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Swapping out to red (hard) type spring didn't make any difference on Suntour NCX sp12

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Swapping out to red (hard) type spring didn't make any difference on Suntour NCX sp12

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Old 11-10-23, 01:34 PM
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sysrq
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Swapping out to red (hard) type spring didn't make any difference on Suntour NCX sp12

Seems like swapping out to red (hard) type spring didn't make any difference on Suntour NCX sp12. Since the weight is 90-95kg decided to upgrade the spring from standard medium to hard (red) in order to preserve full range of travel and stop it from bottoming out, but it looks like it didn't made any difference. The piston sag is still at 50% when seated with lowest preload.
Never stumbled upon anyone else having the same experience before despite reading everything about this suspension seatpost.
It could be because I tried to bend them slightly before putting in to see if the new one is stiffer. The new one didn't seem to have become bowed out, otherwise that might make it more compressable.
The original spring has 25 turns and the red (hard) one has 23 turns, so there should be some difference. Wire diameter is the same: 5.08 mm.

Last edited by sysrq; 11-11-23 at 03:56 AM.
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Old 11-11-23, 08:27 AM
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Old 11-13-23, 10:54 PM
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It is a common mis-conception that shock absorbing seatposts provide some sort of floating active suspension within it's travel range at all times like that of a car or motorcycle or mountainbike or whatever. Sure, they may provide some sort of float-like function but they are intended to be on the cusp of actuation when the rider is sitting upon the post in normal riding posture. They actuate only in response to bumps to transfer the force to your backside at a more favorable rate. Then return to position 0 as if they were rigid.

If you thought you were buying a floating type "suspension" you bought the wrong thing.

How's the shock absorbtion? Actuate only on the bumps during normal riding? If that is the case, then you are good. Does it bottom out only in response to the sharpest bumps? That's perfect. If not, adjust the preload until this is the case.

Did you bottom out often/consistantly before the new spring? If yes, then the stiffer spring made an improvement. If no, then you didn't need the stiffer spring.

Last edited by base2; 11-14-23 at 06:47 AM.
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Old 11-15-23, 09:12 AM
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Agreed; and 50% sag sounds like a lot. Generally you're shooting for around 20%; less for high performance road use, more for long-travel off-road setups. And that's for forks / rear wheel linkage, where you've got several inches of travel to work with.

On most suspension seatposts you've only got a few mm of travel , so trying to run it with a bunch of sag means you're going to be really close to the bump stops all the time. Asking way more of the spring than it was intended to deliver, particularly an inexpensive unit like the NCX. (see above post)
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Old 11-15-23, 10:50 AM
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sysrq
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Originally Posted by base2
It is a common mis-conception that shock absorbing seatposts provide some sort of floating active suspension within it's travel range at all times like that of a car or motorcycle or mountainbike or whatever. Sure, they may provide some sort of float-like function but they are intended to be on the cusp of actuation when the rider is sitting upon the post in normal riding posture. They actuate only in response to bumps to transfer the force to your backside at a more favorable rate. Then return to position 0 as if they were rigid.

If you thought you were buying a floating type "suspension" you bought the wrong thing.

How's the shock absorbtion? Actuate only on the bumps during normal riding? If that is the case, then you are good. Does it bottom out only in response to the sharpest bumps? That's perfect. If not, adjust the preload until this is the case.

Did you bottom out often/consistantly before the new spring? If yes, then the stiffer spring made an improvement. If no, then you didn't need the stiffer spring.
The saddle also has some stiff springs to provide some diagonal suspension, so it's fairly hard to tell when it's bottoming out. It seems like the spring has made some sort of improvement. Requires more extensive repeated comparison. At 95kg red (hard) spring might be logical choice just to be on the safe side.
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