Ok so on the need for getting every little bit setup on the bike as dialled as possible (im sure i have a compulsive disorder).. I'm on the hunt to find out what YOU think is the best option for running your full sus steed's on.

I got thinking when I went to france, is it better to have the bike set up hard and take a bit more of a beating or to have it soft and let the bike make me feel like im riding down a tarmac'd road.

I went for the hard option and found it damn good, seem'd to be able to predict where the bike was going and when to let off on the corners and all was good. but.... the catch... after 3 hardcore 9am-6pm riding in the french and swiss tracks my arms were struggling and feeling pretty damn tired.

when I got back to england I asked hatch how he had his dhr set up as the dhx 5.0 seems to have soo many bells and whistles you dont know where to start. some people rekon if you take all the propedal and fiddly bits off it works better on the turner... but im not so sure. I've now got a 450lb ti spring which i think has made a difference it does seem to track slightly better... but im not sure how much in my head that is... probobly quite a lot with the spring price tag.... anyway back to the main issue.

once i was back in england i set her up all different agian... she got set up pretty much the softest i could get it then realised the errors in my ways when the forks dived through 8inches like a hot knife through butter.... (forks are 888rcx2's) so shes now set up with a bit of a mixture .... say a comprimise of the both. but still it doesnt feel as fast as it did in france... do you think thats just because of the english tracks being a lot slower or because hard is really the way forward?

i really am tempted to put it hard agian and let my arms get used to it... but then what is the need of 8.5 on the back and 8 inches on the front.. i mean its not like im ever going to be doing 20foot drops to get full use of the travel when there set up hard... so whats your opinions on the matter generally or just on my bike?

1, hard or soft?
2, your experiances?
3, conclusion?

be quite intresting to see the mixed opinions i think.

do you think it would make you a better rider if you keep it harder? its kind of down to the dilemma like you said "set up which you prefer" but at this point i could get used to either so its about setting one and leaving it... but which one is the desision!

ride it hard. use the suspension for grip and use your body to soak up the bumps.

Hmm intresting.

cant say i've notised pro pedal making my shock feel dead.. what shock and frame is that with fella? also dont you find it a bit weird if your front end is softer than your back? at the moment ive pretty much got even compression between the two and find it really predictable for jumping ect do you think this predictability would be lost with different compressions between the two?

also on forks... do you think its better to have the 1st 4 or so inches soft then ramp up fairly quick? or quite soft all the way through the travel?

cheers

the turner has its own linkage that eliminated pedal bob. remove all pro pedal from the dhx.  no need for it
my rc on my old DHR doesnt have pro pedal for tha exact reason you dont need it. hense why 5ths swingers and other platform shocks on dhr's are not needed.
used to run my bike soft. 350 spring on the rear and two silver on the 04 boxxers.

no i run mine frim and love it rides so much better.
550 on the rear and a standard yellow on the 06 boxxers.
much better the bike doesnt wallow on the turns, feels super nippy over the rough stuff ad it skips over it rather than trying to soak up every bump.

^ thats probobly why i dont feel the pro pedal much at all . ive got a 450 spring at the mo im 12stone... what sort of air pressure do you think pete? its on about 100 at the mo.. in france i used 130 any idea?

edit - Albal thanks for that.

ok so whats TOO HARD!?... i read somewhere a long time ago.. that your ment to bottom your shock out twice down a dh track to know its set up right... is this true? it sounded a bit odd to me but also made sence?

get on touch with orge, he has 06 dhr i have a 1999 no idea with air pressure's a springs,  shims and on oil. simple and it works technology for me

shame im back to uni tomorrow no familiar tracks about! and being the midlands nothing rough
I think im more a rider who likes to air over stuff rather than plough through it so i think i'll set her up nice and hard and see how it goes, if i can manage 3 solid days riding in france then getting sore im sure i can go in england fine! saying that... the new bottom section at hamsterly looked narlyer than anything i saw in france! bizarre!

al