Trying out the cheap eBay Ti springs...

[DugB]

Hello all,

I picked up a set of the titanium shock springs some guy is hucking on eBay just to give 'em a try. Here are my initial observations:

On the front of my K2 4000 the around 425 lb spring seems a bit stiffer than I'd like...I had the stock 225 on there before but with some preload. On the rear the 425 spring is borderline unusable for riders over 160 lbs. The stock spring is 600 lbs, so I knew the difference was significant, but I thought I'd give it a try. For me (right around 160) it seems like it might work, but with significant/nearly full preload. I'm gonna give the set a try, but may eventually redistribute the springs to my other bikes, or lend 'em out for people to try. I'll be riding them this weekend, but with the stock springs in my bag.

Weight-wise they are way light, and with both installed I noticed a significant weight difference (doing the informal lift test - wife doesn't like having scales in the house for some reason).

Just FYI...

- Doug

[Colin]

Yep, 425lb is way too big for the front and not enough for the rear unless you're tiny!

I've got Ti springs on my bikes.

200 & 215 Lb on front Crosslinks & Vectors
and
350lb on rear of XP-X (856)
and
450/550/600lb ones on rear of 4000/Oz's

I weigh 90Kg/200lb and they work brilliantly (450 is on rear of wifey's Oz)

Much lighter than steel, nice and progressive and plenty of "bling"

See if you can get the right ratings and I'm sure you'll love 'em.

see previous note:
http://idriders.com/proflex/smf/index.php?topic=3002.msg21465#msg21465

Col.

[DugB]

Ack, I'm getting ahead of myself, it looks like. All the things I've been thinking about today I seem to have posted about weeks ago :-/ Sorry for the repeats, folks.

So Colin, where did you find the variety of TI springs? Aside from the cheapee ones on eBay right now all I see are longer springs for 5th Element shocks.

At this point, after going back and re-reading all the positive reviews of Risse's (and taking into account the occasional reports of lagging customer service and poor instructions) I'm considering a Genesis/Astro-5 combination for my 4000. People report excellent shock absorption, nice damping and weight savings, with many reporting customer service that went out of its way to please.

- Doug

[craiga]

Colin,

350lb on rear of XP-X?

Is that correct?

If so, what's on the front?

[Colin]

Yep, 350lb is correct on the rear of a strut bike (x56/x57) for my 90Kg/ 200lb, I might be tempted to try a 300lb as it is a little stiff, but as I use the XP-X on the road a lot, that is fine.
200lb on the front spring of the Vector is also the right one by the chart and my own experience. I also have a 215lb that stiffens it up a bit.

see spring chart:
http://idriders.com/proflex/resources/99spring_chart.pdf

or an extract here:

x56, x57 etc
Rider Weight (lbs) - Spring Rate
up to 140            - 200
130-170              - 250
160-200              - 300
190-230              - 350
230+                  - 400

Girvin Cross-Link (referred to from Vector chart)
Rider Weight (lbs)  - Spring Rate
up to 140             - 150
130-170               - 175
160-200               - 200
190-230               - 225
over 230               - 250


Col.

[rapiddescent]

I'd be interested if someone could put photos of the springs up here - I asked my factory to consider making Ti springs but they said the cost of Ti would be huge...

Ti springs must have less coils in them than steel; so do they shorten more when first used?

callum

[craiga]

Colin,

That's great info, thanks very much,

Craig