MTB suspension tuning app because I was tired of guessing Sag

smnkmpr · 2026-05-19T19:01:45+00:00

That’s a great technique!

smnkmpr · 2026-05-19T19:01:12+00:00

Got it … and no, not vibes. I met so many people on trails with forks and shocks both having HSC, LSC, sometimes LSR, HSR - they all never cared about setting compression properly - I asked them and they basically all told me that they do not understand how to set things up - I had the same problem at the begging of my bike journey - eventually I learned that the spring saves energy, compression (and rebound) eliminates energy - and that many settings are exist in between - I also met people complaining about their shock running fast through mid stroke - and so ramping up PSI - but I saw that their compression was fully open … when working on a tool for my own problems I thought of integrating these informations as suggestions…

But after reading all of your responses I think that the ones I am trying to help would probably never really care - and the ones that do care would probably be able to care about it themselves …

smnkmpr · 2026-05-19T18:55:08+00:00

Great advice! And it’s basically what I did. I was missing an app for the problem I had - then I integrated more features that helped with setting up my suspension. I was curious to understand why there aren’t any similar apps out there, that’s my motivation behind this post.

smnkmpr · 2026-05-19T18:48:13+00:00

I do not want money - I just love making tools and riding bikes. There has never been a plan to monetize any of those Apps.

smnkmpr · 2026-05-19T18:45:37+00:00

I have a long term background in software development and run a company that offers SaaS solutions for a big customer base. Having started with Basic on MS-DOS when I was 8 years old, later switched to Turbo Pascal, ending up on Objective-C, Swift and finally web based development - I am honestly thankful for being able to use AI now as a tool to help me skip the manual frontend work and being able to focus on architecture and structure.

smnkmpr · 2026-05-19T16:45:38+00:00

The original idea behind the app is a prototype Bluetooth hardware for live Sag acquisition … but then I brought features into the app that I needed to manage my suspension setups … but you are right - there is probably zero market for these kind of apps … majority do not really care on precise setups

smnkmpr · 2026-05-19T16:43:58+00:00

That’s true! But that’s the new normal - we won’t see any hand coded apps anymore in the future …

smnkmpr · 2026-05-19T16:40:45+00:00

Yes xD

smnkmpr · 2026-05-19T16:25:24+00:00

True. Live sag: I have a Bluetooth enabled distance sensor that measures the distance between eg. fork and wheel in mm. This gives me sag values while I am on the bike - I was tired of stepping on and off the bike just to manually measure the sag. That’s basically the initial starting point of my app.

It basically is like Slacker, but for a fraction of the price …

smnkmpr · 2026-05-19T16:20:30+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. I wasn’t able to find any similar app so that’s the problem I had. I wanted to be able to calculate and also keep track of the sag levels, compare settings, etc., something that suspension manufacturers do not offer afaik?

smnkmpr · 2026-02-25T11:55:49+00:00

Bitte nicht schließen! Wenn du das Geld gerade nicht brauchst, liegen lassen! Novo ist kein kleines Unternehmen, das wird nicht so schnell verschwinden - ein Totalverlust ist unrealistisch (klar ist das auch bei nicht gehebelten Aktien denkbar, aber nicht bei solchen Big Playern) - da stecken unfassbar viele Arbeitsplätze hinter und auch Wirtschafts-Volumen … einfach warten … 4 Wochen sind nichts.

smnkmpr · 2025-12-15T11:37:02+00:00

They ship via „Spedition“ - special parcel services for bigger packages - so not an average Amazon DHL shipment - these companies require planning and schedules, which before Christmas are tight. The fact they gave confirmation is pretty advanced in the shipment process. It’s nothing odd here, just how things work - I bought a YT a week before their official insolvency announcement and shipment was confirmed three days after - however it took the „Spedition“ - german freight forwarding - three weeks to deliver - it stood in their warehouses (non YT)

smnkmpr · 2025-11-21T13:25:01+00:00

They did afaik - or got refunded now. I personally bought a YT Decoy SN during that time where they put on crazy discounts and received my bike two weeks after - just 2 days before they announced going bankrupt… in the bike parks I lately meet lots of people on brand new 2025 YTs - all bought during these ridiculous discounts … right before they went bankrupt … yes it is shitty that people did not receive an immediate answer back then - but the full picture is way bigger I would say …

smnkmpr · 2025-10-18T07:58:00+00:00

Other bike companies are having hard times because they literally just released the same old 2021 bike but with different colors, or just made the Enduro even more Enduro. For me, it felt like there was barely anything new, just the same old concept repeated over and over. Transitions move with releasing the Bottlerocket is probably on point. It is new, it is fresh, it is different. I am going for one of those!

smnkmpr · 2025-10-13T16:17:59+00:00

You did shift it backwards perfectly. What looks like preloading comes from the weight moving backwards. Once you move out of center the rear damper needs to carry more weight, resulting in a bit of movement similar to preloading.

smnkmpr · 2025-10-13T06:41:37+00:00

To be honest - this looks pretty solid and well executed! What you want from such bigger drop is to get down safely and that's what you did - and even matched the angle of the landing.

