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Ok, what spring are you using on your romic/ID?

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phatfreeheeler

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Ok, I'm looking to get some more info before I start buying more springs for my romic. I started asking about this over on the shock forum, but I figured it would be good to get more Ells owners opinions. Once I get it dialed I'll likely go titanium.

What spring are you using on your romic/ID?
How many turns of preload=how much sag?
What size frame?
How much do you weight(not to get too personal)?

Currently I have a 400x2.25 spring on my 7.875"x2.0" shock.
I need 4.5-5 turns of preload to get 25% sag with my punny 150# body. (LBS told me this was fine :rolleyes: )
It's a medium frame and I'm basically using it for fast, technical, & rocky trail riding, not freeride.

EWB tells me I should probably have a 500 or 550# spring depending on how hard I'm riding and the type of trail. I don't know why the frame came with a 400# spring if that's the case, because I'm sure most owners weigh at least 150#. This discrepancy didn't instill me with confidence so I thought I'd see if the many owners could help. In theory the spring calculators should work but there is a lot of room for error (for example, EXACTLY how much travel does this frame have and how does the rate change through that travel)

Anyways, let's get some info on people's setups so next time someone has this problem the search button will find this thread.
 
#2 ·
I'm 5'7", 155 lbs...

My Romic shock have 2,25" of stroke, and it's a 400 lbs. Frame size small. Around 25% of sag without any preload on the spring... Have tried 7,5 X 2" of stroke Vanilla R, has 500 lbs spring on it... Was nearly perfect with either shock...
 
#3 ·
Spring?

Mine is a Med size, shock is 8" long, 2.25 travel ( My Id is a 2001 model)

I weigh 240 without gear, use 600 lb Romic spring, 2 to 3 turns of preload.

When you start shopping for springs, make sure you measure the inside of the spring.
I just sent a Ti spring back to RCS because it was only 1.4, my spring is 1.50.
 
#5 ·
I'm 5-11, 150-155lb , ride a Med Id. I ran a 400 for 2 years with zero preload, but never bottomed out the shock, ever. I ran a 300 last year, crazy soft, but a lot of fun, I think 30% sag. I liked the position and the plush ride over most of the terrain in Boulder. Not good for any kind of dropoffs in Moab however. 350 would be perfect for me. Anyone have one? I don't really measure sag so much as I check to see if I'm using all the travel. if you don't bottom out the shock lightly off of your BIGGEST hits, then you aren't using all the suspension. Plus more sag lowers the Id down, and slackens the angles which I like.

Personally I think a 500# is way overkill for your weight and size, unless you've got some oddly small amout of compression damping in your shock (which is possible . . .) . Why do you think 400 too soft, are you bottoming a lot, or are you just looking at the sag #'s?
 
#6 ·
135lbs + gear, Small ID, 8" i2i x 2.25" Romic, '04 Z1 up front = 69 degree HA, 14.25" BBH

350lb spring, 0 preload, sag was around 25%, 2 clicks in - compression, 8 clicks out - rebound

Ride: single track, full speed through rock gardens, 1-2 ft drops (to tranny and flat), some technical downhill. Never bottomed out hard.

I've since switched to a Cali Ed. with an RP3 and TALAS, dropped BBH to 13.5", 68.5 degrees HA
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
discoboy - you have the identical setup to me, assuming it's a 7.875"x2" shock (weight, everything...). I just took it for a 20 mile ride yesterday and it rode great, other than the strong winds that blew me right off the trail when I would bunny hop. :eek:

I looked at the shock and it looks like I'm blowing through most, if not all the travel. There is no dust on the shaft at all so I can't find a line. My fork has a great identifying line so it wasn't a dust free ride.

With no more preload than just securing the spring I get almost 40% sag, w/3 turns I get ~30%. I did the 20 miles with 3 turns. Like I said, I loved the ride, very plush, nice with small bumps, by I don't want to stress the frame too much using up all my travel too often. I spend probably 10 days in Moab a year and the trails here have many 1-2ft drops which I usually just ride at speed or bunny hop off of.
 
#8 ·
5'11", 125lb, medium size. When I ran the Romic with 7.875x2.25, I used a 500lb spring with minimal preload. The bike felt too steep and the BB felt too high, but the suspension would soak up just about anything. Now I run a Fox Vanilla RC in 7.5x2.00 and 400lb spring. There's about 25% sag, angles and BB feel better, very plush, a little timid to take it off larger hits because of the smaller spring, but for general trail riding it's awesome!

Bryan
 
#9 ·
phatfreeheeler said:
Ok, I'm looking to get some more info before I start buying more springs for my romic. I started asking about this over on the shock forum, but I figured it would be good to get more Ells owners opinions. Once I get it dialed I'll likely go titanium.

What spring are you using on your romic/ID?
How many turns of preload=how much sag?
What size frame?
How much do you weight(not to get too personal)?

Currently I have a 400x2.25 spring on my 7.875"x2.0" shock.
I need 4.5-5 turns of preload to get 25% sag with my punny 150# body. (LBS told me this was fine :rolleyes: )
It's a medium frame and I'm basically using it for fast, technical, & rocky trail riding, not freeride.

