RUST magazine: RUST#37

surprised how little things like bolting
a skid plate to your bike can affect the
feel and suspension. Here’s a story
for you. Kyle Redmond is a rider that
I had worked with for years. He is one
of the best test riders when it comes
to bike feel. We had been suspension
testing all morning and had his bike
feeling good. Right before lunch he
did one of his insane ‘splatter’ moves
on a big rock face and tore the plastic
skid plate mounts loose. After lunch
we slapped on an aluminum plate we
had in his shop. Within two laps his
riding had changed, his flow was off
and he was fighting the bike. He came
in and we started scratching our heads,
wondering how our sweet suspension
setup had gotten so stiff. You see, when
you hear the manufacturers talk about
how they have built frame flex into the
overall feel of your suspension, they
are not kidding. Kyle was on a 350
XC-F with a steel frame. By bolting
on essentially another frame cross
member in that aluminum plate
we had inadvertently stiffened the
frame, and the suspension. We
reset the clickers to our morning
spec, tossed the aluminum plate
back on the bench and boom – the
suspension plushness and action
came right back.
SO…
Keep these types of things in mind
as you choose your bolt-on goodies,
the OEMs of all the brands have the
bikes working in concert between
the suspension, frame, ergos etc.
to get the overall feel they want, so
when change one thing think and
feel for how it affects the whole.
www.rustsports.com 75