Rear suspension bottoming out.

[tvarner]

Hi guys,

I'm a touch over the weight limit for the freerider, especially with my work bag. I bottom out the rear shock pretty easy, making for a kinda rough ride. Any suggestions on a proper upgrade for a 260lbs guy and a 10-15lbs bag, (other then a diet)?

By the way, the fellow that has the old man mountain cargo rack THANKS that thing is perfect, you inspired me to get the reelights and the fenders as well. Pedal lights are on back order The guys at work poke some fun cause my bike is nicer then my car, I love it.

Tim

 

[JonB]

tvarner wrote: Hi guys,

I'm a touch over the weight limit for the freerider, especially with my work bag. I bottom out the rear shock pretty easy, making for a kinda rough ride. Any suggestions on a proper upgrade for a 260lbs guy and a 10-15lbs bag, (other then a diet)?

I am at 242 lbs (naked) so + clothes and a bag, but my bag is on the rack which are not suspended.
Try to twist the spring and make it harder. Possibly exchange the spring with one that can manage a higher weight.

tvarner wrote: By the way, the fellow that has the old man mountain cargo rack THANKS that thing is perfect, you inspired me to get the reelights and the fenders as well. Pedal lights are on back order The guys at work poke some fun cause my bike is nicer then my car, I love it.

I dont think pedal lights will work. They are made for regular bikes, and regular bikes has pedals at a different angle than cruzbike does. Theirs are horizontal, ours are not, and will shine up into the sky and down into the ground.

 

[Mark B]

JonB wrote:

tvarner wrote: Hi guys,

I'm a touch over the weight limit for the freerider, especially with my work bag. I bottom out the rear shock pretty easy, making for a kinda rough ride. Any suggestions on a proper upgrade for a 260lbs guy and a 10-15lbs bag, (other then a diet)?

I am at 242 lbs (naked) so + clothes and a bag, but my bag is on the rack which are not suspended.
Try to twist the spring and make it harder. Possibly exchange the spring with one that can manage a higher weight.

tvarner wrote: By the way, the fellow that has the old man mountain cargo rack THANKS that thing is perfect, you inspired me to get the reelights and the fenders as well. Pedal lights are on back order The guys at work poke some fun cause my bike is nicer then my car, I love it.

I dont think pedal lights will work. They are made for regular bikes, and regular bikes has pedals at a different angle than cruzbike does. Theirs are horizontal, ours are not, and will shine up into the sky and down into the ground.

+1 JonB nailed it two-for-two.

Mark

 

[tvarner]

its twisted all the way. I guess I didn't ask the questions well enough....

I don't know what is stiffer then a "258 850LBS,165mmL*24mm*24mmW"

should I go for one rated at 1000LBS? whats the 258? is that 165mm the lenght? if so whats the 24mm? I see these springs ranging in price from 15$ to several hundred. My LBS won't touch bikes they don't sale. They didn't even wanna offer advice on it, other then "contract the company you bought it from". I have no point of referance with shocks, and the "258 850LBS,165mmL*24mm*24mmW" listed as the spec may as well be in Greek for me.

if you only have about 20LBS on me, I can't imagine having to go to much beefier.

For the pedal lights I was aiming for something more of the http://www.pedalite.com/ for side profile visability. I don't want anyone in a car at night haveing any kinda doute that I'm there.

 

[Doug Burton]

Hi Tim,

258 is the model number of the shock assembly, it's made by Kind Shock Hi-Tech Co Ltd. in Taiwan.

165mm is the nominal center-to-center length for the shock (mounting bolt center to bolt center), 850lbs is the spring rate (850lbs per inch of compression).

24mm is the nominal coil diameter for the spring; it's listed twice because a progressive rate spring might have a different coil diameter at one end than at the other.

As you've noticed, you can pay a real range of money for these springs, and they come in steel and titanium.

My assumption is that you've screwed the mounting collar all the way out, which makes the bike stand taller when unloaded.

A 1000lb spring might be the way to go, but I'm surprised you're bottoming it out if it's extended all the way.

 

[tvarner]

I was suprised to be bottoming out as well, when I first got the bike I never bottomed out, this is kinda a new development as of this last week, I don't see any damage... and I've acually lost weight since I got the bike. I figured I just kinda wore out the spring. Thanks for the decipering the specs for me. That will make it much easier to track down a replacement.

Tim

 

[JonB]

tvarner wrote: My LBS won't touch bikes they don't sale. They didn't even wanna offer advice on it, other then "contract the company you bought it from".

Find another shop, at least they could give you advice for increased price, but when they refuse to take your money... walk away

 

[Kamatu]

tvarner wrote: I was suprised to be bottoming out as well, when I first got the bike I never bottomed out, this is kinda a new development as of this last week, I don't see any damage... and I've acually lost weight since I got the bike. I figured I just kinda wore out the spring. Thanks for the decipering the specs for me. That will make it much easier to track down a replacement.

Tim

Aha, this is what I was warned of by my LBS, blowing the suspension by bottoming it out. I was right about 300 pounds. If you've blown it, the spring won't help you anymore.

I'm using the cylinder that came with my donor, rated for 750 pounds. I started by cranking the spring halfway down the cylinder to tighten the spring up as much as possible, which stopped me from bottoming out, but made my front end real "responsive". I've since eased it back about down to about 1/4 of the cylinder and I think I can get some more back. Main thing is to sit on it by something that you can touch to stay up, get in your normal riding position and bounce while someone looks at the shock to see how far you are driving the rod in.

Get a new LBS if you can, that is a stupid attitude.

 

[Doug Burton]

Hardtailcruzer wrote: Hi Tim,

258 is the model number of the shock assembly, it's made by Kind Shock Hi-Tech Co Ltd. in Taiwan.

165mm is the nominal center-to-center length for the shock (mounting bolt center to bolt center), 850lbs is the spring rate (850lbs per inch of compression).

24mm is the nominal coil diameter for the spring; it's listed twice because a progressive rate spring might have a different coil diameter at one end than at the other.

As you've noticed, you can pay a real range of money for these springs, and they come in steel and titanium.

My assumption is that you've screwed the mounting collar all the way out, which makes the bike stand taller when unloaded.

A 1000lb spring might be the way to go, but I'm surprised you're bottoming it out if it's extended all the way.

Correction:

John tells me the 24mm is the mounting bushing width, or how wide the mounting bracket on the frame is. Verified with a caliper to be 24mm on a V2 Freerider.