SETTING UP SAG ON YOUR R.I.P. 9

Before you head out on your first ride on the R.I.P. 9, you need to do the "parking lot" suspension set-up. The following information will help with the initial set-up of your rear suspension, but it may take several rides and some tinkering to get it dialed in to your personal riding style and terrain.

Here is a rough guideline to help you get started:

First, check the air pressure in the canister. The air pressure should be roughly 2/3rds your RIDING WEIGHT. Make sure to include any pack or water that you usually carry on a ride in this calculation, as it does affect sag. The sag of the rear shock should be a ¼ of the travel (which will measure out to ½" on the rear shock). Air up your rear shock using the following graph (or multiply your RIDING WEIGHT by .66):

Remember that with almost all shock pumps, you will loose between 10-20 PSI just from taking it off the shraeder valve, so it's usually necessary to pump the shock up PAST your necessary PSI needs in anticipation of this loss.

With the shock pumped up to a close proximity of what you might need for your ride, it's time to do the parking lot test to dial the air pressure in more accurately. Put the PRO PEDAL LEVER (the long blue lever) in the EASY position (to the non-drive side) and make sure the rubber ring on the rear shock is pushed up against the seal of the air canister on the shock body. Get on the bike gently and ride it around, taking care not to bounce on the suspension. This will give you a measurement of exactly how much sag your rear suspension has (it's recommended that you do this with ALL of your gear on). NOTE: In order to make sure you're optimizing the set-up of your rear suspension, your front suspension must also be set up correctly. Without the correct sag and set-up on your front suspension, adjustment to the rear shock might prove to be more difficult. Consult your fork manual for proper fork set up FIRST.

Your suspension sag should measure ½". Add or take out air to get this as close as possible. Remember, this is just for your initial set-up, and getting this close will give you a better baseline for future adjustments. NOTE: If you need to take air OUT to achieve proper sag, it's recommended that you put the shock pump back on and use the shock pumps bleed valve.

NOTES ON THE FOX RP23's OTHER ADJUSTMENTS

Once the air chamber is set up correctly, the only other adjustment necessary to check before riding is the rebound knob.

Turn the red rebound knob to the lowest rebound damping setting (see picture below). Once the red rebound adjuster hits the stop, turn it the other direction (adding rebound damping) 4 clicks. This is where Niner recommends STARTING the rebound adjustment. Individual riding style, preferences, and terrain may alter this setting by a few clicks either direction, but once again, this is a baseline to help you with your initial rear shock set up.

You're now ready to go out and ride. If you're looking at your shock, and still wondering what the big blue lever does, or the three position clicker, then read on, but these adjustments are "bonus" features of the RP23 and do not alter the set-up with regards to proper sag and rebound damping.

The blue lever is the PRO PEDAL adjustment lever. With the lever in the position pointing towards the non-drive side of the bike (as in the above picture), the pro-pedal feature of the shock is on it's lowest setting. This is the position of the shock in its fully ACTIVE mode with the least amount of Pro Pedal. We believe that this is where you should keep the shock for MOST of the ride. Once again, this depends entirely on your personal preference, but the R.I.P. 9 works best with the rear suspension in the most fully active mode.

If you prefer to INCREASE the amount of Pro Pedal in the rear shock for certain sections of your ride (long sustained climbs, road riding to the trail, etc.), simply flip the lever to the FIRM Pro Pedal position (pointing towards the drivetrain). This will increase the amount of Pro Pedal in the shock, effectively slowing down LOW SPEED COMPRESSION DAMPING. The THREE POSITION dial above the Pro Pedal lever adjusts how firm you want the Pro Pedal to be WHEN the Pro Pedal lever is in the firm position (3 is the most firm, 1 is the least firm). It's important to note that this three position dial does not have any effect on the damping curve when the Pro Pedal lever is in the LIGHT position (pointing towards the non-drive side). Whichever number is lined up with the lever is the level of Firm Pro Pedal the shock will be in when the lever is switch to FIRM Pro Pedal. To change this setting, pull the dial out, turn it to the desired setting, and then let it spring back down into place.

Now that you've gotten the full low down on the R.I.P. 9's rear suspension, go out and ride! You will know what's best for this set up once you've gotten it out on the trails a few times. Remember to experiment, but only with one adjustment at a time, otherwise you might not know what adjustment change you did that works for you.