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Knolly Chilcotin: Build Information, Photos and Set-up Thread

356K views 1K replies 204 participants last post by  MarkMass 
#1 ·
I guess now is the right time to start a new thread...
 
#1,338 · (Edited)
oh sorry if it was unclear. basically to get low enough to feel centered for the steeps i was hitting the saddle so i tried hanging off the back. (edit: on mediums i'm behind the saddle by default) but when i did it made the long reach reallllly long since i'm shifting my body further away from the bars.

other two things i thought to try.. some extra air in the fork for a higher ride height and completely slamming the seatpost.

it's a beaut for sure! woo
 
#1,339 ·
oh sorry if it was unclear. basically to get low enough to feel centered for the steeps i was hitting the saddle so i tried hanging off the back. (edit: on mediums i'm behind the saddle by default) but when i did it made the long reach reallllly long since i'm shifting my body further away from the bars.

other two things i thought to try.. some extra air in the fork for a higher ride height and completely slamming the seatpost.

it's a beaut for sure! woo
I'm running a 150mm dropper and have a little less post showing - and if it is getting really steep, I find slamming the dropper the extra 1" allows that extra bit of confidence.
And yes, not having too much squish up front is a game changer on the steeps. I recently swapped from an undersprung air to a slightly oversprung coil and it is much better.

Agreed with mayha though, get centered and off the brakes and you'll be invincible.
 
#1,340 ·
Yeagh. Agree with these dudes. It might also be that you have too LITTLE sag in the shock...so it is the balance between the front / back of the bike you should try find...it might also be the rebound on the rear is too fast...giving you a feeling that you are being pitched forward (and therefore hanging off the back).

Focus on getting the bike balanced (front / back) - get the sag right on both and try match the compression / rebound and then tweak them to preference.

Your Low Speed Compression will affect how the fork reacts on steep sections...e.g. if I am riding a slow / tech / steep trail I will increase the LSC to get the fork to be a little firmer / stay a little higher.

I think 170 is plenty fork and 180 will be too much.

Have fun - let us know how it goes.

Have fun m
 
#1,341 ·
I think 170 is plenty fork and 180 will be too much.
Granted my bike is set up park biased, but I run 180. I have run 180 on XC trails an I am surprised by how well it handles everything, including the tough climbs. On the bike's first ride, I was very shocked when I cleaned technical, steep climbs I had never cleaned before even with the 180 fork.
 
#1,342 ·
Awesome! Thanks for all the great advice. Gonna slam the dropper and adjust the suspension before tinkering with anything else.

I think muttons is right about the problem stemming from a combination of shock and fork settings. There was clearly a lack of air and LSC in the fork for the steeps. The brake dive was pretty bad. My fault had just fiddled with that before the ride. But I also like the idea of more rebound damping in the rear. I know the CCDBA is still a ways off from being dialed. Had one before and know how good it feels when it's perfect.

Been sick the past week so I've been dwelling on it without getting to test. Should be riding again soon. I'll let you guys know how it goes!
 
#1,344 ·
Got another ride in on the same trail and had a much, much better time.

Ended up completely slamming the seatpost, resetting the fork to the factory tune (+10psi, +4-5 clicks LSC, -2 rebound), softening up the CCDBA (-1 LSC, -2 LSR), and putting an extra 5 mm spacer under the bars.

The suspension tweaks made a huge difference. The fork stayed up in the travel a lot better on the steeps and the DB was glued to the ground. Combined with the saddle slammed and out of the way I was able to manipulate my position and the bike like I normally would. No issue with brake dive either even though I was going way faster and using them in strong bursts compared to dragging when I was feeling uncomfortable. The extra spacer under the bars wasn't really needed with the suspension changed.

Ended up getting pretty loose on a few sections with all the extra confidence haha. The Chili rolled out of all of it and kept me upright on a few sketchy drifts :) Not surprisingly the bike did everything better with the adjustments. Bunny hopping felt more balanced, weighting the outside pedal to rail turns and berms was easier, pumping more controlled, the rock crawler climbing traction.. basically doing everything the Chili should be doing.

Still needs more tweaks but I'm super stoked. Was worried for a minute the frame was just too big. Woo! Thanks for the help
 
#1,352 ·
The Monarch Plus was awesome! :) The mid/trail and high compression settings were great for pedaling and the low/open smoothed my DH runs and landings. The Chili was super active and I was popping off of stuff whenever possible. Getting to the compression lever was a lot more intuitive than with the CC. I appreciate the tunability (sp!) of the DBAirCS, but I want to have fun riding and not get hung up on setup.

I picked up a Monarch Plus RC3 Debonair to use while I figure out how /where to get my shock serviced. I'm looking forward to taking it out for my first ride this weekend.
 
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