Is Bottoming Out Bad For Your Bike? We Ask The Experts

[@bitumen83]

I service my own fork and rear shock-small service. I have discussed with few fox services and they told me that occasionally bottoming out is not big deal but constant bottoming out can damage your suspension. Also constant bottoming out put aditional unnecessary stress to your frame.

[@th_js]

Bottom out by smoothly using all the travel: 😊 Bottom out by absolutely clanking the bottom: ☠️

[@noControl556]

It's better to bottom every now and then, than to not use your full travel in fear of bottoming out

[@schmrzlch]

Perfect is to use 99.9% of travel with only bottoming out once in a while

[@chrisfontaine6221]

Playing with sag can give you a whole new bike, when I made my 2016 Nomad into a Mullet with a 29'er fork and wheel, I had to put way more pressure in the rear to compensate for the change in angle/force to the rear shock. It's a 170mm enduro monster at near 30% sag, and an awesome XC bike at 20+% sag. best of both worlds, I love it to bits

[@OwenBikeNerd]

Great insights - yes indeed - setting sag and playing with ride dynamics can completely transform a bike from good to great - pleased that you've had successful sag experiences! Are you still running the MX wheel set up? Cheers Owen

[@chrisfontaine6221]

@@OwenBikeNerd Yes I am. It may make some climbs a smidgen harder but the benefits out weigh any downsides to it on Vancouver Island trails. I just set my DH bike up as a mullet as well, it turned out great... way way back in the day a lot of our DH bikes were 24"r/26"f, they loved super steep terrain

[@superlazy3355]

I've got a 2015 nomad and I'm very interested in banging a coil on and mx'ing her.....

[@MehYam2112]

You should send this in to Bike Vault

[@harrie205]

5:10 Trophy Trucks use hydraulic bump stops not leverage rate changing linkages

[@LaurentiusTriarius]

I recently started making my own dampers and air spring, on the damper side I have my two opposed shim stacks with a convex spring mounted conical valve in the center of the stack that will push all the shims closed in case fluid is pushed too hard too fast; combined with the air spring rubber bumper bottoming out is a smooth experience. *Edit. Finding the right shim numbers and size of the stack was a task but conical valve sizing was the worst, opening up and grinding a bit, switching spring rates, at least 30 times... 😅 Might no be worth it for everyone

[@diyfu]

Do you have a video or blog post or anything planned about this? Sounds interesting!

[@kianangelopatino3402]

Yep i always bottom out my fork and rear shock

[@Titot182]

Glad you got the Teaboy out to chat. No wonder Sprung always maintains getting your sag right from the get go, otherwise all bets are off. Had the bike quickly fettled by them during FoD fest, where small things such as declining the levers by a few more degrees to get yoru weight better distributed on descents was somewhat critical.

[@OwenBikeNerd]

Jake's an expert and great bloke too! glad you're a fan too! Cheers Owen

[@Titot182]

@@OwenBikeNerd We're spoilt for choice in the South-West on who to go to... and the fact the guys understand the sort of riding that you do, to make the right tweaks. Mind you, most local mechanics I know in FOD probably won't want to touch my bike, unless they really really have to, knowing I've taken tools to it 🙄

[@Kram-j7p]

Thanks chaps , very informative 👍👍

[@OwenBikeNerd]

Excellent - glad that this helped - have you set you sag already? Cheers Owen

[@Kram-j7p]

@@OwenBikeNerd thanks Owen , yes my bike shop calculated measurement by my weight , so run 200 psi in rear shock and 80 in front , all works within tolerance O ring tolerance markers , I check before majority of rides , bike rides really well , many thanks 👍👍

[@jamespond7496]

15.10 wow.. The chain actually hit the ground.

[@_Safety_Third_]

😂

[@OwenBikeNerd]

Thats the "Don" riding - so stylish - and fast! Cheers Owen

[@MC_5562]

Great video! 💯 You should change the title though, because the video covers so much more than bottoming out.

