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Suspension Knowledge: Adjusting
the “clickers”
By
Quinton Cain of SUSPENSION DYNAMICS
After
speaking with many riders and parents over the years, I
thought it may be helpful to clarify some of the
misinformation on suspension adjusters, also known as
“clickers”. I will discuss other areas of suspension in
following issues.
In most cases, as you turn the adjusters
clockwise, you increase the dampening, which makes the
suspension stiffer. This is the same as making it “harder”
or “slower”. The adjuster moves a needle valve that
controls the free oil flow, and as you limit that oil flow,
you increase the dampening. Plus (+) and minus (-)
indicator arrows correspond to more and less dampening. It
is the same with (H) and (S) indicators, which stand for
Hard and Soft. Be aware that there are exceptions to this
“clockwise equals stiffer” relationship. One example of
this is the compression adjuster on the KTM shocks from a
few years back.
To record your settings: screw the adjuster in,
counting the clicks, until it comes to a stop. To put the
setting at a particular number, always count the number of
clicks out from the fully seated position. Some adjusters
do not have detents that “click”. For those, simply count
the number of turns to record their position. Other
adjusters rotate and change apertures postionally. These
will not bottom out like a needle valve but will continually
rotate. They will have scribe marks to indicate their
position.
Now for the OBVIOUS: Compression affects how the
suspension travels down or “compresses”. Rebound affects
how the suspension travels back up or “rebounds”.
The “clickers” have a more pronounced effect on
low speed suspension movement. Some shocks have both a high
speed and low speed compression adjustment. The speed being
referred to here is not that of the bike, but rather, that
of the suspension movement.
For EXAMPLE: if you come up short on a double
and hit the face of the jump, --- that’s high speed; if you
do the same jump and land perfectly on the downside, ---
that may be low speed, depending on the jump. In BOTH
cases, the bike is going the same speed, but in the second
scenario the shock is actually moving more slowly to the
bottomed out position, taking almost a full second (and you
usually don’t even feel it!) In the first scenario, when
you come up short, the shock bottoms out in about a fifth of
a second, (ouch).
Remember: HARD = (H) = STIFF = SLOW = (+) =
more dampening
SOFT = (S) = FAST = (-)
= less dampening
See if this makes sense: If you set the
COMPRESSION very Soft (-), it will have less dampening
resistance and will move faster when you hit a bump, and
will therefore absorb more of that bump. And if you set the
REBOUND very Soft (-), it will also have less dampening
resistance and will move fast causing the bike to quickly
spring back up.
If you are unsure about the location of the
adjusters for your particular bike, consult your manual or
call a suspension tuner. Be wary of advice from other
riders. If you get confused, do not be ashamed to call and
ask questions. There are many people who can help you.
This technical article was provided by Quinton
Cain of SUSPENSION DYNAMICS in Arlington, Texas. Phone
number is (817) 563-6891 |
