[gio]

Hi, greeting from a hong kong rider. I bought a giant anthem a while ago and have ridden many nice trials in hong kong. question I have is, I weigh 120lbs, and I put about 100psi into the shock as I was told in the bike shop. But I found this shock too stiff for me. So I pumped 75-80lbs of air into the shock and ride smoothly. Is this normal or is my shock faulty? (shouldn't it be 1:1 ratio?)

Also, when I set the shock rebound to the fastest, I alway hear a nose of air coming out when riding across bumpy road, I checked that there is no air leakage, is this normal too? Cheers:thumbsup:

 

[dumper]

if you have the Manitou shock, the 70-80lbs

sounds about right. I weigh 175lbs and am running 100lbs in the shock for a "comfortable" ride. The 1:1 business is a guidline only, a place to start. But in real life, you need to add or subtract small amounts of air ( about 5psi) from that starting point , then go for a test ride and decide. With your shock set at 75-80lbs, how much sag does that give you? It should be about 25%, or about 1/4" or 6mm. As for noises, shocks and forks make lots of them. As long as it feels smooth, doesn't bottom out or top out, does not make a "clunking" noise (thats bad), or loose air, its probably ok for now. Very difficult to diagnose noises over the internet, unless you post it on youtube! If you have the Fox shock, the pressure numbers will be different, but the sag measurements are the same.

 

[Skotu amerikanis]

On my Anthem 2 (2006) which has Manitou R7 Elite (non-SPV) fork and Manitou SRL (non-SPV) rear shock I use the following pressures:
Fork - Around 100-110psi. Used to run it as high as 125 psi, but then it is very stiff.
Shock - somewhere around 150psi.
And I weigh ~170lbs/77kg with my gear.
As dumper already said what you should look at is sag - if the rubber ring moves ~6mm will be stiffer, while ~9mm will be more comfortable for trail riding. I guess you cannot damage the shock unless the pressure is really low, so feel free to experiment a little with the pressure.

 

[gio]

thanks guys. After much reassurance, I think my shock is not faulty. Also a bit out of topic here: how do you guys set the seat position, is it horizontal or slightly leaning forward. I know that many riders use hte horizontal position, but I found this 'egg-aching' down there, I did ask this question in some chinese forums, and they all advised me to change from the tilting position back to the painful horizontal position. any ideas here? should I go for whats comfortable to me, or just follow what most of the riders do?

 

[dumper]

always do what works for you...

with no regards to fallout from any "fashion police." I will post a picture of my Anthem, from which you can see I do not use it for racing- just for everything else. It is my "all mountain" Anthem- I used to own a Reign. If you race, maybe someone else here can make recommendations on seat position.

 

[BrusKO]

Just a follow-up question. I was comparing my Anthem's shock to a friend's and it's weird to notice that even if we both had 120psi, my shock took more effort to compress than his. Can anyone explain why?

Also, is it true that that Maestro shock's rebound knob doesn't have gradients? Meaning, there is only ON and OFF for it. I've noticed this too with my Anthem's Maestro. When I shut off the rebound, it's slow to decompress. One click out, it goes fast. One full turn out, it's the same banana as one click out. Anyone?