Descending

Suspension Notes



I've made a number of references to the Siskiu's firm suspension, so it begs further explanation. Both the shock and fork ramped up a lot in the end stroke. Presumably, that was intended to prevent the suspension from bottoming harshly or blowing through its travel. Initially, I tried a number of shock and fork pressures to soften the harshness of the suspension. Changing the air spring pressures, however, simply raised or lowered the ride height and produced a similar feel.



I removed one of the two air-volume tokens from the fork, which improved its compliance everywhere in its travel without killing the mid-stroke support that I cherished most about the bike. I left the shock alone, because its performance improved afterwards, probably because the fork was over-driving the shock. Small change, but it made a positive difference in all aspects of the bike's performance.



It makes sense to set your short-stroke suspension more linear so you can use every millimeter of its travel at the risk of bottoming occasionally. It doesn't help to make the spring rate (or leverage curve) so fashionably progressive that a significant measure of the shock travel is rendered useless.



Take the Siskiu down the punchiest line at your local gravity zone and the first time you exceed its comfort zone will probably be a chunky, high speed section. The best part and the worst part of the bike is the tendency for its suspension to ride firmly in its mid stroke. The bike holds a good line, but the resulting harshness over larger hits means that it doesn't stay planted when speeding through chunder. It has the skillset to get you down the crazier steeps, but you'll need better than average skills to completely enjoy the experience.The flip side of that is how well the bike gets around corners. Show it five or six turns and the Polygon's Responsive steering, minimal wheel travel, and consistent ride height will eat them alive. I could push it harder than its Schwalbe Nobby Nic tires should have been able to handle and somehow the Siskiu consistently found grip. Drifting was minimal, with the rear wheel sliding little farther out than the front, while steering corrections felt light and decisive. I imagined that this is how a 29-inch-wheel dual slalom racer would feel like.Polygon's 29er flirts with the speed and amplitude that true enduro racers and better all-mountain bikes are capable of, but the reality is that the Siskiu is still a trail bike. Keep its speed at the upper end of sensible, choose your downhill lines with a measure of prudence, and it will run up and down the mountain like happy trail dog.