[40hills]

crosspost from the Intense forum...

I have owned my Spider since early this year and think it's an awesome XC bike. I started racing with it and the performance blows away my Haro single pivot (now my second string ride). It came with the RP3 which is great for tweaking the suspension to fit the conditions. However, I'm wondering if there's a majority of VPP suspension (Santa Cruz, Intense) riders who prefer one setting vs the others. I've been riding it in the #2 setting virtually 100% of the time as it's a good compromise that covers most conditions. Considering that the RP3 comes valved from Fox with a "medium" firmness for my Spider, the #2 setting feels almost too firm at times.

Of course I will begin to try the other settings more (after my broken wrist heals :cryin: ), but I'd like to get feedback on what other people have tried. I am most interested in trying the #1 (lightest) setting more, but with a bit more air pressure to adjust the sag. I noticed that the sag changes between the #1, 2, & 3 settings even with the same air pressure. I keep reading that with the VPP you don't need a heavily platformed shock for it to perform well... especially climbing and maybe even hammering.

I know that suspension settings can be heavily influenced by personal preference, but that doesn't matter, I'd like to hear your opinions and experience anyway.
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Enjoy the ride!

 

[drumbum]

I ride a Santa Cruz Blur. When I first got it, I dialed in the suspension to my liking on the "medium/#2" Propedal setting. I usually ride it on that because I feel that it handles any condition well. I use the "firm/#3" Propedal setting when I'm road riding or riding flat/buff trail. I've only used the #1 Propedal twice, both times when I was about to go in way over my head on stunts/bumps.

Thoughts:

#1: It's way too soft. Rebound seems to slow down considerably, and to me it only seems useful for drops or really rough stuff that you don't expect to survive.

#2: Good for all conditions, I ride this setting 90% of the time or more. Uses the platform enough to cancel feedback...and it works well with the VPP.

#3: Works well for flat terrain, such as a road or really buff singletrack. I've occasionally ridden my normal trails on this full Propedal, where I discovered that it makes the Blur feel like a hardtail. I would consider using this setting for a fast-paced race.

 

[zwane]

I'm on a Blur LT, I use the #3 setting almost exclusively with the rebound set to slowest response. I find that it responds much better especially when scrambling over steep bumps with roots/rocks (#1 bottoms out too easily in these conditions sometimes resulting in knocking the big chainring). I think it may have something to do with my weight (200lbs). I actually don't like too much bounce on my rear.

 

[kidwoo]

I have mine in the off position of the rp23 on my 6.6.

Finding the sweet spot in sag is really important though for it to work correctly.