EWB tells me I should probably have a 500 or 550# spring depending on how hard I'm riding and the type of trail. I don't know why the frame came with a 400# spring if that's the case, because I'm sure most owners weigh at least 150#. This discrepancy didn't instill me with confidence so I thought I'd see if the many owners could help. In theory the spring calculators should work but there is a lot of room for error (for example, EXACTLY how much travel does this frame have and how does the rate change through that travel)

Anyways, let's get some info on people's setups so next time someone has this problem the search button will find this thread.
Click to expand...
i'm 5'10", 210 lb, using a 500 x 2.25 on a 17" frame with three turns allowing 1/2" of sag

works great on regular trails but may have to turn it up a bit when the snow melts and we can get on the mountain
 
#11 ·
TuffLove said:
Large Id, 2.25 Romic with 700 lb spring, only 1 turn into the preload, just enough to keep it from rattling. I tried the 500 lb spring (which I still have, any takers?) but was way too far into the preload. I also ride with a 20-30 lb Camelbak.
Click to expand...
looks great...forest trails up here are still 12" snow covered with an ice crust...better safe than scary
 
Discussion starter · #12 ·
TuffLove said:
Large Id, 2.25 Romic with 700 lb spring, only 1 turn into the preload, just enough to keep it from rattling. I tried the 500 lb spring (which I still have, any takers?) but was way too far into the preload. I also ride with a 20-30 lb Camelbak.
Click to expand...
Nice bike, the gold looks so hot, but I'm biased. This is what's great about Utah, I ski in fresh powder in the morning and drive into the valley and bike in the afternoon on dry trails.

Is that a 2.25" travel shock or a 2.25" travel spring. BTW - PM me with a price for that 500# spring shipped to Sandy, UT.

As an update, I'm still using the 400# spring (uber plush) but really wondering if it's the right way to go, because I have no dust line after riding with it. I must be blowing through all the travel. That worries me as I haven't dropped off anything bigger than a curb yet :( Also, the sag is now exactly 0.5"/25% w/ 3 turns of preload and I haven't lost any weight. Is it normal for the spring to settle lower after a few rides? I hate to have to go out and buy half a dozon springs to dial this in. I need to save for a new fork, my 105mm marathon SL is definately a bit short for the downhills.
 
#13 ·
phatfreeheeler said:
Is it normal for the spring to settle lower after a few rides?
Click to expand...
Both of my springs seemed to have "settled." The 500 lb was plush at first, but after several weeks, and a trip on Porcupine Rim, it was just plain soft. I was so far into the preload that shock performance was suffering. The 700 lb seemed a bit on the firm side at first, but it has softened up as well. I'll dig through my parts tonight and make sure the spring is still in my parts bin. I'll PM with the details.
 
#15 ·
205#, 6', Large, 600# titanium spring

1 turn preload

phatfreeheeler said:
Ok, I'm looking to get some more info before I start buying more springs for my romic. I started asking about this over on the shock forum, but I figured it would be good to get more Ells owners opinions. Once I get it dialed I'll likely go titanium.

What spring are you using on your romic/ID?
How many turns of preload=how much sag?
What size frame?
How much do you weight(not to get too personal)?

Currently I have a 400x2.25 spring on my 7.875"x2.0" shock.
I need 4.5-5 turns of preload to get 25% sag with my punny 150# body. (LBS told me this was fine :rolleyes: )
It's a medium frame and I'm basically using it for fast, technical, & rocky trail riding, not freeride.

EWB tells me I should probably have a 500 or 550# spring depending on how hard I'm riding and the type of trail. I don't know why the frame came with a 400# spring if that's the case, because I'm sure most owners weigh at least 150#. This discrepancy didn't instill me with confidence so I thought I'd see if the many owners could help. In theory the spring calculators should work but there is a lot of room for error (for example, EXACTLY how much travel does this frame have and how does the rate change through that travel)

Anyways, let's get some info on people's setups so next time someone has this problem the search button will find this thread.
Click to expand...
 
Discussion starter · #17 ·
Ok, just got done with a ride with a loaner used 500# spring from my LBS. They are doing a good job trying the help me dial this bike in. Hyland Cycles in SLC, UT. I think the unique geometry and coil shock is just a lot of change for a guy who happily rode an i-drive for 6 years.

1 turn preload gets me to 1/2" of sag. During the super technical 7 mile ride I must have bottomed the spring as the dab of grease I placed on the shaft was now smeared on the rubber bump stop. Not a bad thing considering the trail had many, many 8-16" drops, some tiny dirt jumps and a steep 300yard stretch of loose rocks (all over 6" dia :eek: ). I never felt like it bottomed out, I just know it did. Honestly, I couldn't feel it hit with the 400# spring either, but it did just doing little bunny hops.

The stiffer spring was very evident as sharp edged rocks would buck me up out of the saddle a bit. Climbing, my buddy commented on how he couldn't really see ANY bob out of the rear while before it was visible from behind. Overall, it was still a great ride, just a bit stiffer in the rear, not as uber plush as before. Much more XC oriented feeling. I climbed half of a trail that I wouldn't have thought possible on my i-drive. It was as steep as I could climb in the lowest gear and had full waterbars every 15 feet. Once I got mud on the tires, I lacked the skill and/or energy to clear any more water bars. ;)

I'm sure I need to adjust the damping to adjust for the higher spring rate but I wanted to only change one thing at a time. Any suggestions in that regard?
 
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