ruskko

i need a differnt shock for my bike something newer i have a fox vanilla r right now and if my measurements are right its a 7.25x1.5 its a free ride bike so i need help

dminor 

You actually need a a 7.25x1.75 for that bike. Santa Cruz doesn't have any clearance shocks right now; anyone else know of a good source?

BTW, ruskko, if your shock's not blown, why not just get the right weight spring for your Vanilla R? It's not a bad shock. Steel springs are cheap - - you can usually pick up a Fox spring for about $25 off eBay. To determine the right weight, I would contact Rocky Mtn directly and just ask them what weight springs they put on that year Flow FS.

ruskko

cause i cant find any in 1.83

dminor 

OK, here's the deal: not everyone who sells springs lists them by 'Fox-correct' numbers. In other words, they may list them by the sock stroke number that the spring fits - - like 600#x1.75, when the spring may actually be a 600x1.8 or 1.83 or whatever (the built-in extra we discussed before that is built in to avoid coil-bind).

I happened to find the Fox chart of almost all bikes by year, what shock it takes and what weight springs were offered with it (https://service.foxracingshox.com/con...educerSpec.xls). As you know, your shock is a Vanilla 7.25x1.75. The springs available on you 05 RM Flow FS were 500, 600, 700 800 and 900# springs (really? wow, has a higher leverage ratio than I imagined). Here are part numbers and travels:

500 = 039-02-016-A = 1.940
600 = 039-02-055-A = 1.85
700 = 039-02-056-A = 1.83
800 = 039-02-041-A = 1.83
900 = 039-02-025-A = 1.83

Hint: most companies other than Fox list their springs by shock shaft travel rather than actual spring travel.

ruskko

wow that seems like some excessively high ratios

dminor 

That's what I thought. Before I saw the spread, I wondered what in the !@#$%^&*(!@ yours was doing with an 800# spring. 8-900 would definitely be for a heavier rider though . . . how much do you weigh?

ruskko

just north of 200

dminor 

The 800 should be in the ballpark, according to the range. But if it feels way oversprung, I'd order a 700# from an outfit that also carries a 600 or 650. That way you can put it on, test it out, then exchange it if you still need to adjust down. You'll be out a little shipping maybe but better than being stuck with another wrong-weight spring.

ruskko

i cant find anyone with that spring

dminor 

Well . . . maybe you better throw in a bid on this Float:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fox-Float-R-...item460ce63195