How a good woods setup is suppose to work

I think once you start to really feel what the suspension is doing, you are never satisified with them.I know i never am with mx.

Its interesting is to me in that offroad we have so many preferences.. We have everything from mush soft to guys who want moto stiff.. Then we have stand up and then we have sit down riders.. It makes everything from shock spring to valving selection very difficult. Only through asking the proper questions can one sus out the type of rider you are dealing with.

Beyond those issues we have the one that may be core to the issue. Revalving should not be making suspension stiffer, or softer, but making it stiffer or softer over as wide a range as possible. I find that most tuners have a mind set of compromise and make only slight changes in order to give the customer what they want and reduce risk of errors. While that's fine a more comprehensive approach may produce more benefits..

A good woods setup is dependant on how fast you are. It should bottom out occasionally. Fast woods riders would need stiffer settings than slower guys. And it ussually is a far bigger range than the clickers will allow adjustment for. The clickers are only a low speed adjustments but hitting logs and rocks are high speed type impacts. Like Jeremy said a good tuner will tune the whole system to give the best damping over the widest range possible. But The tuner needs to know what you want. You can't just say "make it better". I beleive Less high speed damping is the key to rocks, roots and logs, but high/low speed overlaps so much that it is a tough job for them to acheive with out making the low speed to soft. With Jeremys help I have come up with what I think is a great woods setup. It also works great for desert so I'll bet that some people would think it is too stiff. My bike will leave the ground on logs and rocks but not hurt my wrists or deflect. It is a KTM so the hard seat discourages sitting, but even the few times I sit it handles the rocks well. I definately feel them but always remain in control and no harshness. As far as what I can hit without worries? I have a test section in my field with a 6x6, a telephone pole and a cinder block I use to guage my woods capabilities. I can hit them in 3rd without paying attention, after that It needs some mid-air correction. The cinder block will sometimes flip up end-end and things get ugly, but that will happen out on the trail at times too with square rocks.

So, is this setup a secret or can you divuldge some specifics?

Must be secret, huh?

FAST JACK said:

Must be secret, huh?

Click to expand...

If you read between the lines, what works well is relatively little high speed compression damping, relatively stiff slow speed compression damping and medium stiff springs for the rider & bike weight.

The light high speed damping is the key to a plush ride over rocks & roots, and helps make the bike comfortable for long days in the saddle. But for fast trails, jumps and big whoops you need more slow speed damping and at least medium stiffness on the springs to keep control and prevent bottoming.

IMO, compared to an MX setup, a good woods set up should have much less high speed compression, slightly softer springs, similar to slighlty softer slow speed compression, and slightly more rebound damping.

It's all personal preference, really, but many fast woods guys have remarkably plush suspension on the nasty rocky trails, but it is still composed on faster terrain.

Oh, and don't forget the steering damper!

Dave is right on the money about reading between the lines. In fact I think that it says right on the MX-Tech website that they strive for as little high speed and as much low speed as possible. Probably is a good formulay for woods and MX.
As for the rebound, I have been experimenting with less rebound (clickers out 2-3) for really rocky trails. It may just be my bike but it does seem to help. It is a compromise for big impacts though. I feel that in the rocks you are hitting 5 or 6 impacts per meter of trail and any packing at all will quickly add up to being to far in the stroke for the next impact.