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Have you moved from Air to Coil shocks or forks?


Hairy

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As per the topic title, Have you moved from Air to Coil shocks or the same for a Air to Coil fork?

 

If you have, what have your experiences been, and can you still get a decent pedaling platform when riding a coil shock.

 

I understand that not all bikes suspension designs will work well with a coil.

 

Fire away.

 

There is also this clip that has sparked this thread for me.

 

Edited by Hairy
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I have owned a Fox Van 36 before ... and this was a really special fork when coming off an air fork back then.

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on the rear yes 

 

 

Much more traction 

Much more supple 

Worked excellently for me on a VPP design 

Had to alter my style to take more of the initial bump with my legs aswell so i did not blow through the travel 

Bottom out resistance was nowhere 

Traction was out of this world good 

Heat management was much better compared to air 

It looks cooler 

It is much heavier 

Mid stroke on the bike was suddenly something i felt 

 

All in all 

 

I'd be very hard pressed to go back to air shocks 

 

 

 

sorry this isn't more sorted in A pro vs con style , I experienced mainly pro's and few cons after altering the way I ride slightly 

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on the rear yes 

 

 

Much more traction 

Much more supple 

Worked excellently for me on a VPP design 

Had to alter my style to take more of the initial bump with my legs aswell so i did not blow through the travel 

Bottom out resistance was nowhere 

Traction was out of this world good 

Heat management was much better compared to air 

It looks cooler 

It is much heavier 

Mid stroke on the bike was suddenly something i felt 

 

All in all 

 

I'd be very hard pressed to go back to air shocks 

 

 

 

sorry this isn't more sorted in A pro vs con style , I experienced mainly pro's and few cons after altering the way I ride slightly 

shotto!

 

The Jeffsy's are meant to be a bit more on the progressive side, so playing with a 200x57mm coil is tempting to see what it would feel like.

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It sounds like you guys are part of the 1% of riders in the world that will know the difference between coil and air and thus ride the trails to properly test it. In my experience you must either be a beginner that read to much or a pro if you decide to go to coil from air or vica versa...Living in stellies you do get brought back to earth very quickly when you see the times the XC boys put on trails like Plumber and Status Quo with 100mm spaghetti bikes...But coil rear shocks do look amazing and I wont mind the #

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Also so tempted to try a coil. I am running a 210by50 rear shock with a 4 bar suspension system.My only issue is when putting my weight into a spring calculator for an estimation of what LBS spring to get. I'm around 95kg and the spring it recommends to me way surpasses the spring weights that I have seen. So if anyone knows where i can find a 900lbs spring (yes I know sounds insane) I would love to try it. Looking at the Marzochi Bomber coil shock.

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It sounds like you guys are part of the 1% of riders in the world that will know the difference between coil and air and thus ride the trails to properly test it. In my experience you must either be a beginner that read to much or a pro if you decide to go to coil from air or vica versa...Living in stellies you do get brought back to earth very quickly when you see the times the XC boys put on trails like Plumber and Status Quo with 100mm spaghetti bikes...But coil rear shocks do look amazing and I wont mind the #

Thank you for the condescending post, it has really added depth and insight into this thread. 

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The guys at Starling Cycles have science stuffs on it and are pretty open with their data.

 

Check out their site and their data. It makes pretty interesting reading.

 

I know theirs is a single pivot but I think the premise will hold true with jeffsy.

 

I was also really tempted when I had Jeffsy but the double can Deluxe in M/M livened it up and still gave me a really good pedal platform.

 

It's a big initial spend going coil and it was just a bit beyond my wallet. That being said if I had the dollars I would have loved to give it a try

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The guys at Starling Cycles have science stuffs on it and are pretty open with their data.

 

Check out their site and their data. It makes pretty interesting reading.

 

I know theirs is a single pivot but I think the premise will hold true with jeffsy.

 

I was also really tempted when I had Jeffsy but the double can Deluxe in M/M livened it up and still gave me a really good pedal platform.

 

It's a big initial spend going coil and it was just a bit beyond my wallet. That being said if I had the dollars I would have loved to give it a try

Thanks Chewie!

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I ran an Mrp coil fork on my last evil. Have had 3 Mrp air forks prior to that .

 

I went for coil for fit and forget . Could I feel the difference weight or otherwise,hard to say . I do believe that is was more supportive while at the same time had a softer more controlled feel to it . As contradicting as that sounds that was my personal experience.

 

Am busy building another evil now, think I am going to go Mrp air as they have upgraded the internals and am curious. Although this may change as i really did like the coil fork. So easy to set and forget which is right up my street .

 

 

I know you are asking about rear shocks ,thought I would just give my 2 cents opinion for what it’s worth....

Edited by Pikey
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I ran an Mrp coil fork on my last evil. Have had 3 Mrp air forks prior to that .

 

I went for coil for fit and forget . Could I feel the difference weight or otherwise,hard to say . I do believe that is was more supportive while at the same time had a softer more controlled feel to it . As contradicting as that sounds that was my personal experience.

 

Am busy building another evil now, think I am going to go Mrp air as they have upgraded the internals and am curious. Although this may change as i really did like the coil fork. So easy to set and forget which is right up my street .

 

 

I know you are asking about rear shocks ,thought I would just give my 2 cents opinion for what it’s worth....

There is enough scope to cover both fork and shock, I will amend the title of the thread.

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It sounds like you guys are part of the 1% of riders in the world that will know the difference between coil and air and thus ride the trails to properly test it. In my experience you must either be a beginner that read to much or a pro if you decide to go to coil from air or vica versa...Living in stellies you do get brought back to earth very quickly when you see the times the XC boys put on trails like Plumber and Status Quo with 100mm spaghetti bikes...But coil rear shocks do look amazing and I wont mind the #

If you cannot immediately feel the difference between a coil and air sprung shock you should give up riding.

Fork, perhaps not so much.

Edited by Thermophage
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There is enough scope to cover both fork and shock, I will amend the title of the thread.

I would definitely be tempted to go coil at the rear ,but the cost is out of my budget luckily.
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If you cannot immediately feel the difference between a coil and air-sprung shock you should give up riding.

Fork, perhaps not so much.

 

Owned many versions over the years. Coils are fantastic on the down but absolute crap on the up. (Thats rear coil) As for answering the question to this thread, I would stay with Air as our trails in SA are more XC/Trail riding orientated. Besides the fact that a coil shock absolutely looks insane and has its benefits, I will stay with the just as capable and lighter air version. I have clocked exact same times on both...so yes, 1% of people on earth is still 73 million...????

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