Q : What is the best set up for the Y-bike full suspension?

A: One of the best/worst things about a full suspension bike is that there is no RIGHT answer to how it should feel. With this in mind, selection and set-up of the rear shock is very personal and the only way to ensure that you've found your ideal is to try different things. How different depends on how descriminating you want to be, and how much you feel a small boost in performance is worth. Once you've settled on an excellent overall design like the Y bike, it's time to tune your shocks. Starting with our recommended settings, vary to either stiffer or softer settings. If you like, you can also try a different type of shock. Traditionally, air/oil shocks have done the best job of dealing with 'big hit's' because of their progressive spring curves. Coil springs, with their low 'stiction' work best over small or high-frequency bumps. But with the new technologies coming into bicycle shocks, the gap in performance between the two is narrowing so that they both work pretty well.

In addition, the design of the bike can effect which shock works to your taste. Sorry, but to explain that we have to get technical. Lab coats, everyone! With some rear suspension designs, there is a linear, or one-to-one ratio of compression to travel. Others are designed to have falling or rising rates. To put that in layman's terms we'll use some hypothetical measurements, and pretend there is no shock in the bike. If the first 1" of wheel travel moves the front and rear shock mounts 1/4" closer together, and the last 1" of wheel travel also moves them 1/4", you have a linear spring rate.

On a falling rate design, the shock mounts would not move as much during the last 1" of rear wheel travel as the first inch. On a rising rate, the would actually move more during the last inch than the first inch of wheel travel. If the shock mounts move less, then they compress the shock less. If the shock moves less, it exerts less force on the wheel. Or in other words, it feels softer. Now lets look at shock design. Using a similar term, coil springs tend to be linear. Again, an illustration with theoretical measurements to help you visualize:

If you put 50 pounds on a coil spring with 1 inch of travel, the spring compresses 1/4". The next 50 pounds, also compresses the spring 1/4", and so on until there are 200 pounds completely compressing all the shock travel. With an air spring, the first 20 pounds might not compress the shock at all due to seal stiction. But 50 pounds compresses the shock 3/8". And the difference between 150 pounds and 200 pounds might only be 1/8" of shock compression. So with an air spring the amount of force applied to the shock changes. We call this change progressiveness. Air shocks are progressive and coil shocks are linear.

So lets look at how the frame design and shock design work together. If very progressive shock were used in a rising rate frame design, it would be difficult to get full travel out of the system without starting with a very soft spring. Since very soft springs allow a suspension to move a lot under low loads (like pedaling) this would probably make the bike bob a lot, and would not provide a very plush feel. A linear shock on a linear rate design would provide a more even feel to the shock travel, even with a higher preload. A falling rate design with a slightly progressive shock can mimic this feel.

It's possible to use a linear shock in a falling rate design and get something that's excessively mushy. Such a design would tend to 'pack up' in a series of hard hit's, not allowing the bike to fully rebound for full shock absorption. Our Y bike has a slightly falling rate. As such, it works well with the air spring shocks on the market as well as coil/overs. Which is best depends on your taste, riding style, body size, preferred speeds, and the terrain you ride. And then there's damping....