JAMES’S FOCUS JAM 6.9

MONTH 5: James is looking to sweeten up the rear suspension feel

£3,199 / 29in / focus-bikes.com

Dare I say it but it’s been a relatively straightforward month in my relationship with the Jam. After an initial whirlwind of scratching specification itches and chipping away the rough edges, I can say I’m getting to a point where I’m pretty happy with the Jam’s current setup.

The only thing is, by addressing my pain points and shaping the Jam into the equivalent of a nicely worn pair of slippers, it’s highlighted an issue with the suspension. I’ll level with you, I’m not as sensitive or as attuned to the subtle language of suspension tuning as some of the more experienced testers at mbr. Heck, I come from an XC racing background where the first thing you did with your suspension was to pump it really hard or lock it out, as any movement could rob precious Watts and efficiency.

But coming back to the Jam it’s obvious that there’s a lack of support in the rear suspension. It often feels like you’re moving too deep into the travel too quickly, especially on pedally trails. And it’s not because I’m running too much sag or too little air pressure in the shock, I’m currently sitting around the 25% point. So in theory this should be pretty much bang on, but I just can’t seem to get the Jam to play perfectly.

As a stop-gap, I’m opting to run the Fox Float DPS shock in the middle compression setting when I need to pedal more, but this isn’t ideal as I often forget to open it up again for the descents. So as with any issue above your pay grade, I’m going to consult the experts at Focus and Fox to see if we can come up with a solution, hopefully without it being an expensive one. I’ll let you know what they suggest next month.

WHY IT’S HERE The new Jam promises to connect you with your inner child