- Joined
- Feb 15, 2013
- Messages
- 1,903
Rix said:Chassis and suspension set up: When I ordered my Sur-Ron I had the option of choosing between the the RST and Fast Ace. I chose the Fast Ace based on Jay's observations with the fork. I initially set static sag of the fork at about 30mm. The rear is set at 35mm. The rear shock came with a 450# spring. In all reality, I should have a 500# spring with my body weight of 245. However turning the preload spanner on the shock tower down to about 33% of the threads is actually working, and working quite well. With my body weight, I am landing 4 foot drops without bottoming hard. I am bottoming though. The Sur-Ron shock linkage is unlike anything I have ever seen or ridden before, and it works great. I am impressed.
The Ride: With the front fork set at 30mm sag, I am having a difficult time dialing this fork. If I soften compression, it bottoms easily, if I increase compression, the bottoming isn't bad, but small bump/choppy terrain performance suffers. I will admit that I am a suspension snob and those that know me, know I am a very judgmental when it comes to suspension. Back when I was riding and racing gassers, I would pay 10K for a bike, then put another 2k into suspension. I am that guy. That being said, the suspension works for what ever I tell it to do. The caveat is their is there is a compromise and a price to be paid on the opposite side. The rear is easier to dial and I have found a happy medium between small bump compliance and anti bottoming.
poor small bump and chatter compliance (when optimized for bigger hits) is pretty characteristic of air suspension.. I look forward to ride reviews of light bee with the fast ace coil spring set-up.. is it just a matter of changing out the one fork leg?? coil sprung leg might be a good upgrade option (I'm not a huge fan of air suspension, only benefit of air spring over coil spring is weight savings imo)..