Hello from Portugal.
Iâm the author of the first video (you know, that pointless stupid wtf video).
Iâm not an shock expert, and the video has the value that it has! Probably you can do better and send me.
The drop test in the video was a simulation of a quick small impact. As you can see, in the shock coil, the shock absorvs the energy of the impact, and in the air shock, the shock does NOT absorbs anything (it doesnot move either) which means that the shock is âblindâ to small impacts. So it is not a rebound problem because the shock does not compress. The problem is that the air shocks have a stupidly higher pressure in IFP (200-300 psi) and have more friction, which results in a harsh ride. As probably you should know, IFP pressure is needed to pressurize the oil in damping, to avoid hydraulic cavitation, but, more than that will reduce the small bump performance. The reason that conventional air shocks have such an higher IFP pressure is to have some pedal âplatformââŠBut that kills all the bump performance! In my Swinger Coil shock, Iâm running IFP at 60 Psi.
You can do this test to a lots of different air shocks, and in most of then, it doesnât bind the wheel in the ground. Recently I also did this test with an Enduro SL with DHX5 air with minimum pressure (90Psi) in IFP and it also does NOT bind the wheel completely, although, it bounces less than AFR.
As a conclusion of this test, the coil shock has a lower blow-off treshould in such a way that can absorve smaller impacts.
This âstupid wtf pointlessâ video means that when you are in a fast bumpy downhill singletrack, the wheel keeps in the ground, and you have a much more plush and control ride than with an air shock!
So, I do AM and FR type of riding, and IMO the coil is much much better for everything. Only disadvantage is the weigh ganning. It doesnot suffers from pedal bobing, it is more active in climbing (more traction), and much more plush in downhill.
Good bye from Portugal, and try a coil shock in your AM bike, I think you will like the feeling.
Bye good rides and sorry the english.