Mountain Biking - Rear Shock

I've seen 500lb/in and 600lb/in....what's the stiffest one you can get?

I've seen a 650, but it's only money. I'm pretty sure I know at least one place that can custom wind a coil (titanium too maybe) as high as you would need. There's a theoretical and practical limit though. After a certain point, it won't matter as the rest of your components would fail before you bottom your shock.

thinking about getting a new rear shock for your hardtail? :D

Ive seen 750lb.

What up, Thoughyt you had a hardtail. Are you holding out on us? I have a 750 but I don't run it, it's super stiff.A lot depends on the type of susp. SP,4 bar, ect.

I'd like to get a full suspension bike at some point....and what I needed to know is how stiff they can get since I don't want alot of bob.

i have a 700 on my fsr, and a 500 on my stinky. you can order them to 1000+ lbs directly from the manufacturer, and im sure they could make you a custom one if you needed.

I have seen over 1000 on really bad ratio bikes. Ideally you want to find a low leverage ratio bike so you can use the lightest spring possible. Its going to be tough at your size though. On a bighit with a 3:1 ratio you need over 1000 pounds.

I'd like to get a full suspension bike at some point....and what I needed to know is how stiff they can get since I don't want alot of bob.

Why though PWRD? It would be another thing to worry about and your Hoss-Dee-Lux would probably be much stronger.

get a suspension with not much leverage on the shock so it can be stiff enough for you.

I like my hardtail..and it's fun, but athe time same time a hardtail still shakes me up pretty hard on trails and this summer I'd like to get into some more trail riding. I am just exploring options...who knows if I'll ever go to one. So a big hit runs a 3:1 ratio??

Depending on shcok position and travel selected yes.

so a 900lb shock for a 300lb person?

the ratio thing means that the shock's stroke length is only a third of the travel. So say a bike with nine inches of travel at the rear axel has a shock with a stroke length of 3 ionches, it has a compression ratio of 3:1. So that doesn't mean a 900lb spring for a 300lb rider.

In actual fact if a bike as described above had a 900lb spring, it means it takes 900lbs of weight to compress the springh, and hence shock 1 inch. So for the shock to bottom out, 2700lb's are needed. This would equate to 300lb's needed to move the rear axel 1 inch.

I used to use a 550lb spring on my bighit and if I wanted I could probably have gotten away with using a heavier spring, even though I am light 55kg I still needed areasonably heavy spring (for my weight) because I did big drops/jumps and I liked the feeling of a hard shock, espescially for racing.

PWRD this is difficult to say without it sounding bad, but here goes: There's no way anyone is going to warranty a FS bike for someone your size. I'm going to suggest that you continue with your current bike until you meet some of the goals you've set for yourself. At your present size you will run a definate risk of suspension failure. I can't in good faith make a suggestion of a FS bike for you simply due to your current weight..

PWRD this is difficult to say without it sounding bad, but here goes: There's no way anyone is going to warranty a FS bike for someone your size. I'm going to suggest that you continue with your current bike until you meet some of the goals you've set for yourself. At your present size you will run a definate risk of suspension failure. I can't in good faith make a suggestion of a FS bike for you simply due to your current weight..
You're one of the few people who can say something and I would take it in the best possible way. I don't plan on buying the bike immediately...I was just curious as to how heavy you could be and actually ride one.

I run about 250 lbs, up from there when lazy. I have a 6.5" eye to eye on my Enduro SX and I run a 950 lb spring.

I had to order this directly from FOX, and had a hard time doing so. I ended up buying an 850 and a 950 since I finally talked to someone there that could help me. I think they had some old stock, so I lucked out. Don't know about the other manufacturers.