Savage suspension setup

Built-in toes angle also eliminates the need for the stock toe linkage rod assembly for a simple and clean rear suspension. Aluminum Upper Arm Brace adjusts the roll cent by changing the location of the inner camber link mounts. This reduces the amount of chassis roll, improving overall on-track performance. Adjustable Upper Arm Link Set allows you to the tune the front and rear camber angles for the optimum performance. You cannot run this conversion set with four front shocks.

Instructions are included for set-up with two front shocks. Download PDF instructions for 6. Be honest, when was the last time you had yours checked?

To follow this guide you will need your normal riding clothes, right down to your helmet and backpack. For your suspension to perform at its best, it must be able to respond to every contour of the trail. When you hit an object, your fork and shock compress, absorbing the energy from the impact. This, in turn, is released by extending back out again. To maintain traction, suspension forks and shocks not only have to absorb impacts but also extend to fill holes and keep your tires on the ground.

In order to let the suspension both compress and extend, we preload the suspension with our own body weight. The amount of preload is known as sag, literally the amount the suspension sags into its travel when you sit on the bike.

Too little sag and the bike will lack grip as it cannot extend into compressions, too much and it will wallow and respond poorly to repeated impacts. When we sit on the bike the amount the suspension compresses into its travel is known as the sag and it defines the way your bike rides. Have your assistant support the bike on level ground as you climb on. If you require less sag simply add air to the shock, if you require more sag lower the air pressure. Add air in 10 psi increments and each time repeat the process until you reach the required sag.

Pro-Tip: While setting the sag, hold just one brake, not both or you will cause incorrect readings. Have your assistant support the bike as you climb on. If you require less sag simply add air to the fork, if you require more sag let some air out. Choose a short section of local trail that includes features that you regularly ride. Rocks, drops, jumps, berms and G-outs, whatever you enjoy riding — the more features the better. Choose a trail with at least one section where you would expect to use full travel and one that you are comfortable with where you can hit the same lines again and again.

This will put all settings in a good base range for your weight. If a rider has a trail they ride weekly and know very well, they should be using all of their travel on occasions. Spring rate the force needed to compress the spring is always a balance between big-hit support and small bump sensitivity.

The optimum settings for you will depend on your riding style and the trails you ride. After a few runs to get comfortable, push the fork and shock O-rings down to their wiper seal and ride the trail, concentrating on how big impacts and drops feel, is your bike bottoming out harshly, does it feel harsh on small bumps, are you getting full travel where you expect to? If the rear of your bike feels wallowy and stuck to the ground, bottoming out easily Your shock spring rate is too low.

Add pressure to the rear shock, 10 psi at a time, and repeat the trail. Stop adding air when the bike feels good, while still giving full travel when required.

Make a note of the optimised pressure. If the rear of your bike feels harsh over small bumps and does not give you full travel where you desire Your shock spring rate is too high.

Remove pressure from the rear shock 10 psi at a time and repeat the trail. Stop when the bike feels good over small bumps and maintains traction. If your suspension fork dives when you brake or ride very steep trails Your fork air spring rate is too low. Add pressure to the suspension fork 5 psi at a time and repeat the trail.

Stop when the fork dives less and gives good support. If the suspension fork feels harsh over small bumps and lacks grip Your fork air spring rate is too high. Remove pressure from the fork 5 psi at a time and repeat the trail. Stop when the fork feels sensitive over small bumps but still has good support.

Pro-Tip: If you find that the only way to stop frequently bottoming out your suspension fork or shock is to use a high spring pressure that feels very harsh over small impacts, you may need to increase your spring rate progression, see Step 3. We now have to consider how powerful you are as a rider and how challenging your trails are. For a more progressive spring rate you need to add volume spacers or remove if you are not using enough travel.

Adding volume spacers will make the final part of the suspension stroke firmer, requiring more force to bottom out. If you feel that you are bottoming out your suspension too frequently, despite running the correct air-spring pressure Reduce the volume of air in the fork or shock air-spring chamber with the addition of volume reducers.

If you feel that you struggle to achieve full travel where you expect to Increase the volume of air in the fork or shock air spring chamber by removing volume reducers. Pro-Tip: If you make big changes to the setup of your fork, such as a firmer spring rate or the addition of more volume tokens, go back and tune the spring rate and progressivity of the rear shock to match.

Go back to the track and start again. Rebound damping controls the speed at which compressed suspension extends after an impact. If rebound damping is too low - the suspension will extend too fast and feel bouncy and out of control. But what about high-speed rebound damping? Most suspension forks and shocks have a single rebound adjuster, which effectively is a low-speed rebound adjuster. Some very high-end suspension units also have a high-speed rebound adjuster too, controlling rebound speed at high-shaft speeds.