# The Advantages and Disadvantages of Air Spring vs Coil Spring Fork for Clydesdales



## LOVELESS (Aug 15, 2008)

As the topic says, Advantages And Disadvantages For Clydesdales
I don't really know anything about these two types other then one uses Coil and the other uses Air & the differance in weight

The main focus would be the _Advantages and Disadvantages_ of Air Spring & Coil Spring *Fork* & which is best suited *for Clydesdales*

I'm around 250 Pound and 6'3" & My Frame is limited to 120mm Travel

Thanks


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## mtnbiker72 (Jan 22, 2007)

The main problem with coil on forks is that manufacturers only make coil springs for riders up to about 220lbs. So unless you can find some custom wound springs, your pretty limited. Most non-weight weenie air forks are more than capable of handling 300lbs+ clydes and these days air forks have gotten so good that its had to tell between a good air fork and a coil fork. I went from a Fox Vanilla R on my last 26er to a Tora 318 Solo Air on my 29er and I honestly cannot tell the difference. Now maybe a little of that is the larger wheel, but that Tora has done nothing but impress me...its the first air fork I've ever liked but its also the first air fork I've rode since 2002.


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## bigpedaler (Jan 29, 2007)

Coil, within the limits mentioned above, are set-and-forget. You'll never blow a seal on a coil shock or fork that makes it bottom out.

That said, air gives you versatility. I just have trust issues with air shocks. Stay with Fox, they seem to have the issue dialed better than anyone else. Ran a stock Manitou Swinger 3 on my bike, lasted 8 months, and nobody could come across with a seal kit for rebuilding. Been running coil ever since.


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## LOVELESS (Aug 15, 2008)

I guess, I;m better off w/ a Coil Fork


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## scottzg (Sep 27, 2006)

The advantage of air suspension is the clyde saves 40$ at each end up front not having to buy the correct spring. Air suspension has adjustable air density, but not adjustable volume. Because of the nonlinear nature of air what is a good air volume for a spring is usually way too much for a clyde- we end up shooting through the travel or not using the bottom. 

Best thing i ever did was toss the air spring guts of my revelation and put an x-firm coil in there. I'm 220lbs, and i've only bottomed it out maybe twice, but it's sooooo much more plush through any hit less than 6".

tora 318 is a fantastic fork, but it's only better with a coil!


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## PCinSC (Oct 25, 2005)

LOVELESS said:


> The main focus would be the _Advantages and Disadvantages_ of Air Spring & Coil Spring *Fork* & which is best suited *for Clydesdales*


Here's my treatise on the subject. All comparisons are considered between equally-priced and spec'd forks.

Coil advantages:

general consensus is that coil is a better performer - smoother, more compliant on small bumps, more "plush", etc.
with a coil there is no worry of blowing up your air cartridge - IOW, better reliability.
don't have to be concerned with air pressure before each ride, don't have to carry around a shock pump.
some coil fork models can be "tuned" using varied oil weights or oil heights - this varies by fork model.

Coil dis-advantages:

heavier fork weight than air.
more "linear" performance - this _may_ make fork blow through its travel or dive during braking or bottom out more easily.
coil springs are not always available rated high enough for heavy clydes, rendering some coil forks unusable for those over 240lbs (weight supported varies by fork model).
there are fewer travel adjust options - Rockshox's coil U-turn, Marocchi's ETA (in older models only).
Air advantages:

lighter fork weight than coil.
_usually_ can handle high air pressures to support heavy riders.
IME are usually pretty good performers.
sometimes multiple air chambers (positive, negative, bottom-out, etc.) allow find tuning.
there are more adjustable travel options - Fox's TALAS, Rockshox's air U-turn or 2-step, Marzocchi's ATA, etc.

Air disadvantages:

air pressures must be maintained - some forks take a bit of fiddling with to achieve the correct settings (my 2006 Marzocchi 66sl has _four_ air chambers to adjust).
air forks have the _potential_ reliability issues due to air catridges malfunctioning - I have not had this issue.
travel may not feel as "linear" as a coil fork - small bump performance may suffer.

