I have a tendency to dabble, and I’m often found at the
work bench stuffing around with suspension components, mounting the
modified forks or shocks to my own bikes and tearing off around the dirt
track with great expectations of marvellous improvements, most often I’m
confronted with a ride that feels like shite, which forces me back to the
bench to either reverse the procedures or tweak a mod that looks/feels as
though there is something worth pursuing.
We can be as clever as we like, using the specific
terminology to explain what ever it is we are discussing, and most often
blowing the on lookers mind with funky words and hand motions in an
attempt to explain something we get excited about.
With suspension it comes down to “feel” and being
sensitive creatures we most often pick up on any adjustments that have
been made to the suspension unit prior to the ride, having your suspension
serviced is a good indication as most of my customers report great things
after mounting their rebuilt units and headin off to the trails for a
blast, and wether they know what they are talking about or not, the fact
that their suspension feels great is good enough.
This section is about suspension modifications performed
on forks and rear shocks simply because I can achieve this in my
situation, I find it interesting and it adds to our education.
I feel that bicycle forks and specifically rear shocks are
the most technologically advanced mechanisms, and over the years I’ve been
fortunate enough to see the growth of these developments first hand just
by ripping the guts out of most makes and models of bicycle suspension
units from past platforms to the currently available.
If you have any of your own modifications or
thoughts on this Id be keen to hear about them, e-mail me rick@krankin.co.nz
