thanks for your help, I best get tinkering

Cheers
Steve

Hecubus

Another thing you might want to consider is a smoother fork. Ideally something that is coil sprung around 100mm of travel. The SID is a good fork at what its designed to do but its a bit harsh. A friend of mine had a similar problem as you with his back but mainly in his wrists as well. His hands would go numb during rides and wrists hurt badly afterwards. His doctor was a cyclist as a matter of fact and recomended he switch to a FS with a good coil fork. Coil sprung forks tend to have a much smoother, more supple stroke than air forks which make for a more forgiving ride. He switched from an air sprung manitou to a Psylo SL and it made a huge difference for him.