Danish biker wrote:Ok gentlemen I've used a couple of hours adjusting, measuring, riding.
I put the cable tie on the "rod" (please don't get angry anyone if it's supposed to be called something else
I'm sure most of you will know what I'm trying to say).
Did about ten up and down from central stand with me and my son on the bike. We even went "wrooom-wrooom" while sitting on the bike.
Eventually we ended up getting the tie to move exactly 3 cm. I made a note on my iPhone with picture etc
The visible tread was 48,5 mm.
Then I did the whole thing over with only me on the bike (still did the wroom-wroom each time).
Surprisingly I ended up 12,5 mm lower. So visible tread was 36 mm.
That would be what I would expect to happen, i.e. the amount of visible thread would be less with just you than with the two of you. Remember, the collar (i.e. the round ring) is compressing the spring before you get on the bike. So less compression is needed to support just your weight (and so less thread visible), than when you are supporting the weight of two people.
You have got it right, you just don't know it yet
Remember, the only thing that is supporting your weight is the spring.
Also, you mention adjusting for one or two people when you drop you son down to the shops etc. It is not an exact science, so don't worry about constantly adjusting it. i will take two people even when it is on the single person setting, if I am only doing it once, but if we are going for a weekend I will adjust it before I go. Similarly, if we are on our holidays, and I have to do a spin on my own, I will not adjust the setting just for that trip. The ride will feel a little hard, but it doesn't bother me.
A lot of other factors affect it, e.g. luggage, how bad the road is etc.
Now that you have the spring the way you like it, you can adjust the compression (the black knob) so that the spring doesn't bounce too much after a bump, but still allows the spring to bounce enough. That is a tougher job than the spring.
What I did was to set it at it's softest setting (don't know which way on the RAM, it may have H and S on the knob, meaning Hard and Soft, with corresponding arrows). Anyway, set it at the softest setting, go for a spin. You will notice the bike feels softer or bouncy. Keep hardening the damping until you have gotten rid of the soft feeling. Again, it's more of a feeling than an exact amount.
The rebound damping does not change when you change from one to two people. The same amount of damping is needed regardless of how much the spring is preloaded.
(and as soon as I saw the picture of your shock with the "cable tie" on the inner rod, I knew you were on the right track).
Re: RAM suspension Tue May 23, 2017 11:13 am
must read
