Stratos spring sale...

[Matno]

I just noticed that Stratos has certain sizes of steel springs for rear shocks on sale for $10! If they happen to have your size, you could be in luck. (They had the size I wanted...) It's listed on their site as an "April Promo", but I just ordered one today (5/17) and they told me that as long as you want one of the sizes listed, the price is still good. $20 (with shipping) is a pretty darn good price for a high quality progressive spring. I've been wanting to replace mine for a while now. The one I've been using is a 400lb Mountain Spring/SpeedSpring/Eibach (whatever they call themselves now), but I've been wanting to switch back to a progressive for a while now. Once I get the new one, I may have a 400lb linear spring for sale cheap...

Only downside to Stratos is their customer service. They don't always answer their phones, but they did reply to my phone message (called Friday, they called back Monday).

[Bnystrom]

They don't reply to emails about failed Stratashocks either, these days. It's a shame, as the first time it failed, they responded promptly and repaired it at no charge. Great service! When I contacted them the second time, all I wanted to know was if the dead shock was worth anything in trade toward a new one. No answer, but it's their loss. I could have accepted "No" as a answer, but I hate being ignored when I need service.

Risse Racing now gets my business.

[Matno]

Yeah, it's been a bit of a flip-flop. For a while Stratos had great customer service and Risse's future (and service) was questionable. However, the gap in Risse's service was relatively short-lived, whereas Stratos has kind of sucked for a while now. I really like Stratos shocks, but I have a feeling that unless they come up with something "new" (i.e. stable pedal platform just like everybody else) they're going to lose whatever market share they have. Their mistake is mostly in marketing, I think. A big part of the problem is that they have something like 4 employees now (or at least that's what I've heard on the rumor mill). I tried all of their extensions and got no answer, but when I finally got through, the lady was quite nice. Even still had my address from when I had the shock serviced almost 3 years ago. Nice. At least a spring doesn't need servicing (once you get it!)

Oh, and I also have a Risse shock, which works great. If I ever need to have it serviced, I'll know it's not something to worry about!

[Bnystrom]

Thanks for filling in the history of the two companies.

The minor issues I've had with my Risse Astro 5 lead me to believe that they haven't got their act together totally, but I'm not especially concerned. At least I was able to speak with the person that builds them and get straight answers to my questions. I also really like the fact that Risse shocks are designed to be largely user serviceable and that they willingly provide service instructions. I really dislike the "black box" approach that Stratos takes with their shocks.

[jimbo]

They don't reply to emails about failed Stratashocks either, these days.

Unfortunately, a lot of small business may not repond to email because of the overwhemming (sp) number of spam.  I just looked at my inbox and saw over 1000 emails.  99.9% spam.  I use a spam filter too so you can imagine how much I really could get.  I do my best to delete the spam, but I really risk deleting legitmate email from someone who got it from our web site since the sender won't be familiar while I'm clicking away.  I even had my spam filter delete a legitmate client because she had too many numbers in her email address.  I made her address as an exception so I don't have that problem.  Big business can afford to have someone going through eimail.  I can't waste time in the morning doing that.  It's also irritating because I'm also deleting about 30-40 emails an hour during the normal work day.  This is NUTS!!!!!!

[keen]

  Personally I have had some of the worst customer service experiences w/ both Stratos & Risse. Recently w/ Risse I needed some info on a "Hex Link" for my 02' Enduro - The website gives minimal info on the product. I asked "Dave" in CS/ tech if he could provide additional info - I got the worst butchered attempt of an answer I have heard in a while, he answers the e-mails too!  As w/ Stratos if you ask to speak w/ anyone knowledgable "they are busy" - ok I guess they don't want to sell their products. I can understand that they are busy but @ least build a strong website so their customers arn't left scratching their heads.