Anyone done any research to figure out if any of the spring brands that come in 25lb increments are more accurate than others?
Most accurate 25lb increment springs?
- Thread starter djjohnr
- Start date
Yeah I have a 2 fox orange springs #50 difference but it almost feels like the heavier moves the same but some fade (less ramp up) even though they are both new...had to double check my mounting holes and setup just to make sure I wasn't overlooking something...
I have 2 EXT springs 25lbs apart bought second hand where the lightest gives less sag than the other...
FWIW
FWIW
Push claims their springs are the most accurate, but fitment on other shocks may/will be an issue.
How about Sprindex? Not sure how precise they are, but AFAIK they have about 40lbs of range, so even if they´re off by some margin, it should be possible to adjust it to deliver the desired weight? At least if your desired rating is somewhere around the middle of the given adjustment range.
I find the springdex to work great. Pretty close to accurate new at least.
I´ve also only heard good things so far. Not necessarily about spring rate accuracy, but the adjustment seems to work pretty well. I´ve found a great deal at about 35% off, which put it in line with any other 25lbs increment springs on the market. Will be interesting to see how useful the adjustment really is, but i figured if anything it will allow me to at least adjust for any inconsistency in springrate. I´ll report back once i have mine delivered and mounted on the bike.
I have a Sprindex on another bike. There was a test I read where they found that while the adjustment effect at the beginning of travel covered the claimed 10% range, at full travel it dropped to 2%, meaning that at higher adjusted rates, the increase in spring rate would drop off as the spring was compressed. I figure if the rate you'd start at is at the lower end of the range you're fine. In this case the spring rate I'm looking for is at the upper end of the spring they offer.
Interesting!
I really don´t know how any of the magic behind springs works, but maybe someone can elaborate more on that phenomenon?
If that is indeed true though, it makes sense that they´re not the solution to your problem. I´m currently on a 400 and was looking to slightly up the rate somewhere in between 400 and 425, so the 400-440lbs i ordered should work perfectly for what i´m trying to achieve. Especially since i don´t need any more bottom out resistance but rather am looking to ease up a little on the low speed compression.
On the topic of fixed rate springs though, didn´t SA Racing deliver their springs with a spring rate guarantee and a dyno test sheet for the specific spring you purchased? I remember mine having some sort of paper in the box. I´ll see if i can find it tomorrow.
Here's the article - https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/components/rear-shocks/sprindex-adjustable-coil-spring-review/
"The results showed that the Sprindex coil was a fair bit softer than it was stated to be – approx. 374lb in the 390lb setting and 394lb in the 430lb setting.
This may sound fairly inaccurate, but put into context, the Fox SLS spring we tested as a comparison was even further out. With MTB brands striving to shed material and thus weight, it’s apparently difficult to mass-produce coil springs to fine degrees of accuracy.
As far as adjustments go, the Sprindex works as it should, but the range isn’t quite as large as stated. In the initial part of the stroke we recorded a 10 per cent difference in spring rate, but this reduced to 2 per cent when the spring was compressed by two inches (75 per cent of the 2.6in stroke on my shock).
This corresponds to what I felt out on the trail, which is that there’s a notable difference early in the stroke, but deeper into the travel, the effect lessens. Part of this is down to the way the plastic adjuster effectively shortens the coil.
We observed on the testing jig that when the forces exerted on the shock reached a certain point, the coil started bending around the edge of the plastic adjuster. This deflection effectively makes the spring longer again and therefore softer. It was a little unnerving to see it flex so much and damage to the paint shows it’s been happening on the bike too, but we reckon you’d have to send an almighty huck to flat to push it past the limit.
While my sample didn’t live up to all of Sprindex’s claims, it’s still a good tool for tuning the sag point and dialling in how a shock behaves on chatter bumps, which does have a noticeable effect on how a bike rides."
I have a couple of SAR springs already. I was going to go that route again but figured I'd check and see if anyone had dug around on the topic first. My current problem is I have a 425lb SLS that's acting like a 400lb.
Pretty common problem....
Standard coil spring accuracy is +- 10%
The fox sls 600 feels like it Wallows and dives faster than the 550..both are brand new and identical preload when I set em...the 600 doesn't ramp like the 550 does. It feels like its softer and more linear...
No idea but ill rock it for now...
SAR state that their spring is accurate within 1,5%
Craig gave a dissertation on these just being way inaccurate having varying coil diameter leading to wacky spring curves.
You’ve said too much.If they only made a shock that could be adjusted with infinite increments in spring rate, say maybe using air, wouldn't that be great?
You know what we should do, we should make a bike with a 2:1 leverage ratio! How awesome would that be!?
Sprindex is an interesting tool for quick back to back comparisons. If you live somewhere wet and/or gritty, they can develop surface fretting & become really noisy. Mine makes terrible sounds. I can't run it daily - too annoying.
moar shimz?
Somebody start buying springs in bulk, use a spring tester to measure the actual spring rate, label the springs as measured, and sell them that way. I'll buy a few.
I'll say this for SAR, they probably have the best customer service I've ever come across in the bike industry. Mirka is awesome.
Indeed!
I asked Dave to shorten a DHX RC4 for me a few years ago. He called me twice and was very nice to talk to. I had a chat with Mirka too and it was almost like talking to an old friend.
I hope she will keep the business running somehow now that Dave passed away
Had a buddy working at the test lab @ Fox for a while. Give him a stack of springs and he would run them and write down the actual rates. Never got one back that was within 5% of stated value, many 10% or more off. Both Ti and steel. Kinda makes the whole 25# increment useless.
There's a side business in there for sure...
There's a side business in there for sure...
Yeah I got a load cell from my old job and built a spring tester with a garage press and industrial verniers. For a long time I thought I'd fucked up my experiment because everything was so far off, but then I took some springs to a coil manufacturer and got them tested and had the same numbers (+/- 2%) as my load cell setup. I had one 450lb ti coil that was in the 380 range.
Remember kids - if your 400lb spring is too light, consider try another "identical" 400lb spring. Its hopeless how inaccurate they are for what they cost.
You mean the bike industry has been systemically providing a shit product for top dollar? It can't be...
Sag comparison:
145mm travel via 60mm stroke, measuring with a Reverse Components travel indicator
- 450lb Fox steel spring: 16mm sag, 27%
- 425lb Fox SLS: 21mm sag, 35%
- 425lb SAR: 18mm sag, 30%
145mm travel via 60mm stroke, measuring with a Reverse Components travel indicator
- 450lb Fox steel spring: 16mm sag, 27%
- 425lb Fox SLS: 21mm sag, 35%
- 425lb SAR: 18mm sag, 30%
I've heard the SLS springs fatigue and soften faster than normal steel springs.
J&L claim to test every Ti spring before shipping.
Thats good, if they're at least consistent in respect to each other its not too bad for tuning your bike. It more crappy when you have a XXXlb labelled spring and get a softer or firmer spring only for the difference to be either nil or hugely different due to inaccuracies.
Springs.
Pretty linear but they do some weird stuff in their
Pretty linear but they do some weird stuff in their
I have 3 and the sagz don't make sense either
At least that's consistent with my EXTs
If I am lucky, I will get the measurements today