Common mistakes for beginners/amateurs?

[brandolph]

What do ya'all think most beginners do wrong when making suspension settings?

I know when I got back into biking I rode for a year with my sag set to light (as I'm only 5'6" and was looking for a lower seat height) and now that I've got that right it seems like as I progress I'm steadily adjusting my compression settings a bit stiffer and setting the rebound so it rebounds faster too. Both front and back. I'm always tinkering with em but I've never been videoed through woops or anything-pretty much just trying to figure out what feels best.
Is it common for beginners to ride with too much rebound dampening?

I probably ride 50/50 track/woods and try to get the bike to handle the track as best as I can and then deal with those settings in the woods. If I'm going on a long, gnarly woods ride I'll usually back off on the comp. settings a bit but that's about it.

 

[georgieboy]

I can admit that i also used to set the rebound way too slow. Now i am in the constant process of adjusting my suspension. When you become faster you need faster rebound and more comp damping. So, you can just continue working at the suspension.
And other thing was when i started working on my suspension that you have to understand the torques you use when adjusting nuts. I think i overtightend the valve nuts way to much. Now i only torque them 5nm, with loctite offcourse.

 

[bclapham]

i think the biggest mistake people make is not doing anything! if you make adjustments and the bike feels worse, then you have learnt and important lesson- of course the next big mistake is not recording what you did so you cant put it back!:)

 

[jmics19067]

Is it common for beginners to ride with too much rebound dampening?

I would have to say yes. if you hit only one bump and the suspension has its time to rebound the bike tends to feel more controllable with stiff rebound,ie. not bouncing back up in the air to fast. As you get faster and hitting more bumps in progression you start to notice the deflection of the bike as you hit the bumps because the suspension is "packed"

starting off with soft compresion and stiff rebound and as you get faster/used to the bike spinning the clickers the other way appears to me to be a normal progresion.

but I wouldn't necessarily call it a mistake just normal

 

[dbrace]

The biggest mistake i see is when customers try and set their race sag. We can normally set it pretty close for them when they take their shock away but suggest they check it to make sure its spot on. We even supply them with a detailed sheet on on how to go about setting it, but when we see them at the track and check it for them what should be 100mm could be either 90mm or 110mm.
I guess it can be tricky especially if the person helping you set it is also inexperienced.
Another thing is people get confused as to which adjusters are which and how the high/low comp. adjuster works, also thinking it relates to bike speed.

 

[DEANSFASTWAY]

Ditto on the rebound ,as theyre looking for control .Id say Not recording their settings when they get it working good. Sometimes when youre a beginner I think its really hard to know when the bike is working good.Sometimes they tinker with and then blame the suspension for their results.This kid is usually pulling off the track 5 places behind the kid with the 5 year old beater bike wearing a sweatshirt and electrical tape for numbers.Lack of maintenance when they get their stuff back they think its good forever.Theyll ask you for new fork stickers as theirs are all faded or roosted and youre thinking its about time for a sevice or fluid change. Not cleaning the mud off their forks , then they "blow" a seal. Sometimes they complain too much about bottoming when theyre overjumping things and landing flat. Stuff like that. But Its really kool when you see a kid that knows nothing about the bike but just goes out there and rides the wheels off it all stock.