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Defining the air pressure that fits you
depends on a few factors.
•
The air pressure depends on the design of
the suspension. The same rider will need
different air pressure on different bikes.
You cannot simply transfer the air pres-
sure from bike A to bike B.
•
The air pressure mainly depends on the
rider’s weight. The weight should include
all riding gear that you wear.
•
Your riding style also influences the air
pressure that fits you best. Adding air
pressure will result in less sag, which me-
ans:
•
You will effectively use less travel
•
The geometry of the bike will be a bit
more ‘up-right’, with a little higher BB
•
The chance to bottom out is smaller
•
Reducing the air pressure will result in
more sag, which means:
•
You will effectively use more travel
•
The geometry of the bike will be a bit more
‘slack’, with a little lower BB
•
The chance to bottom out is bigger
The compression damping and the re-
bound damping are also very important in
setting up the shock correctly. If, for exam-
ple, you’re a racer and have a very aggres-
sive / efficient riding style, you might want to
go up in air pressure, but you can also play
with the compression.
“Never compress the shock while having a pump
attached to avoid collision with the frame.”
Compatibility of Components
The components chosen to build up the
frame need to fit according to the technical
specifications.
Shocks from many of the manufacturers will
fit the Madonna. However, we can not gua-
rantee that all shocks with large and wide
piggy-bags will fit, especially in size small
and medium.
You can find an overview of non-compatible
components in our online knowledge base.
support.raawmtb.com
Shock Assembly
All hardware needed to assemble the shock
is provided with the frame and replaces all
hardware delivered by the shock manufac-
turer. That includes pre-installed bushings.
The top mount of the shock is the so-called
‘trunnion’ mount and only requires the sea-
led caps (#14) to be in place on the rocker
link to then assemble the two 10 mm bolts
(#10) delivered with the frame. Please make
sure to grease the contact surfaces of the
bolts and use a small amount of medium
strength threadlocker on the threads then
torque the bolts up to 12 nm.
The lower shock mount requires the sealed
caps (#14) to be in place on the frame be-
arings. The shock spacers (#12) should be
pressed into the eyelet of the shock, after
removing any hardware from the shock’s
eyelet. The lower shock mount assembly is
completed by inserting the shock axle (#13)
and assembling the 10 mm bolt (#10). Plea-
se make sure to grease the contact surfaces
of the shock axle and bolt and use a small
amount of medium strength threadlocker on
the thread and torque the bolt up to 12 nm.
When you have successfully assembled the
shock, please check the free movement of
the suspension by letting the air out com-
pletely, or undoing the top shock mount.
See ‘Cable Routing’ for more details.
Shock Setup
In this chapter you will find the basic in-
formation about the setup of your shock.
The specific information about the shock
you purchased can be found in our online
Knowledge Base. In this part we talk about
the air pressure of an air shock, but it is also
valid for the spring rate of a coil shock.
•
The amount of air pressure you use in
your shock defines the amount of sag.
•
Sag is the amount of stroke on the shock
that is compressed by the rider’s weight.
•
More air pressure will result in less sag.