[@OwenBikeNerd]

Thank you - glad it was more in depth than the title suggested! Cheers Owen

[@feedbackzaloop]

I paid for the whole travel, I am gonna use the whole travel (c) Seriously though, if bottoming out hurts the fork/damper it is an incorrectly designed fork/damper.

[@sssxxxttt]

The usual pick two out of: Affordable, Light, Durable applies.

[@peniakfoto]

yes! and too much tokens is also hell sometimes 🙂

[@Chretze]

3:50 this is inaccurate. The more you compress a coil spring, the more force it takes to compress it even more. They are called "linear" simply because the rate at which the needed force increases is linear, it's usually a fixed number of Newtons per cm of compression, so every cm you want to compress it further you need exactly X Newtons more than the cm before. Air springs are "progressive" because this rate of needed compression force increases slowly in the beginning but more rapidly the more you compress them. That's why they're so soft as long as they're non-compressed but "firm up" very rapidly towards max compression.

[@Chretze]

This is also why volume spacers work - They reduce the overall air volume in the air spring which essentially makes the air spring reach this "firming up" faster simply because the now smaller amount of total air is compressed sooner.

[@R3ddyyg]

I had to do a complete rebuild of my Rockshox Boxxer Ultimate because i went too long in a drop and also nose heavy...

[@JoeIsCrazyWillman]

I'm a lighter rider, and so getting into the sag, especially on the front, that's always been very difficult for me. I run lower than manufacturer suggested pressures to get there, but then deal with bottom out, so I usually have several air tokens in the shock and fork. My Rockshox Deluxe Select+ 195/45 has the maximum 3 tokens in order to have near proper sag and almost never bottom out, and I haven't checked yet on my DVO Topaz 210/55 (which replaced another DS+) since that shock I havent had issues with no sag yet bottom out, but that one I set the secondary air bladder slightly higher towards the middle and it seems now I cant ever bottom out (according to the O ring), yet I've had a few hucks to flat that felt/sounded like bottom out, so not sure what that's about either. Otherwise rides great tho.

[@Emtbtoday]

Well the amount of new videos been put up of people landing and their Fox 38s snapping at the base of the arch and shooting the damper out and Rock shox snapping from the crown and face planting I'd say yeah! The Fox 38 video's crazy guy bunnyhops in carpark test and they fail catastrophically! Same forks I have so abit concerned now 😂

[@a8f235]

Using all suspension should not be a goal. The goal should be to have a setup that feels right - A setup that you trust. Which ever amount of travel you end up using is irrelevant. Personally I like the suspension to sit higher in its travel so the typical working range is higher up as well as less total change in geometry. It should feel efficient without chucking you all over the place. The most important thing is that you feel that it's working for you personally so that you can trust it.

[@SnootchieBootchies27]

My rigid is perpetually bottomed out.

[@OwenBikeNerd]

Or is it always topped out? Cheers Owen

[@mojo3398]

I don't care about sag or bottom out. I just tune the suspension so it works best for me. I can count the occasion my forks ever bottomed out on one hand, only when i took some unexpected brutal hit. On a normal ride I usually got 20-30mm oft 170mm travel left. On the shock i don't even know but i didn't ever head or feel it bottoming out.

[@Alan-75]

95kg with no kit on and I have 28% sag on rear, 2 tokens, 2 bands on my RS ultimate and I'm trying 1token and 20% sag on my lyriks instead of 2 tokens and 15% sag. I'm Probably gonna try 1.5 tokens and 18% as 1 token and 20% felt to soft and dived to much on steep tech. Especially when braking.

[@smithandshortdogs]

Had to rewatch the volume spacer part of this video. I am 90+ kg and my tuner said to add volume spacers on my xc fork. I was confused why you would do the same thing for someone super light. Makes sense though. It is not that light riders and heavy riders have the same soloution to the same problem, it is that they have two different problems that can be solved with the same thing....

[@stevendegreef93]

No, don’t put volume spacers for heavier riders! Review the vid, a heavier rider needs all the air cushion volume he can get to slow the rider down when compressing!

