This week on the Tuesday Tune we're going back to basics - sort of - and looking at some of the less obvious and less commonly discussed aspects of sag setup.
We aren't here to tell you what is the "right" amount of sag - no single number is correct, and what works best varies hugely according to the frame/fork/shock/rider/ability/terrain variables. For this reason, discussing specifics needs to be done in context - 15% sag on your Pike is fine, but that's extremely stiff on the back end of your V10, for example. This video is aimed at those who already have a basic grasp of sag, so we aren't going to show you how to measure it, but if you want to learn more about that, DVO have a short and sweet guide here - bit.ly/2hBq1qG
What we are looking at though is what the relevance of sag is, why it's useful as a transferable and comparative value even between different riders on different bikes, how to make sure your measurements are consistent, and what the practical limitations of sag are, both in terms of measurement and relevance to performance. Although it's far from being the be-all and end-all of proper spring rate setup, sag is very useful as a starting point and a baseline indicator of spring rate relative to body weight.