Adjusting the sag on your bike

Sagging of any sort, to me, is bad news. Jokes aside, I feel like talking a little about sagging today and we’re still within the ATV, quads, bike topic. Adjusting the sag of your bike to a ‘free sag’ or a ‘rider sag’ can improve your ride tremendously. Don’t ask me….just ask any bike racer out there and they can tell you the same thing. By doing this, you’ll feel the difference in the way you handle and ride your bike. And whilst there are no quick and easy methods to do this (apart from taking the bike over to your local and favorite mechanic), it doesn’t really take a rocket scientist to figure this one out either.

A loaded sag is described has everything to do with your suspension. When you sit on the bike, the bike sinks into the suspension. Adjusting the sag of your bike, it means you have to adjust the springs located in the fork and the rear shocks. This is called fiddling with the tension of the springs and fixing the pre-load.

In fact, by setting your sag, it will be revealed to you whether you’re using the right rated springs on your bike. The rider sag, when set properly, will ensure proper position whereby the front and back of the bike is loaded properly. This gives the rider perfect balance whenever he/she rides the bike, otherwise, it will affect the way the bike and rider performs. And in case you don’t know how important it is to adjust your bike’s sag, here’s the deal. when there’s too much sag, in which the seat of the bike leans back towards the rear of the bike, the bike doesn’t deflect off obstacles too well. In fact, improper sag causes the front of the bike to reverberate and ricochet whenever it hits bumps. Not good.  And when the back seat of the bike is too high, the speed and balance of the bike becomes an issue; and the traction will not be too good either.

Even if you’ve adjusted the sag, it can change or become ‘altered’ throughout the ride, so you could be riding right when you start, you might end up with either too much or too little sag when you’re done. Therefore, it’s important to check and adjust regularly and you don’t even need to bring your bike to the mechanic to do this – it’s not rocket science task, ok? You’ll need a metric tape measure, a hammer, the bike’s pilot, a friend (maybe a husband, neighbor, cousin, father, uncle or the likes) and you’re off. But then again, not everyone’s adept at it – for instance, when you’ve never taken a look at what’s underneath the seat. Worse, if you don’t know what a hammer is. Anyway, it’s a bit mathematical and you’ll need to measure quite a fair bit, so, if you’re really not into these things, just take the bike to the mechanic regularly. If you’re  lady bike rider, get your husband off the couch and get him to do it!

A lot of people find themselves lost along the way and completely befuddled half way through, so, if you get confused, it’s OK. Lots of people have trouble figuring which way is up after trying. If your bike is from a renowned brand, they should come with a manual and I don’t know about yours but mine comes with a pretty good, in-depth owner’s manual and it got me through adjusting the sag as well. If you must know, I didn’t have a very fun time adjusting the sag for the first time either – in fact, I was ready to take the whole bike apart and throw it out! But I started from the top again (a couple of times) and got it right. I am sure if you persist you could do the same thing too.

As soon as you adjust the sag to match your weight on the bike, the suspension is set to work optimally. With the optimal range, you’ll feel like you’re in perfect balance, increases your trust in the bike and you’ll feel an increase in confidence too. The more confident you are on your bike, the better you will ride.