[blacky]

finally got my knolly delirium t built up, and rode it today for the first time.

sheesh what a bike. i felt like proposing. i would have too, except my wife was right there and she hits hard

pic below. good beefy build. weighs about 43# + on my lbs scale. i added a stinger chain guide since the pic. the boxxer is a new old stock 7" race i'd been saving for a rainy day.

help:

the knolly stock recommendation for springs is not even close.

i have 400# x 2.8 which according to them is perfect for my weight (210# ish with gear). but it's a mush bucket that blows right through the travel. doesn't matter how i fiddle with the preload or the dhx propedal settings.

i bought a medium. i think the frame runs small too, but with a longer stem and setback post it worked out ok.

anyway, i replaced the 400# x 2.8 with a 550# x 2.35 i had for my turner 6pack. 2.8 - 2.35 = a spring about an .5 inch too short.

my question is:

the short 550 # worked well. but with the short spring, it was like running an .75 +inch of preload (on a normal 550 x 2.8) by the time i got it tight enough. sooo given the preload issue, should get a 500 x 2.8 or a 550x 2.8?

 

[Uncle Cliffy]

Did you measure the sag with the 400 lb? The spring calculator says that spring would yield 33% sag (standard for most DH settings.)

It suggested a 450 for 28% sag. Is the frame used? Are you sure the damping of the shock is intact?

 

[blacky]

guy had a couple rides on it.

the shock damping works well. noticeable adjustments. just not enough to compensate for the weak 400#'der.

 

[davep]

Have you owned this type of bike with this amount of travel before? The proper spring on a DH/FR oriented long travel bike can feel VERY wierd if you are used to a more trail type (the pack) bike/ride. Accurately check your sag while in your riding position (ie NOT seated). You should be aiming for about 28 - 33% of the total stroke of the shock. If you are not experiencing hard bottom-outs, then you are in the ball park. You could try some more air pressure in the DHX to add comp damping across the board to give you less movement.

Spring free length has nothing to do with preload or rate in any way whatsoever, so moving to more total spring travel (the 2.8/2.35 number) will not have any influence in the ride or your bike. The rate (400, 450 etc) is the only (user selectable) spring parameter that effects the ride of your bike.

That being said, you will need to make sure that the total travel of the spring is as much or more the total travel of your shock, and that the total length of the spring will fit your shock.

Fox likes to label the length of their springs differently than all other mfg. You will want a Fox spring stroke that is the next increment longer than the shock stroke (2.3X spring on a 2.25 shock....etc). For any and all other spring mfg, you simply purchase the same spring travel as the shock.

Check a few of the online spring calculators to get a good idea of the correct starting spring range. TFTuned has been a good starting point for me on many differnt bikes. Either way, steel springs are pretty cheap, and it might be beneficial to try a couple to find your preference.

My guess, is that 550 is going to be WAY too much spring unless you are jumping off houses..but you may like the ride of a 450 more than the OEM 400.

 

[blacky]

been riding 6+ inch rear and 7" in the front for a while. i didn't understand the preload issue. appreciate the tips.