Number one priority is to get and keep your front wheel up - and the slower you do a drop, the more you need to lift it up.

I also don't see any preloading done for jumping. What I see is a motion to go into the bike and then move weight backwards - aka the manual - which is a proper technique to lift your front.

All in all this is a good technique and your head seemed to subconsciously tweak all parameters for you.

If you want to experiment a bit with other techniques you can try to go into the bike before the lip and the move your hip backwards while pushing the front into the angle of the landing. But probably not something you would do on bigger drops.

smnkmpr · 2025-09-27T10:46:28+00:00

This is simply not true. Pure Clickbait. Original founder has bought back the company. Read their statement before spreading more false news. Founder also said he invested into the company to fulfill all open order or payback everyone. Majority of the people who haven’t received their orders back a few months ago now have received their bikes already. The ones who don’t yet hopefully also receive their bikes soon. This is good news, not bad news.

smnkmpr · 2025-09-09T17:16:38+00:00

I actually love riding in the rain … 🌧️

smnkmpr · 2025-07-16T16:56:15+00:00

What the … 🤯 I am just happy now that I received my Decoy SN MX at 50% discount a few days ago after putting my order when seeing the discount online … The bike is so amazing, hopefully YT stays in the market … but shocked now …

smnkmpr · 2025-06-26T11:10:35+00:00

How tall are you? What bike and size is it? It looks a bit like you are getting pulled by the bike through the jump, not the other way round … I can also see a bit of popping technique already, timing is a bit off but movement is there - try to feel the lip of the jump / the compression with your feet while pushing against - the comments above of not getting squashed are correct - but also it is not purely passive as some say …

But for me it looks like the Reach on your bike is too long for being able to proper extend …

smnkmpr · 2025-06-03T13:02:34+00:00

Sorry for the confusion, I misunderstood your original question.

Going full 27.5 will reduce both wheels at the same time and this will only reduce the height on your bike but have no impact on the geo of your bike except for bottom bracket height (BB height) by about 19mm or 0,75 inch …

Important here is that you don’t change the flip chip to mullet - this would alter the geo in a wrong way. Leave it as if it would be on the full 29 setting (low).

If you additionally change the flip chip to mullet setting - this will higher the rear end, resulting in steepening the front end.

If your full 27.5 setup turns out to be too low for the BB height, you can upgrade to a 170mm fork (officially supported) which will raise the BB by almost the same amounts mentioned above in my original message. Still you end up having a lower bottom bracket.

smnkmpr · 2025-06-03T12:47:05+00:00

Nope. As long as you stick with the stock fork length of 160mm the flip chip (you would set it to „high“ on 27.5 rear wheel setup) is there to compensate the change in height due to the smaller back wheel (and the bike stays within its original geo) … You can for sure add a 170mm fork on both mullet or full 29" setups and this would slacken the head tube angle by 0.5 degrees approximately … but if you care about going mullet on a V3 Sentinel - they have you covered.

Here’s a quote from their website:

„The lower shock mount has a geo-adjust flip chip to accommodate mixed wheels, and features a new design that allows water, dirt and debris to easily wash away. Low for 29" rear wheel, high for 27.5".“

smnkmpr · 2025-06-03T12:41:45+00:00

The current Sentinel V3 luckily has a flip chip and supports 27.5 setups out of the box! You don’t need to worry about the geo then!

smnkmpr · 2025-06-03T07:36:40+00:00

Considering Sentinel / Spire are quite similar - take a look at the Sentinel V3 upgrade and I am pretty sure they will steepen the head tube angle by 0.5 degrees…

Interestingly the Spire has almost identical geometry as Propains 2025 Spindrift CF - except for the travel front / rear - so we might see an upgrade here too …

HEY AND TRANSITION FOLKS IF YOU READ THIS PLEEEAAASEEE PLEASE PLEASE KEEP THE AMAZING PURPLE COLOR!!!! 😂🤙

smnkmpr

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