Not having a clue about full sussers, I notice a lot of threads on here contain folks going from air to coil on their rear shocks, what is the advantage?.

I’m planning on a dabble in the full suss market myself this year, so need all the help I can get!.

air shocks are shit!

Thanks pastcaring, But I was looking for something a little more, well, informative?…

they make you look rad, especially in the surrey hills

spring shocks are more plusher than air

Thanks pastcaring, But I was looking for something a little more, well, informative?…

And coil shocks are betterer

small bump sensitivity, big bump swallowability, consistancy, reliability, and generally better damping due to higher oil volumes.

I’ve always used coils really, although I do have an air shock on short travel XC bike…

definitely prefer coils though.

From my experience air shocks are great but, then you put a coil shock on and the ride becomes so much more controlled, the coil shock holds the bike up more in its travel, with out blowing through the midstroke,
The extremes of hot and cold have less effect, and braking is improved, to me the bike has a more planted feel as if the rear wheel tracks the ground more. Put a good coil fork on and its great. 😀
The penalty is usally a couple or 3 pounds in extra weight 😯

yeah should have said I only use coil forks, even for short travel light bikes, I’m not a fan of air forks at all….

I put one on the Hemlock because at £189 for a brand new VanR it was too good to miss. 300grams extra, who cares!

Looks super rad too 😉

How do you do find out the size and stroke of shock already fitted to your bike? Was thinking about looking for a used coil but don’t know what size I need

Usually it will be on the manufacturer’s website. You need the eye to eye and then the stroke length. Then you’ll need to use a spring calculator like on the TF Tuned or Mojo websites, to work out what spring you need.

Size quoted is usually the eye-to-eye measurement with the bike unloaded – i.e. measure from bolt to bolt. The other measurement is the stroke, minimises the air pressure and measure the maximum deviation using a zip tie or similar. To work out the spring rate required look at TFTuned or Mojo for their spring rate calculator.

Chunky – I bet your 5-spot looked uber rad riding round Richmond Park. 😉

P.S. Your input on this thread would be interesting. Did you get rid of the coil in the end?
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/drawbacks-to-dw-link

because we believe the hype. 😯

m4dmatt – Member
because we believe the hype.

Basically.

You need to the coil to match the 160mm forks with 1.5″ steerer and 20mm maxle, the elbow, knee and shoulder pads, baggy, ill-fitting clothes and the full-face DH helmet.

Not to mention the “enhanced” vocabulary.