What does "Custom Tuning" mean?

The term “𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙚” gets thrown around quite a lot but what they actually mean seems to vary wildly! It could be;
𝟏 - 𝙎𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙙𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩. This should be the bare minimum anyway!

𝟐 - 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙞𝙡 𝙬𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 - This is the most basic damper tuning and has a minimal effect. The change is largely in the low speed damping region but it alters rebound and compression simultaneously which might not be desired.

𝟑 - 𝘽𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙙𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙢𝙨. Without any data this will either make a massive change, no difference at all or go in the wrong direction altogether. There are a ton of factors that influence how much damping a valve will create so it is tough to predict what the outcome will be with any certainty

𝟒 - 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙪𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩. This is a safer option but the appropriate tune is still very subjective so will vary depending on who you use. For example a Vorsprung tractive or fractive tune is a highly refined and proven design drawing from countless hours of testing and development and is highly recommended.

𝟓 - 𝙊𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙧 '𝙝𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙨 𝙥𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙨’ 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙡𝙤𝙬. Specific details are not supplied, there is no actual data to show what was changed but relies on a guise of “dark art” to sell the tune.

The 𝙎𝙪𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙇𝙖𝙗 method uses a holistic approach. Using 15yrs of suspension servicing we look at the full package of your fork and shock to incorporate the spring and friction forces
•Measure the damping forces with our dynamometer
•Analyse your frames linkage arrangement
•Draw from our vast database of reference tests and calculated damping rates to come up with a tune that suits you from the ground up. The new tune is verified on the dyno (because if you’re not measuring you’re guessing) and ready to bolt back on the bike!