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You're mixing up two different concepts. The damper, which is what slows things down. The spring, which is what holds the weight and absorbs shocks. The damper is usually hydraulic, oil being forced through a small hole. The spring is either a coil or pressurised air. Without a damper, you'll have a very bouncy ride and without a spring, you'll have a ...

Yeah, the main issue is the geometry that determines the arc the wheel follows as it responds to upward force on the tire. Subtle changes in pivot points can affect that significantly. Beyond that the spring force and damping force that the shock applies at each point in the wheel arc is obviously also important. And differences in shock placement are one ...

Your bike looks like it comes equipped with a full-suspension frame, and the suspension mechanism is located where one would usually attach the rack stays. This will make attaching a rear rack extremely difficult, and almost certainly less secure. I don't recommend attaching a rear rack to this bike, particularly not one that will be holding a child seat. ...

If you're riding in temperatures that are only a few degrees below zero, I wouldn't worry too much. As suggested elsewhere, make sure you keep a closer eye on maintenance (brushing off snow/ice, lubrication, etc). The colder it gets though, the greater the risk that drivetrain components will fail is higher, I had a free hub fail that way. I'd say that all ...

The pitch is a pretty good AM bike; I ride the enduro and I love it. It climbs ok, but can destroy really rocky, nasty trails. It also does really well on the FR terrain. While the enduro has evolved from when it was the same frame as the pitch, I think they would still be fairly comparable experiences. You might also want to check out the heckler (you can ...

The biggest advantage of building your own bike is getting exactly what you want when you knew what you wanted from the git-go. Since you don't know what you want and admit to not really knowing what you're looking at, you're better off getting a built bike from a shop. Your first set of components are basically going to be an experiment. Those components ...

Yes there are a few full suspensions in that range, they will be heavy, and mid to low level parts. Saving a bit longer and waiting (hard i know) Maybe £1200 - 1500 would get you much further. Your current bike is 17kg. a £1000 bike may only save you 1 - 2 kg. A nice hard tail within your budget would be very light (12 - 13kg) Another option would be a ...

Any shock with an eye to eye length of 20.0 cm (7.9 in) and 5.0cm (2.0in) stroke will fit as a direct replacement for your shock. All the shocks available as OEM options on the 2005 Prohphet used these dimensions. Any different eye to eye length will alter the geometry of your bike. Any different stroke length will either reduce travel, or if risk damaging ...

Most fork manufacturers will actually suggest service based on Hours on the fork, I know Fox will suggest you breakdown and clean all seals and replace open bath oil systems every 30 hours ridden. Also most sealed gas dampers suggest you send them back to the manufacturer every X number of hours to have them rebuilt by the factory.

If you have air shocks, front or rear, be mindful of temperature impact on pressure. If you store your bike at about +20 C (room temperature) and ride it out into -10 to -20 C (seriously freezing weather), after a moment you will experience about 10% pressure drop in your shocks (and tires, too). While 10% is not much, it can cause a noticeable change in ...

If you're running oil in the forks then you might want to look at switching out for something that's meant for the colder temps but other than that I think it should be fine. The biggest thing I'd worry about is the salt/sand on the bike. Rinse it off after every ride with some water and store it where it can dry.

This swing arm design has fallen into near complete disuse in the bicycle world for 2 reasons: First, there is translated suspension activation from pedaling. This design does not isolate pedaling or other rider generated forces from ground generated forces. Because of that, there is a loss of efficiency which makes it a poor choice for a bicycle ...

No more than any other full floater. The bearings are sealed so they should only need replacing every few years or so. The bushes usually last a year, but you can feel their state by any 'knocking' when you take pressure off the wheels, or by trying to bend the swingarm laterally. Stripping down the frame and regreasing the pivots won't do any harm, but ...

I believe that bike comes with an entry level Suntour fork. Honestly, there's not a whole lot you're going to be able to do with it to make it "bouncier", especially if you're a lighter rider. If you've turned up the preload, turn it all the way back down. Turning up the preload is only going to make the fork stiffer. Keep in mind that your suspension should ...

Bouncyness* may not be the appropriate term for the behaviour you need from your suspenssion. Suspenssion has two main functions: Shock Absorbing and Dampening. Shock absorbing is what the fork does by compressing, allowing the wheel to travel upwards. In this process, kinetic energy from the shock is used to compress either a coil spring or an air spring. ...

If you haven't done, so try playing with the tire pressures. Many riders assume that you need to inflate them to the maximum psi on the tire. If the pressure is too high the tires tend to bounce off of obstacles instead of rolling over them. If you are light enough, say less than 150 pounds you might be able to run the pressures at 25 or so psi. Set the ...

First step: clear the confusion. As other answer states, the spring and the damper are complementary systems that work together in order to provide the desired ride characteristics. As for bike suspenssion regards, there are two main kinds of suspension components, based on the type of spring: Coil and Air. Most suspensions have hydraulic dampers regardless ...

Basically, there are two abstract design parameters for a suspension system: trajectory of rear axle, and dynamic behavior (reaction force, damping) along this path. Both of these parameters are simultaneously determined by the kynematic chain composed by the passive links AND the shock. From single-pivot, suspension systems have evolved to 4-bar linkages ...

The two bikes you posted have probably got different: geometry (chainstay length, bb height, top tube length, head tube angle etc) shock, shock characteristics and shock tuning leverage ratio pivot placement and design All the above factors play heavy role in the performance and feeling of the bike. Placement per se (assume on two completely same bikes) ...

Obviously, this depends on the make and model Even more obviously, it depends on riding conditions, mainly on how much mud and water the hardware is dealing with "Fully serviced" is also an imprecise term, manufacturers may indicate different service actions with different frequency By caring well for the shocks (mainly by cleaning off the mud, and ...

The internet. Bike magazines. Bike shops. Your friends. Just as in any other industry there are good and bad brands. Good brands occasionally build awful bikes and vice versa. Read reviews, see the things in person, and test ride them. It's very difficult to buy a frame without a shock. They don't have to be custom made as such, but rather custom tuned. ...

You will also need to make sure the eye-to-eye length is same as your current shock (that's the distance from the centre of the pivot hole in one end to the pivot centre in the other), and that the stroke length is the same. If either of these is wrong, it will change your bikes geometry and possibly even cause the rear tyre to bottom out against the seat ...

This ground has been covered a couple of times, probably best here. You say in the comment to Matt Adams that this will be purchased through a cycle to work scheme - if you are planning on using it to commute at all I would strongly recommend a hard-tail over a similarly priced full suspension bike for the following reasons: The hardtail will be ...

The different lengths of suspension will affect the geometry by giving your bike a steeper (or not) head angle. Too much travel might make it tougher to pedal as well, depending on the fork's settings. A too long/short fork (compared to what it was designed to use) might put some unnecessary stress on the tubes and for that reason forks outside of a certain ...

I have the same shock on my xc bike and I find the pro pedal very plush even on firm. I'm a big guy (~220 lbs) and run the shock somewhere around 150 psi so your scenario may be different. I always climb with the rear locked, ride flat terrain with the pro pedal on @ the firmest setting (3) and flip to full travel for any downhill. You will always have the ...

Pro-Pedal provides bob resistance when on, 1 being lowest. Try this. Pull out the numbered knob and position it so that "3" is in line with lever. That will give you the most Pro-Pedal. Now, try riding up a hill with it off and again with it on. You should notice markedly less bob with it on. If not, I might take it to a shop to make sure that it is ...