I rode a Swinger 4-Way...
Alpenglow said:
Is anyone using a Swinger coil on their 5 Spot. I was thinking the 4 Way cause I really wouldn't need the other 2 adjustments on my trail bike. Thanks for any help.
I have a Romic on my Spot, but yesterday I demoed a Canyonsnail Gemini 2000 which had a Swinger 4-way coil on it. We are in Moab on a bike vacation and I am hopping on some different bikes to see what is on the market out of curiosity since I live in Alaska and don't have access to much up there.
The Gemini was a size large with a Manitou breakout plus (7" single crown), a Swinger 4-way coil rear (7" travel), hayes 8" brakes, XT stuff, moderate weight wheels, etc. Probably a 35-37lb rig. We rode 34 miles which included about 11 miles of highway, a few miles of dirt/gravel road, and a lot of very rough/abusive ledgy slickrock on the Gold Bar Rim/Golden Spike/Poison Spider trail. My favorite ride, and a very technical and rough rim.
The Gemini is a high single pivot and demonstrates all the characteristics which are wrong with that design. Noticeable pedal feedback from the suspension in the granny, suspension stiffening under load in the granny, and some bad bob when standing in the middle ring. The thing was really a pig. I started with 100# in the SPV chamber on the Swinger (the range is 50-175#) and the thing pedaled like a Johnny-Jump-Up. Very soft and compliant, but no discernable platform. I cranked the SPV chamber up to the max pressure and pedaling improved, but the single pivot nature asserted itself periodically anyway, and nothing will mask pedal feedback/suspension stiffening. The ride stayed relatively compliant and smooth despite the high SPV pressure. This surprised me after demoing a Yeti 575 with a 5th Element Air which was absolutely rock solid, all the time. That shock didn't even want to sag. It had a high IFP (SPV) pressure also. I did not mess with that one. The 575 also has a lower single pivot and did not exhibit feedback. I liked it way better than the Gemini, though they really are very different bikes designed for different things. The Gemini would be a good light shuttle bike, and coasted down over rough stuff extremely well. It just didn't like steep, rough climbs at all.
Anyway, my point is that the Swinger coil had a surprisingly supple and "platformless" ride even at the max SPV pressure. I thought it would feel locked-out like the 5th air, but it really didn't. Both sacrificed some suppleness on tiny stuff when set up this way, but it was acceptable. The Swinger platform effect was quite mild, like the Romic's, but the rest of the dampening tends to behave more like the 5th coils is purported to have in that you can run a lot of sag with little fear of bottoming, and things seem very well controlled (some say "dead"). Perhaps more so than the Romic which does feel lively and active for the most part.
I ride my Romic with the bob-knob turned all the way out a lot. The Turner's 4-bar is very well tuned and does not need much help from a platform shock imo. Sometimes I add a few clicks of the blue knob, but by the time the filter really kicks in, I do notice some loss of compliance so I back off again after a while. I go back and forth depending on how rough the ride is and what I want.
I have had 2 Romic failures in 5 months. Not a good record. When they work, I like them, but I am going to try a Swinger 3 or 4 Way Air as a backup, and now I have a good impression of the 4 Way Coil as well. I could try a Swinger coil as the backup, but as long as I am going for a second shock, I want something very different (air). I liked the Swinger coil's mild platform and think that would match the Turner's lack of need for one very well. I don't know how the coil's and air's behavior's differ, but I get the feeling the air is "harsher" based on some feedback here. Hard to say.
Get a backup before a bike trip or if you absolutely cannot live without your Spot for some reason. Otherwise just ride the Romic till it blows (if it ever does).
tscheezy