ShockWiz Suspension Tuning at a New Venue!
(*****NOTE: This post was originally created in October of 2022, but was never published. I still believe, however, that there’s a lot of relevant information we can glean from the ShockWiz Suspension Tuning System, and I’m going to continue this thread while I wait for the trails to dry out in Northern California.).
Since moving to Pueblo, CO at the end of September, I have been studying the ShockWiz Suspension results on rides at Lake Pueblo State Park. The Park is located about 4 miles from the home where we are staying, and the trip is no more than ten minutes. Pueblo State Park has over 80 miles of accessible singletrack and paved trails. The trails are maintained by the Southern Colorado Trail Builders, and they’re a good mix of flow, climbing in and out of drainages, and some great, twisty singletrack. While the area is vertically challenged, it makes up for this with banked berms, narrow trail, and beautiful views. The trail is almost exclusively broken shale over dirt, so it’s fast in some places, and loose scree in others, especially in the hairpins. The area is exposed, so bring sunscreen and plenty of water!
Different Geography, Different Results
In a previous post, I wrote about tuning the suspension on my Intense Sniper T Pro while riding the same trails from my home on Peavine Mountain, in Northern Nevada. I’m doing the same thing here; I am completely focused on my suspension results of one particular segment of Lake Pueblo State Park – the “Outer Loop NB (Northbound)”. I have ridden this segment six times so far, and I’ve used the data from the ShockWiz App on this timed segment to make adjustments to both the front and rear suspension.
With the Peavine trails, it took about 20-23 rides to get the ShockWiz suspension values to consistently read in the 90’s. I also paid to get the rear suspension tuned by Mike Davis at MAD Suspension. I’m now on Ride #8 down here, and I just earned two 96 Point Results on the Suspension! Furthermore, I earned FOUR Segment PR’s, including Outer Loop NB!
First Ride – Establishing a Baseline With Shockwiz
First off, a couple of notes.
- I’m not fit. I was getting fit earlier in the Fall, and I’ll write another blog post updating my study of Garmin’s EPOC and Aerobic Training Effect system, as well as the DFAA-1 heart rate system. Then we packed to move to Pueblo, and I lost a good chunk of that fitness. I HAVE been getting fit again since I arrived in Pueblo, however, and all of it has been based on Mountain Biking.
- Mountain Biking here is… different. It’s non vertical. It’s not as twisty as the singletrack I rode in Texas, but it’s more twisty than the riding out in Northern Nevada. It’s much more a full-body workout.
- I’m STILL getting numb hands. I recently but my bars down to 740mm and it helped, but it’s now an inconsistent numbness. I’m experimenting with my shifters and brakes at different positions and angles, and I hope that will help.
- There’s less need for rear suspension on these trails, so I MAY alter the compression dial from ‘Open’ to ‘Semi-Open’.
- I cannot alter the shock and suspension with revalving or different oils. I’m just not going to do that.
But let’s stick to the theme of learning. Here are the suggestions from the ShockWiz App, post-ride.
ShockWiz Post-Ride Analysis
Let’s start with the Rear Suspension first, since I’m basing that on my work with Mike from MAD over the years. He always argued that the Rear should be tuned first. So, let’s go.
And let’s see what the Fox Front Looks like.
CONCLUSION – Shockwiz Probably Needs More Data
Okay – I think the first thing I need is MORE DATA. I want to figure out the TREND. The suspension is working, but there are definitely ways I could be tweaking the dials and valves to get more.
I’ll write up another post later, once I have more data from the dirt.
Thanks for reading, and ENJOY THE RIDE!
