Air Shock or Spring Shock

Anonymous

When I'd finally decided on what Full susp to get in August... I go and speak to on of the downhillers I know and mentioned the bike...

"great bike man, especially for that price, top one, but are you sure you want air shocks"

so we have a little chat about Air -v- Sprung....he's a sprung, springed springgy dude and much prefers the ride as opposed to Air.

Can someone please let me in on why this could be, he thinks springs are better and you get a more controlled ride out of them, but air you have to ram them up real tight or they can be a bit "damp"

Not why he likes them of course, that would be strange...but why spring may be better than air?

Who's who? what's what.. and why why whyyyy...no Tom Jones please

****EDIT++++I SHOULD HAVE SAID REAR SHOCKS NOT FORKS, ME BAD!****

Peace

G

The Spiderman

I`m no exert,but I believ,air forks and shocks tend to be firmer than coil,though air shocks are lighter and more adjustable.

Its alot easier to ajust air pressure than have to buy a firmer or softer spring to suit your riding style or weight.

Some dh bikes still have coil but xc bikes are predominantly air.

I remember reading an article in a car magazine that whilst a lot of the German manufacturers were moving over to air susension,Jaguar were sticking with coil springs because they reckoned air compromised the ride quality for which they are known.

supersonic

What bike is it?

dave_hill

Pros of air springs -

Lightweight; larger window of adjustment (i.e. you can adjust an air spring over a wider range simply by adding or removing air); easy to adjust spring rate with a pump.

Cons of air springs -

High inertia (i.e. they can take a big hit to get them moving) - small bump sensitivity can be a problem with air shocks/forks although there are systems such as Rock Shox Dual Air which attempt to overcome this; air springs can overheat with repeated pummelling - as air increases in temperature it becomes less dense, resulting in a softer spring rate. This is why downhill and freeride bikes tend to have coil spring shocks/forks.

Pros of coil springs -

Low inertia - small bump sensitivity is better; mechanically very simple so less to go wrong and usually cheaper.

Cons of coil springs -

Heavy; adjusting spring rate usually means physically swapping the spring for another one of higher or lower rate (although some forks/shock include a small preload adjustment feature).

In summary, air springs are lightweight and have a broader range of adjustment but can be less compliant and are usually more expensive

Coil springs are cheaper and give a more compliant ride, but are less adjustable and are heavier

supersonic

Doesn't the density stay the same in a sealed container (but pressure increase as it is heated?)

Well, not fully sealed as it will ooppse the negative spring and shift a bit, but I'd have thought overheating of air (not damping) would actually increase the spring rate?

Mancunianfightingcat

Just my tuppence worth......

I have had 2 lots of Fox Vanillas, which are coil sprung, the last of which has the RLC model, with adjustments for rebound, compression and lockout. My latest purchase came with the Fox Float Talas forks of the same vintage and spec (RLC), which are air sprung.

Now, the Talas are lighter than the Vanillas but not by that much.

The Vanillas were so much more supple than the Talas forks and if I hadn't already sold them to a mate, I'd be sticking them on my Orange 5.

Of course, the TALAS are known to not be as plush as the standard Fox Float air sprung forks that they are based on, so I may find that Floats are similar in ride to the Vanillas, but from comparing what I've got and what I've had I would say, if you are prepared to suffer the additional weight of the coil sprung fork then you'll get a better ride.

EDIT, just checked the weight difference, I have/ had 08 forks, and there is only 16g difference in their weight!

I was only consoling myself with the lack of Vanillas with the knowledge I'd saved weight, but now I'm more gutted!

Anyone fancy a swap?

Anonymous

supersonic wrote:

What bike is it?

I looked at the Spesh Pitch PRO (rrp 1300, 10/10 on this site).

We then got talking about rear air shocks, he prefered rear sprung... he's a DH guy though.

Mancunianfightingcat

cheers for the rear shock only update!!!!!! :oops:

Anonymous

Mancunianfightingcat wrote:

cheers for the rear shock only update!!!!!! :oops:

soory man, am a bit new to all this, thought shocks were rear shock only.., didnt realise that they could mean forks also...sorry mate.

Mancunianfightingcat

No worries, I suppose shock usually refers to the rear shock but could be the front also.

My advise was free anyway!