[@smithandshortdogs]

@@stevendegreef93 I did. Twice. The reason a lighter rider needs volume spacers is that the pressure in the suspension is so low that it blows through its travel. The reason a heavy rider needs volume spacers is that they have so much mass that they blow through the travel. You need a more progressive setup in either case to prevent bottoming....

[@Emtbtoday]

8.31 can you tell me whare the spacer came from under the stem please? Exactly what I'm looking for as have same headset shape but put the new Funn Eq v2 stem on it I need that to make it look nice and flush at the bottom cheers

[@MTB-DAILYCLIPS]

Coil shocks>>>>

[@jeehoonjones1389]

I recently got a new bike, I haven't bottomed out my fork yet but on a massive rear impact I bottomed out my coil shock am I in trouble? its a spectral 150/160

[@OwenBikeNerd]

Not in trouble - but perhaps time to re-look at sag levels - and if you're not yet riding the burly terrain that might fully test the bike - let us know how you get you! Cheers Owen

[@jeehoonjones1389]

@@OwenBikeNerd I just added 2 clicks of HBO and it seemed to work - I will still try to find a 450 coil somewhere (its out of stock online everywhere lol)

[@wosaks9649]

My fork is making this clicking noise when i bottom it out (i have to do it a few times so it starts making it) and when im not on the bike and try to compress it theres no noise and i dont know whats the cause. Can anyone help me?

[@VictorElGreco]

Bottoming out your fork may be hazardous to your *dental* health. 😉😬😆

[@bsv01]

When 4k?

[@nmcgregor1990]

OmG ItS not iN 4K! SO low QuAlItY! Get a grip.

[@bsv01]

@@nmcgregor1990 Other bloggers apologise when the picture is not crispy or slightly blurry. Here is good content, but it is a blurry mess picture when watching it on full screen in 2024...

[@nmcgregor1990]

@bsv01 I think you need an eye test. It really isn't blurry or if it has been blurry its in shots showing action or fast movement.

[@hughjanus7354]

@@nmcgregor1990 to be fair even though it is 1080p - and 1080p can look sharp - the quality of this video takes me back to 2009.

[@BenJacksonMTB]

Haven’t watched the video yet. But I just run my suspension on the edge of bottoming out. Then on the odd ocassion on something super big I do bottom out fully. I do run 3 tokens tho

[@bchearne]

It’s poor design to have nothing more than an o-ring to prevent damage when bottoming out. In my opinion, at least

[@OwenBikeNerd]

Many of the air shocks that use a simple o-ring - internally to prevent damage under harsh bottom out do have the advantage of progressive spring curve - so it should be a rare occurrence - but you right its surprisingly light on protection. Cheers Owen

[@matthewkuhl79]

No. It must means you have to tune your suspension better

[@Velo1010]

I like less sag in the rear shock. In the front I set it at 20%

[@jamessher6956]

My Enve carbon fork never bottoms out even on the hardest hits.

[@The_Iainternet]

I need Owen’s diet! He lost 5kg in the space of this video 🤣

[@OwenBikeNerd]

it was a long day. also bonus points for spotting my error - I'll try harder next time - sorry! Cheers Owen

[@The_Iainternet]

@@OwenBikeNerd Haha! Love your videos! Great insights 👍

[@rishiklal1757]

I paid for 150mm of travel I'm gonna use 150mm of travel

[@feedbackzaloop]

Also, video should rather be called "all about that sag"

[@juffkasvennsson4609]

yeah bottoming out was not discussed at all

[@crispinellisdon]

Is the slackness of Owen's helmet chin strap triggering anyone else? 🤣

[@OwenBikeNerd]

Sorry - I'll tighten it up! Cheers Owen

[@taz800]

That was the WORST explanation of linear vs progressive that I've ever encounter. And I'm telling that as an engineer...

[@anthonyheaton5798]

I thought bottoming out waas some lgbtp+ technique.

[@ellerybice3787]

Quit abusing the english language with horrible foreign accent.

[@RichardADastardly]

I'm confused; how can Owen be abusing the English language "with horrible foreign accent" when he has an English accent?

[@ellerybice3787]

⁠that's right! You do understand. 🫡