Couple of travel questions...

[gotham]

So I bought a full suspension bike yesterday (Thanks to the NSMB Buy/Sell!) and don't really have an understanding of how "travel" works. For instance:


* I have a 5 inch Vanilla rear shock but when I sit down or do anything that requires flexing that shock it seems to bottom out. I don't really understand which way to turn the silver ring in order to stiffen that up a bit.

* Being that I weigh a burly 160lbs, any suggestions as to what size spring I should be using on the rear?

* It's a 2000 Norco VPS and there are 2 holes in the rear linkage for a rear shock..I was told one is for 5" and the other for 4" of travel...but what would happen if I put a 6" on it?

* The front fork is a Bomber jrT, with 7" of travel. It's got two knobs on the top one for each stanchion I suspect..so if I turn the knobs to the + side will it be more stiff? How many turns should I do..I turned it for a good 30 seconds and it didn't seem to stop or anything..
* I had a bit of difficulty in getting the bike onto my Thule BigMouth roof rack. Any suggestions if I were to switch it up with a Yakima or other Thule rack?

* Maybe I'm used to riding around like a courier, standing up tall and pedalling for all I'm worth but when I tried to do that a few times I banged my knees on the top of the front fork (yowch!). Would that possibly suggest that the frame might be too small or that I just have fat knees?
Thanks in advance!

[ZHendo]

if the spring is stock from when the bike was purchased, then it should be fine. as for the rear shock, turn the ring and just see which direction the ring must be turned to make the coil slowly get more compact. I can't remember exactly which direction it is, but it should be easy to figure out. as for the rear linkage having the holes, definately stick with the current shock stroke. If the two holes say 4 and 5 inches, 5 inches is the most travel you will get out of the bike. I can't help much with the pedaling issue. Hopefully you didn't just find a bike and buy it blindly. If that is the case, the frame likely could be too small. I can't tell you if the bike is too small if I don't know your height and the size of the frame. If you are hitting your knees, there may be a slight chance that you are driving your knees at a weird angle and pushing them way forward towards the bars. I definately isn't normal on most bikes for knees to hit often when pedaling and standing at the same time. Maybe you should take the bike to a friend that rides often or a shop and ask them their opinion. Finally for th rack. Try to be more detailed about the issue about it not fitting, but otherwise, a Thule T2 rack would be awesome. I just got one and they are amazingly solid and can hold any bike I can find. Hope that helps.