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Our Tuning Process

Our Tuning ProcessShockcraft tunes suspension differently to everyone else on the planet, which is why we have extremely happy customers from all over the world sending us fork dampers and rear shocks for tuning.  We make their riding smoother and faster with more control and excellent comfort.

Some people are happy to take tuning money for turning knobs and moving spacers, maybe installing a different factory shim pack.  That's not tuning.  That's basic setup.

At Shockcraft we do it differently.  We have a unique tuning system that pulls customers in worldwide.  We also have unique modifications and insights which solve factory problems and let suspension work the way it should.

Here's what Tuning means to Shockcraft and what you get with a Shockcraft Tune.

1.  Rider Inputs

We use our Shockcraft Fortune Teller to collect your information for either Custom Tuning or a simpler grading system for our Matrix Tunes.  Your riding is graded into Sport, Race/Rowdy or Extreme.
•   Sport is a tune suitable for covering rough ground at speed that won't beat you up.
•   Race/Rowdy gives you more spring and damper rate for stronger and more aggressive riding.  More traction but more trail feedback. 
•   Extreme is even more spring and damper rates for taking the energy that big impacts deliver.

2.  Physics Modelling & Engineering.  Meet the Fortune Teller.

We take your weight, bike geometry and riding style from the above and use this with our proprietary Fortune Teller calculator to generate target spring and damper rates for fork and shock.
Matrix tuning means we matched you to an existing tune of ours.  This is only possible for consistent hardware and a lot of MTB forks and shocks are stubborn individuals.
Shockcraft is the only MTB suspension company in the world doing it this way.  This is beyond the ability of most OEM suspension companies, which is why this market exists.

3.  Recommending Different Hardware

Some forks and shocks are either not capable of performing the way we need them or would require more time and money than those parts are worth.  Bumps do not care how expensive and shiny your parts are or how well the stickers match your frame.  Often the only way up is to sell your current suspension and buy a new or used fork/shock that can be tuned correctly.  These upgrades are often not expensive as untunable forks and shocks in good condition still sell well.

4.  Hardware Modification

This is where we take your fork or shock and work out what is possible and necessary to make the springs and dampers behave like we need them to.  Sometimes this is easy, other times it requires a kit of custom engineered and manufactured parts.  We remove choke points, allow fitment of standard shims and sometimes buy in 3rd party components for damper and spring modification.

5.  Re-Shimming & Re-Valving

This is where we use those little flexy metal shim discs to regulate the oil flow inside the dampers, giving you just the right shape and size damping for every occasion.

6.  Dyno Testing & Tuning

This stage is in a loop with #5.  It is firstly verifying the damper is functioning correctly and also checking the new tune hits the customer's requirements for damping forces and adjustment range.  Development of new tunes here can eat weeks of engineering time.

7.  Customer Settings

The final stage on the shock dyno is setting clickers to suit the customer.  When your fork or shock has 3-4 different clickers this is a big deal.  It starts the customer with a solid baseline that only needs fine-tuned on the trail.

Check out our Tuning & Upgrade Options for:

Forks   |   Rear Shocks