[hodgkijay]

Hey guys,

Have just put a DVO Jade X coil on my SB140 running a progressive Cane Creek spring with 27% sag and only a touch of preload to hold it in place. Im about 90kg (196lbs) kitted up.

Can anyone tell me why the spring rate has a range? ie my spring is a 500-610 lbs spring. Thats a rather large difference. From my understanding adding preload doesnt change the spring rate only ride height and essentially acts as LSC requiring more force to activate. So why the range? Shouldn't it be a 500lbs coil and the next being a 550 rather than a 550-670?

Initial impressions of the shock are great just need to dial the rebound in. Contemplating getting a heavier spring to have a play with the feel. However the above is bugging me and for the life of me I cant find out why on the wide web.

 

[akantus178]

That's the progressiveness in your progressive spring. Stiffness (target, not necessarily actual) at the start of the travel and at the end. And I believe its travel of the spring, so if you have short stroke shock it doesn't have to reach max progression.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

 

[294037]

It is a progressive spring which means the spring rate gets stiffer halfway through the stroke. For the first half it is 500lb/in then at the midpoint a couple of coils close off which increases the rate to 610 for the remainder of the travel so it takes more force to bottom out.

You are correct that preload only increases ride height and not spring rate, but it is quite different to lsc

 

[Suns_PSD]

I would think you would need 1 lighter progressive spring rate so that with minimal preload you are sitting closer to 30% sag.

Jeez, I do NOT miss the constant spring fiddling with coil shocks.

 

[hodgkijay]

It is a progressive spring which means the spring rate gets stiffer halfway through the stroke. For the first half it is 500lb/in then at the midpoint a couple of coils close off which increases the rate to 610 for the remainder of the travel so it takes more force to bottom out.

You are correct that preload only increases ride height and not spring rate, but it is quite different to lsc

Thanks Jono. How does it differ the LSC? I thought more preload would make the initial input harder therefore effectively acting as LSC?

Also keen to know your thoughts on sag with coil shocks. Im loving the way this bike feels (while still in the early stages) however I have the rebound set rather quick (12 of 18) clicks to give me a bit of a platform to ramp against for pumping, jumps etc. Should I be looking to achieve this "platform" with a heavier coil? I know we have spoke in the past regarding push and EXT shocks and maybe their custom compression tuning and hydraulic bottom out would help here but unfortunately they were double my budget. One day maybe.

 

[294037]

Thanks Jono. How does it differ the LSC? I thought more preload would make the initial input harder therefore effectively acting as LSC?

Also keen to know your thoughts on sag with coil shocks. Im loving the way this bike feels (while still in the early stages) however I have the rebound set rather quick (12 of 18) clicks to give me a bit of a platform to ramp against for pumping, jumps etc. Should I be looking to achieve this "platform" with a heavier coil? I know we have spoke in the past regarding push and EXT shocks and maybe their custom compression tuning and hydraulic bottom out would help here but unfortunately they were double my budget. One day maybe.

Do you want the short answer or the long answer? The spring is position sensitive only, so increasing preload makes need more force to compress the shock a certain distance but the rate (ie change in force) stays the same and this is more what determines the "feel". More preload will be slightly harder at the top of the travel as you need to overcome that force to initiate the stroke, and you also have less negative travel for the wheel to follow the ground. This might be the same amount of negative travel as a firmer spring with less preload (to achieve the same sag) but overall the firmer spring will probably have better grip. Also by shifting your position in the travel you will be in a different part of the rising rate and anti-squat curves which on some bikes can have a pronounced effect too.

LSC on the other hand is speed sensitive so is controlling the rate it compresses relative to the speed (of the damper) so will have an affect throughout the whole stroke. As for pumping/jumping, the spring force is where most of your pop comes from, but if it is too soft or the damping too light then you will feel like you have to push way too far in to the stroke to load it up enough. to a very small degree some more LSC will speed up the responsiveness (ie responding to a very quick change in direction) but otherwise a stiffer spring is usually the way to go for more pop. You would really need to experiment with this though to know for sure