Ti Spring Rate Recommendations Heckler

I'm getting rid of the steel spring on my DHX 5.0 on my 08 Heckler and I have mixed feelings about the spring rate. I weigh 175, 178 - 180 with gear and right now am riding a 400# spring, but I don't feel like I'm getting full travel. Santa Cruz, as well as a few calculators, recommend a 400# spring, while others recommend a 350. Will a 400# ti spring feel softer and and allow for full travel, or should I get a 350# ti spring?

Hi vamtb,

I'm in the same boat - I weigh 190ish in my riding kit, and just got a #400 RCS ti spring from ebay, after riding a #450 steel spring on my '07/'08 Heckler for two seasons, all over the UK and in the Alps.
Have a look at the TFtuned spring calc, if you haven't already:

http://www.tftunedshox.com/info/spring_calculator.aspx

TF are a big deal here in the UK, their tuning and advice are second to none and they are the sole PUSH agents here too, which says a lot given the reputation of PUSH everywhere else. I don't know how easy it would be for you to get hold of a #375 ti spring, but I think RCS do the finer gradations in weight, instead of the 50lb jumps you usually get.

In the next few weeks I'm going to send my DHX in for a PUSH tune for my weight, and I want to ask for an easy 'flick' between DH and trail settings to bring the best out of the shock now that the sexy new RC4s (and CCDBs) are starting to rule the roost...

Hope this helps.

A 400 lbs Ti spring takes 400 lbs of pressure to compress 1 inch.
A 400 lbs steel spring takes 400 lbs of pressure to compress 1 inch.
(Disclaimer, from what I have read on the interwebs, Fox allows a 15-20% margin of error in their spring weights, so your 400 lbs steel spring could be as high as 480 lbs or as low as 320 lbs. Ti springs are true to their spring weights within a few percent)
Buy, or try(my LBS let me keep swapping springs till I got the right one) a 350 steel spring(Manitou are cheaper than Fox and fit fine) to see if it feels better and lets you get full travel. Then go buy a Expensive TI spring if you still want it.

FWIW I have 20-25 pounds on you (maybe more as my pack is a bit porky) and use the 400# spring on my Heckler. I have a 350 and 450 that I tried as well, but like the 400 best. Lot cheaper to figure out your spring weight with a steel spring, but the rating could be off a bit as was pointed out, too (I suppose if you found the steel spring that works great for you, you could then have it measured before ordering a ti spring). I just haven't been able to convince myself to buy a ti spring yet...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by vamtb

I'm getting rid of the steel spring on my DHX 5.0 on my 08 Heckler and I have mixed feelings about the spring rate. I weigh 175, 178 - 180 with gear and right now am riding a 400# spring, but I don't feel like I'm getting full travel. Santa Cruz, as well as a few calculators, recommend a 400# spring, while others recommend a 350. Will a 400# ti spring feel softer and and allow for full travel, or should I get a 350# ti spring?

---

I'm the same weight and run a 350# ti spring. The 400# was too harsh for me too.

I run a PUSH’ed DHX 5 on my Heckler 07 and after much playing around I found the Progressive Spring Technologies 375lbs (2.5 stroke) Ti spring was about right for me. I'm at 90kg ride weight. The 400lbs Ti spring was the one the calculator gave as optimum for my riding style, but on the UK terrain it felt to stiff. I believe the advice is that you are better off going slightly softer on spring rates than harder if you are in between spring rates and want best performance, but it depends on how you want the bike to feel and your compression and rebound preferences as well as what you are doing, lots big air stuff will want stiffer springs. I keep the 400lbs for the big stuff, but I’ve never used it as the375lbs feels good and does not bottom out too much. Overall the Ti spring feels slightly more responsive on smaller hits at the slower speeds than the steel, but its not enough to matter.

My heckler came with a 250# steel spring on the DHX5. A year ago I saw a guy on ebay selling 5th Element Ti springs starting at $25, and had one in my size. I went with the 275# and couldn't be happier. I think the Ti is a bit more sensitive so going up one increment of stiffness seems to make sense.

As an aside, the Ti spring for the same stated length was physically longer than my steel spring. The steel one I had was 250# x 2.50. Based on the physical measurements the 275# x 2.25 was still a bit longer than that, so that's what I went with. That could account slightly for why the 275# feels just right....there is a bit of preload built in compared to the steel.