MXC 250 suspension - HELP!

woods_rider1

Member
Sep 27, 2001
355
0
First off, I am no suspension guru, so any help I can get I will accept with gratitude. '01 MXC 250 is totally stock and I ride 100% woods. (single track, roots, some rocks, and some whoops) Bike feels harsh on roots and deflects a bit, in the whoops it is like riding a mule or mechanical bull, kicking, back end dancing side to side. I am about #215 with riding gear, and realize that in the future I will need springs to accomodate my weight, in the mean time, what can I do to the stock suspension adjusters to help tame this thing down? I rode a E440 cannondale, and it was like riding on a cloud... very smooth and plush, over rocks or whoops. Can I get close to that with this suspension? What should I use as a baseline for comp. and reb.? Also for woods should i stick with 95 - 100mm sag? some claim going up to 105mm is better in the woods?
Again thanks for any help, I appreciate it
 

sharp

Member
Sep 30, 2001
234
0
Assuming you are under sprung -

I am a bit larger than you and know the down falls of too light of springs for my weight. First off, if you are at 95 - 100mm sag then you probably have way too much pre-load on the spring. More pre-load equals more stored energy in the spring which translates to bouncing off every little root in the woods. Back off the pre-load. Doing this will also change the weight bias of the bike getting it off of the forks which, because of your unmatched weight (relative to the springs ;) ), is also causing you to be way up in the fork travel. As far as the clickers go you can check the suspension websites like pro-action, factory connection, wer, and to the left in your screen MX-tech for tunning tips. My rag-tag-shade-tree approach to turning clickers is to go in an extreme direction and work back until it works for the loop I am on. You might want to try slowing up the re-bound on your shock though to tame the bull.

I am no expert but just my regergitaion of my recent experience. Get your suspension right, before your bike launches you into a tree.
 

jeb

Member
Jul 21, 1999
633
0
Good advice, Sharp. You need the correct springs first. Your valving will never work correctly if you don't have the right springs in there.
 
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