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Do you use your CTD?
Hi all,
Many of the FS bikes now come with CTD (climb, trail, descend) where you adjust a dial on your forks and shocks to adjust the suspension between hard, medium & soft. To make this useful you'd have to stop and also know the upcoming trail? So, if you are not a fan of stopping on your regular rides and/or like discovering new trails as you go it seems to me you'd just set it at trail and not really use the feature?
Anyone who has CTD can you advise whether you use it and how?
Thanks
(I know Fox have a dropper post that can be set to CTD so you can combine forks, shocks & dropper into one remote which would be quite neat, especially if you're running 1x11. However many bikes seem to come with another dropper, say reverb, and/or 2x10 so the handlebar real estate is already taken and to get it aligned would be quite costly. Hence my question on the CTD without remote above).
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My 456c has a 2010 talas on it that I both lock out / open and also regularly change from 100mm to 120mm to 140mm without stopping. It has no remote, adjustments are controlled via dials on the top of the fork legs. My Titus has an RP3 and whilst I no longer ride it much I am still able to change the settings on it whilst riding and the blue knob / dial is on the underside of the can on that bike.
I use the lockout (equivalent of "climb" mode) on long smooth fire road climbs but other than that I leave it open. I have a handlebar remote for the fork but just reach down for the shock lever which is just under the top tube.
I used it a bit in NZ on the connector roads between trails but not so much here.
I don't stop.
Thanks, so it seems easy to use on the fly?
Coming from a HT with no dropper I feel like I might need a pilot's licence with the front fork adjustment, shock adjustment, dropper post as well as gears. So in my mind I was thinking I wouldn't use CTD other than maybe on rides to the trail?
I only use it for commuting on the road between trails on my FS 29er.
Offroad, the climb setting is way to harsh to be useful - I find I leave mine in trail all the time.
On my rp23 equipped bike I use the propedal for climbing as it works OK.
Some bikes it's easier to use thatn others. Obviously on a fork with handle bar remote it's easy, but I only lock use lockout and on road. On a Santa Cruz tallboy I use the rear between open and descend usually on the basis of whim, but I can change it while riding single track quite easily. Can't change it on a bike with a lower shock position - it's too bloody dangerous down there to be sticking your hands down blindly.
I just leave it in trail even on the road. I find the most useful feature is switching to descend when you have to much air in your system for a given trail. Say I ride wylde at 100psi in trail, at omv I found it a bit stiff so just set it to descend for the day, easier then a shock pump.
Yeah, I agree. It's all in your personal set-up.
I find my bike too soft and wallowy in descend but I've set it up to use in trail. If I set everything how I like in descend then trail would probably be good for climbing and fireroads.
I use the 29er mainly for XC racing and fireroad type rides so the set up is great. I use the AM bike for social rides and general trail riding - hence it's set up more plush.
That is why I bought Scott bikes only they have the remote on the handlebars and I use it very regularly. When it is in climb mode I have it adjusted so there is 20-30 mm play in front and back as you can feel the rear jarring on lockout .
setting is way to firm to be of any use.Frankly im not sure what they were thinking with climb mode as you have far less traction on anything other than sealed roads. .Ive played around with it quite abit,and i find that trail is better for climbing-if its really steep ill drop my talas fork by 30mm and sometimes lock it out as with the head angle on the slash the front tends to be quite wallowy?(not sure thats a word) if its steep.Its funny though as i feel the sensation of bouncing up and down when locked out even when pedalling smoothly.I had pro pedal on my previous bike and feel that was a better setup than the CTD system.
I got a Giant Anthem last year which was my first dual suspension so a bit of a learning curve. I found the Trail and Descent Settings useful during initial setup. I set the pressures as per factory recommendation for my weight at the Trail position and then tested using Trail and Descent settings to see which suited my riding. If the Descent felt better I dropped the Trail settings slightly until I was happy. I only generally ride in the Trail setting but have found riding down long bumpy descents that I ride better by switching the rear shock to Descent.
I use the D when the trail heads down or I'm hitting some jumps just gives me a bit more confidence. I only use climb on link roads or fire trails if I'm really trying to get some pedalling efficiency. Otherwise I leave it on trail. I can change on the fly but having to change the fork and shock manually means I some times only change the rear both to climb and descend, don't know if that's right or not.
I run an RP23 so just open/climb. I only use the climb setting when riding on tarmac, or in a race.
In races I find i'm up out of the saddle more often and sprinting up pinch climbs.. I'm ok to get beaten around a bit more by the lack of plushness as most of the 50km distances i'm doing are sub 3 hours. It's not that long to be knocked around a bit, and overall worth having the slightly stiffer rear end
I just leave mine in the trail setting as I always forget to change it back after climbing. Only thing I constantly change is the dropper post.
Switching to 1x10 helps as left hand only has dropper to worry about.
As people have said climb is only good to eliminate pedal bob for roads
Just because it isn't necessary on one person's bike doesn't mean it isn't useful for every bike/rider combo.
It will change from frame to frame, different chainring sizes, riding styles etc etc. Do what works for you.
Buy a hardtail.
Frame/suspension geometry is a huge factor here, I've had three bikes now with a shock lockout and reckon it should be std on most bikes judging by how many guys I see wasting 50% of their energy bobbing up and down when they're climbing!
first was a Scott Ransom with very plush ride (165mm) but bobbed like a demon if you were hammering up a hill without locking out the rear shock. this bike had a handlebar mounted lockout for the rear shock to stop absorbing all you're hill climbing energy. Genius 10 had less travel and also had handlebar mounted lockout for the rear shock and front lockout on the top of the fork.
my Genius 920 has twin lock which brings it all home, use it all the time although the geometry on this bike means you really only need to fully lock the rear if you're jumping out of the saddle to climb.
My mates Giant Trance bobs like a demon, I reckon I'd be sea sick riding one of those! LOL
My trance only has pro-pedal on/off on the rear, I basically leave this on all the time.
As for the fork, I have it locked out almost all of the time except for descending. I just reach down and quickly flick it over when required.