Dyno Testing

What is a Suspension Dyno and what does it do?

A suspension dyno is an incredibly valuable suspension measuring and tuning tool. Simply testing your suspension on a dyno won’t make your suspension any better or worse, but after running your suspension on our dyno we can accurately check suspension condition and performance. More importantly we can gain a huge insight as to what they we are dealing with before taking things apart and making any potential changes.

A suspension dyno measures the force or resistance delivered by the shock at a given piston velocity(shaft speed) and plots it on a graph. Both compression and rebound forces are measured and combined with asking the rider a series of questions we can get a better idea of what changes are needed to improve the performance of your suspension.

The data from dyno test results provides precise details that might not mean much for a rider to look at, but it does wonders to help us verify and understand what you as the rider might be experiencing out on the track. We understand both languages(tuner and rider), and in conjunction with real world track testing, suspension performance can be achieved like never before.

We have a CTW Suspension Dyno that we use for testing and developing suspension settings in conjunction with our real world track testing experience. We can test any performance changes in valving or clicker adjustments instantly and know exactly what differences it makes in what areas. We also use the dyno for servicing and rebuilds to test the suspension after the work is completed to make sure everything is performing as it needs to be and meets the riders needs. We dial in best suggested clicker adjustments to get the rider started for their own testing. 

When developing new settings, a lot of different theories, valving arrangements and component modifications can be tested very quickly without spending half a race season driving back and forward to a track. Basically, a Suspension Dyno helps us find perfection a lot quicker.

When developing settings, this data can then be compared with track testing to work out what the best performing suspension needs to look like. Once right, this info can then be referenced when modifying suspension or for future servicing of suspension from a solid known and measurable reference point.

 In short, there are basically two types of suspension dyno graphs that we study:

CVP- Constant Velocity Plot

This type of graph shows the forces measured for a constant piston velocity inside the shock (shaft speed). Data is collected from the complete full stroke cycle all at the one fixed speed. While race tracks and trails don’t always present the same bumps and impacts every time, A CVP shows detailed information that is very useful to us when trying to analyse suspension performance.

 PVP- Peak Velocity Plot

This type of graph shows the maximum force recorded over a series of velocities selected by the dyno operator. A PVP shows us the general overview of suspension behaviour and can be experimented with to simulate exactly how the suspension will operate over various types of terrain.