[boone]

Hey all,
I will admit right up front that I do not know that much about the technical aspects of my suspension and it's design characteristics. So, I hope this post will help me out a little.

Here is my question:
What does a leverage ratio tell me about my suspension and what does it tell me about how my bike will ride over varying terrain?

Currently I ride a nicolai helius FR (horst link).
It has travel from 6, 5.5, 5, and 4.5 The shock is 7.875 X 2.25 for these travel measurements(06 dhx air).
Thus I think the leverage ratio is as follows :
6/2.25= 2.67:1
5.5/2.25= 2.4:1
5/2.25= 2.2: 1
4.5/2.25= 1.78:1

So what does this tell me?

The reason for all of this:
I would like to move the shock mount forward to decrease the BB height a little as well as slacken the HA a little bit. However, I cannot do this with the same shock. I need one with the same eye-eye but shorter stroke so the wheel does not hit the seat tube!

Therefore, I will use a 7.875 X 2 shock (04 fox vanilla rc coil).
The leverage ratio is as follows for this set up (I think with this shorter stroke I will lose
0.5-1" of travel:
5/2= 2.5:1
4.5/2= 2.25:1
4/2= 2:1
3.5/2= 1.75:1

Hopefully this will keep the tire from hitting the seat tube and allow me to get the new geo that I want! However, I am not sure what this will do to the ride quality.

What I really want to know is, does the shock make more of a difference in ride quality than leverage ratio or is it a combination of both? I presume it would be both, but in that case how do you go about setting up the best combination?

Any thoughts on this subject would be a warm welcome

Thanks
Jason

 

[Fooly_CoolyOo]

Leverage Ratios are Everything

Leverage ratios have everything to do with how your bike rides. All rear shocks are designed with a leverage ratio range in mind, most are from 2.3:1 to about 2.8:1. Some shocks work better with higher rates though, like manitous SPV style shocks, the work better around 2.5:1 to around 3.1:1. But with you running a DHX air, i know those work best around 2.5:1 to about 2.7:1. So when you switch to a shorter stroke shock pickthe mount that will give you the closest leverage ratio to that. If anything starts getting real confuseing, contact your shock manufacturer and they can help you.

 

[uktrailmonster]

Leverage ratios have everything to do with how your bike rides. All rear shocks are designed with a leverage ratio range in mind, most are from 2.3:1 to about 2.8:1. Some shocks work better with higher rates though, like manitous SPV style shocks, the work better around 2.5:1 to around 3.1:1. But with you running a DHX air, i know those work best around 2.5:1 to about 2.7:1. So when you switch to a shorter stroke shock pickthe mount that will give you the closest leverage ratio to that. If anything starts getting real confuseing, contact your shock manufacturer and they can help you.

Also bear in mind how much wheel travel you actually want from the bike. See my other reply in the AM forum regarding your calculation of leverage ratio. Your assumptions for the reduced stroke shock are incorrect.