Suspension with Neil Buena

With how we all ride, our suspension forks take a massive amount of wear and tear on the trails. All the jumping, the drops, features, and overall jankiness of the rocks and roots of most trails we ride all contribute to the abuse they go through our regular rides.

We talk to local fork maintenance go-to guy Neil Buena about what tips he would give regarding this and some really valuable advice about the differences between air and coil suspension would mean.

TIPS FOR TRICKS

Before we get into it, a little context. Some time ago, a few of our friends had some fork trouble and no matter who we asked, one name kept popping up repeatedly, highly recommended by a lot of other riders for suspension and fork repairs and maintenance: Neil Buena.

So when we were getting around to completing the launch of this magazine, we reached out to Neil and he was kind enough to share his time and expertise for all of us to learn from and enjoy. Also, he’s a certified sender.

Neil talks about the two main types of Forks — air and coil, and how familiarizing ourselves with each of their similarities and differences are a big deal for our riding.

AIR

When dealing with Air Suspension, Neil tells us to “check the air pressure of the fork and rear shock, and set it based on your weight to avoid bottoming out or ‘hardplay’ of the suspension.

Also, he recommended that if we’re going to go and try some aggressive riding like downhill, freeride or enduro mountain biking, he says that it would better to add some air volume spacers to avoid bottoming out the suspension when you’re hitting a jumps or drops in the trails.

COIL

Coil forks are a different animal altogether, requiring a little bit more precision, even in selecting the right one for you. Neil says that, for coil-type suspension, “choose the designated type of coil to be use based on your weight and riding style, which is Hard, Medium and Soft coil springs.”

As discovered, coil forks don’t offer as much “fine tuning” as air forks, as Neil said, springs are neatly divided into hard, medium, and soft, so a bit of know-how is definitely needed even when considering diving into it. Another thing to note about coils are that, obviously, they’re heavier.

SETTING UP FOR THE RIDE

“Adjust the settings of the suspension both front and rear based also on your weight,” Neil says, “the settings of the fork are High Speed Compression (HSC), Low Speed Compression (LSC), High Speed Rebound (HSR), Low Speed Rebound (LSR), Preload, Rebound, Compression, Sensitivity, etc.” He reminds us that all important adjustment settings can be seen in the fork’s manual, under the settings section. “But some of us adjust the settings after every ride to feel the comfort of our bikes and riding style,” he continues.

Also, “Follow the periodic maintenance service of your suspensions (50hrs, 100hrs, 200hrs) for your own safety, your bike and its components,” Neil adds, to maintain its purpose for your riding. And lastly, Neil reminds us to, “enjoy and keep shredding!” That’s some solid advice there.