[Udi]

I'd say that's a typo

I could be wrong but I think there is a big mistake somewhere in that claim.

So apparently lizard ppl can't read english. Dude summed the damper body weight with a spring weight SAVINGS and said it weights 380g (285g + 101.2g).

Come on, you should trust your intuition and materials knowledge over four-legged snakes.

PS. tacubaya says VALT 400x2.5" spring is 316g, so with 285g damper the total is 601g.

 

[troy]

How about Avalnache mod for an old Vanilla R shock + some lightweight spring?

 

[Jm_]

How about Avalnache mod for an old Vanilla R shock + some lightweight spring?

The concept is flawed. What are you going to do. Just ride bike paths? Get a big enough/reliable enough shock for what you are going to do. Why get a old non-res vanilla R when to can get a proper reservoir shock? If you are doing just XC, get a tuned XC shock.

 

[troy]

@Jm_ are you saying that vanilla R was not a reliable shock? What is a "proper reservoir shock", and what is the advantage in having a reservoir shock over an Avy tunned shock?

 

[StiHacka]

$130 for a steel coil? They know their customers well.

 

[SkaredShtles]

$130 for a steel coil? They know their customers well.

You'd think that dentists would buy the crabon springs.

 

[StiHacka]

You'd think that dentists would buy the crabon springs.

Wrapped in aluminum foil.

 

[Udi]

@Jm_ are you saying that vanilla R was not a reliable shock? What is a "proper reservoir shock", and what is the advantage in having a reservoir shock over an Avy tunned shock?

Are you talking about the Vanilla R or the Van R?
The names are a bit confusing unfortunately.

The Vanilla R is the light one you mentioned, it's really old (1997-2004), and it lacks the secondary compression damping circuit which means:

• no external compression adjustment
• all compression damping has to come from main piston
  
• higher chamber pressure required to prevent cavitation
  
• greater breakaway force, higher potential of seal failure, etc

The Van R is a newer full piggyback shock and not much lighter than a small shaft RC4, with inferior performance, so at that point you may as well just run an RC4. I would much rather lighten an RC4 by removing surplus parts (eg. bottom out adjuster/assembly) than trying to improve the low-end R damper units.

If you read the pinkbike comments there's a fair few unhappy IL customers, so I'd wait and see with regards to durability on the new shock. The good news is that it fits standard 1.43" springs, and as I said earlier, *good* Ti springs (i.e. not rubbish from ti-springs.com) are much lighter than "lightweight steel" springs + you can still find them around if you know what to look for. For example, a DSP 400x2.25 Ti weighs 228g, will reliably cover a 2.5 or even 2.75 stroke, and with a shock like the IL coil you could have a 513g total. Will it be reliable under regular DH-style use? I personally doubt it from this shock - but if you wanted to take the gamble, 500-520g is your realistic minimum value (and that's not possible with any of these off-shelf "lightweight" steel spring options). If you use the steel spring, 600g is realistic.

I'm currently running a kash RC4 in my trailbike with aforementioned spring, so 228g + 400g for the damper = 628g. Compared to 513g, it's a minor weight difference for a sacrifice-free damper.

I think Jm_ makes a valid point really - if your shock does not provide the damper performance you want (Vanilla, Van), and blows up or has other reliability/consistency issues (potentially CC, wait and see), then it's pretty pointless switching to a coil. You know I'm all for optimisation but I think it's important to be realistic, that's why our "380g" shock weighs 600g.

 

[Muddy]

*throws a rubber lizard at the screen*

 

[tacubaya]

8.5 x 2.5 DB Coil IL with VALT 400 lbs/in spring is going to be around 600g.