MIYF Hint – Check Your Air Regularly
Not Just Tyres
For those newer riders to MTB or even those more experienced ones that have fallen into complacency, remember to regularly check your air filled components. We have learnt in our previous article on Newbies Guide To Tyre Pressures that air permeates (leaks) through the rubber of tyres and tubes and escapes.
Recommended Check Frequency
Check your tyres before every ride. Give the tyre a squeeze and then check with a good floor pump with a gauge. If you do this every ride, in time you’ll get good at just squeezing the tyre and knowing whether it’s close to what you prefer.
Shocks & Forks
Most of us have air forks on our bikes and many of us with dual suspension bikes also have an air shock as well. These components play a vital part not just in handling bumps and jumps, but also for weight shifts and trail induced pressure inputs from cornering etc. Both forks and shocks should be tuned by air pressure to suit your weight and riding type. Therefore, it’s rather important that the tuned pressure is maintained to keep you and your bike performing at your best, and safest.
Recommended Check Frequency
Once per week/fortnight. With solid bodies, neither forks or rear shocks should regularly lose air pressure like tyres tend to. They do however, have seals that do wear in time and need replacing. As these seals move with the suspension travel, small amounts of air pressure can escape. For this reason, you do need to keep an eye on the air pressure using a suitable “shock pump”. A shock pump is simply a small pump that only puts in very small amounts of air on each stroke due to the small air volumes in forks and shocks. Checking regularly will also ensure you discover any leak before it becomes a serious issue.
Lost Or Gained Weight?
Again, both your forks and rear shock should be tuned to suit your body weight. Your tyres should also be pressured for your body weight. Therefore, if you gain or lose a few kilos you should adjust all your air pressures to suit.