Forks I've owned:

Marzocchi Dirt Jam coil (replaced with Reba) - had poor small bump compliance _and_ blew through all its travel on bigger hits...the worst of both worlds.
Rock Shox Reba SL air - I liked the performance...too flexy though.
Manitou Black coil (ugh) - came on my wife's hardtail, I had in on my commuter for a while.
Marzocchi 66SL (06) air (currently on my wife's Titus Supermoto) - good performer, highly tunable.
Fox 36 RC2 Talas (05) air (my current main fork on my Enduro) - good performer, not as good feel as 66 but that may be a tuning issue.
Marzocchi 888RV (07) coil (currently on my DH bike) - no adjustments (other than rebound) make this a fairly poor performer...very linear but dives through its travel and bottoms easily.
Other forks I've ridden on demos or test rides (all performed well enough during the time that I spent on them):

Fox 36 Float (07) air
Rockshox Reba 29er (06) air
Fox F29 (08) air
Marzocchi 888RC2x (06)
a couple of others that I don't recall ATM.

IMO air forks are generally a bit better option for bigger clydes. For those between 200 and 250lbs the coil options may be totally workable. Other features that I've found to have a positive effect on a forks performance: 

stanchion thickness - 32mm is better than 28 or 30mm, 35mm and up is definitely better for stiffness and less deflection on the trail.
thru-axle front hubs - a 20mm thru-axle has a much more solid feel than a 9mm QR axle

After riding bikes with these two features I probably will not go back to using skinny-stanchioned, QR equipped forks. All JMO, YMMV


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## Bikezilla (Dec 19, 2003)

I've got a '06 66SL as well. I'm ~230 w/o gear.
It's a very coil like fork in felling and has great ramp-up to avoid being overly linear. 

The newer Zoke coils have air volume adjusts to allow for the same effect, but even the earlier forks could achieve the same thing by changing the oil height. Very effective on my '03 Z1 and my '05 AM1

The big problem with Zoke is they tend to be limited in the coil weights they have available. My AM1 had no alternative coil options and relied entirely on air-assisted preload. SUXED!

The newer Zokes apparently had some spring options added to the '07 & '08(?) models but I'm not sure if that is or will be the case in '09. One can only hope.

My Pike Dual Air UT is freaking perfect. Very smooth, no fiddling with air, set it and forget it. It's very transparent and I hardly ever think about adjusting it. I do not hear the same thing with respect to true clydes for the Pike's bigger siblings...(Totem).


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## LOVELESS (Aug 15, 2008)

wow, thanks ALOT!

I also another question, If I decide to go w/ Coil fork, *Is it easy to get/fine the right Coil spring that fits my weight(Under 250Pound)...?*

I don't think I'll be spending over $450 USD on a fork w/ my current bike.


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## Konish (Dec 26, 2006)

LOVELESS said:


> wow, thanks ALOT!
> 
> I also another question, If I decide to go w/ Coil fork, *Is it easy to get/fine the right Coil spring that fits my weight(Under 250Pound)...?*
> 
> I don't think I'll be spending over $450 USD on a fork w/ my current bike.


Yes and no...finding coil is not tough, but the "weight ranges" are a bit misleading. I highly reccomend buying your weight range and one lower or higher depending on where you fall out on the range scale i.e. if you are pushing the upper limit for a firm spring, buy the next one up from that, conversely if you are at the low end of a firm spring weight, buy the next one down.

I'm 225-230 and I have a RS Revelation U-turn coil and a Recon U-Turn coil. I bought both an x-firm and firm spring (the Rev and Recon use the same spring). Changing springs is fast and easy.

At first I thought the X-firm was too firm as I wanted to have a really plush ride, so I installed the firm in my Rev. It felt awesome, but after about 2 months of use, it has started to break in a bit and now seems almost a bit too soft...but I still love the buttery smoothness and plushness of it. I think I'll put the X-firm back in and give it a month or two to see how it settles out.

The one thing I *really* like about my coil forks is that I can generally get the sag I want, actually be able to use the compression and rebound adjustments and I don't get the "ramped" feel I did at the end of the air fork stroke...it's just super linear through the entire stroke. Like others have said, it's also a forget and set deal...which I really like.

If you really want to fine tune it, you can play with different weights (and in some cases amounts) of dampening oil. I will say the oil weights and quantity will really affect the way the damper knobs respond...I really dislike "adjustments" that really only work either all the way on or all the way off.


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