Anyone have some starting points (air pressure, rebound and compression settings) for a 185# guy.   This for a Santa Cruz LTC

Are you having specific issues with setup?

What shock/fork are you using?

In general you want to shoot for approx. 30% of stroke length for your sag rate. So a SC Tallboy LTC uses a 50mm stroke shock which would need 15mm of sag... Approximately. Sag rate is subjective. Some prefer more, some prefer less.

From there just set your damping adjustments (compression and rebound) to somewhere in the middle and take multiple runs at the same speed on the same section of trail dialing in your settings. I find it works best to tune in broad ranges,  8-10 clicks at a time. This allows you to compare the performance of your fork/shock from very little damping to heavily damped. This way you can find what settings fit your personal riding style.

Shock is Fox Float CTD, fork is Fox Float Evolution 34mm stansions.

I have only ridden it once. Not sure what pressures are set at.  Previous owner weighed about the same said it should be good for me. He had the rebound set to 2 clicks from full fast. 
I rode about 20 miles at WWC last week. I did set the rebound a couple times on fork and shock first being about 60% back from full fast second time being about 45% back from full fast (essentially sped the rebound up about 3-4 clicks). Suspension still feels stiff compared to another bike I demoed. 

Rear shock I was using @90-95% of travel. Front not really sure felt like about 50-60%. I actually like the shock kinda rides like a hard tail (don't notice/feel a lot of movement until you get into rougher trail) climbs really well. Still may need to lower the air pressure a little. I think it's the front I have an issue with. Pressure may be set to high. 

Like I said I've only rode it once. Just curious on air pressure settings to start with.  I will check the settings that are currently in the shock and fork, then set my sag correctly.

The fox site and gives you good starting pressures, but the sag is what counts.  Also look at the air pressure in your tires, they will also effect the feel of the suspension quite a bit.

bikermedic wrote on 04/07/16 at 2:31pm:


The information in manuals is for a starting point that's all it ever is.
When is comes to sag also check with the bike manufacturer as the sag can vary from what Fox says due to the suspension design. I had one bike that the proper setup was O rear sag, the Fox manual said 25%.
Your suspension is not just your fork, it is the everything from the contact patch on the ground to the fork head tube. Even your rims need to be considered if you really get in to it as it is part of the un-sprung weight and effects the rebound and compression rates.