0.38 fork spring?

[scheckaet]

I brought the fork of my 02 hybrid to a reputable local tuner (house of horsepower in oklahoma city) today for a revalve and the guy said I may need 0.38 spring...seems a little soft for my weight...
I know they always seemed stiff as a board but always attributed that to a poor valving for HSC and HSR...
I'm 180 in my birthday suit and after looking at the racetech website:
Recommended Fork Spring Rate: 0.435 kg/mm
Stock Fork Spring Rate: 0.41 kg/mm(stock)
Is this guy a quack or is he trying to sell more **** ($109 on top of the $175 revalve) than I really need???
I thought the stock spring should be perfect for wood so now I'm really confused....
Comments?

thanks

Wilf

[Tedh98]

I've read it more than once that those online spring calculators tend to be on the heavy side. With that being said, here is my experience with the KX forks I had on the hybrid. I used .44 springs (I'm 190 w/o gear) and I had ideal race and static sag with those springs. So I would agree that .38 seems really light.

I think you need to go with what the tuner is recommending. Some tuners take the approach of light springs/heavy valving while others go the heavy springs/light valving route.

If you don't take the springs he is recommending and aren't happy with the revalve, I'd expect the tuner to say the problem is that the wrong springs are in the forks and then it is on you. But if you go with the complete recommendation of the tuner, then it is on him to make you a satisfied customer.

[SS109]

Like Ted said, I would probably go with his recommendation if he is willing to stand behind his work and make it right if it is not to your liking.

FYI, I'm 150 with no gear and I'm running .41's. They are a just bit stiff for putting around but are perfect for the aggressive riding I do. Be truthful with your tuner about your skill and how you ride so that he can get your suspension dialed in right for you the first time.

[Julien D]

I have to third that. Different suspension tuners will have different methods of achieving the desired result. If he believes those springs will work best for you with the valving he has done, you should give it a shot. If you buy the springs from him, and you think they feel too soft after riding, he should swap them for you at no charge.

[frankenschwinn]

For what its worth, two of my friends have recently dealt with HOH and have NOT been happy...

[scheckaet]

oh oh, that's not good.
why aren't they happy?
costumer service? valving not up to what they expect? Not willing to work with their costumers?

[scheckaet]

to Tedh:
I have also heard about the calculator being on the stiff side, that's why the 0.41 seemed perfect (in my understanding of things anyway)
My sag seemed good now and as I understand it, softer spring will change the sag quite a bit, maybe it'll still be within specs though...as for the valving, it shouldn't affect the sag number.
He straight out told me that he wouldn't do the work if I didn't use the spring rate he recommended, (he's gonna test the one I have to check what they really are)
I totally understand that he can't and won't guaranty half ass work, it's his rep on the line and I'm fine with it, it's actually confidence inspiring knowing they'll only do what they think will work and not just take the money and do what the costumer THINKS he needs knowing it won't work.

to Juliend:
I didn't think about swapping spring for stiffer ones if these don't work out.
However I'm afraid he's going to say something along the line:
"Well of course they're too soft, it's because you haven't revalved the rear with us"... and there goes another 300 bux...
The rear seems to work pretty well now, and it's been revalved already by racetech (piston looked like gold valve and the spring didn't look like stock)
Judging by the sage numbers, the rear spring rate looked to be correct for my weight.


Does this look like a stock piston? Pretty sure it's not, what do you all think?




I know and understand that it may just SEEM that way because the front is so bad and it's hiding/masking the defect of the rear so that I can't feel how bad it is.

Like everyone else, I'm on a budget and saved enough to revalve front and rear, but if I have to replace the springs (add another 109$x2) I won't be able to do both...so i'm really worried he's gonna try to screw me over by saying it's not working because I have to also do a complete revalve with new spring and fork 600 bux instead of the 350 I originally saved up...dilemma dilemma

[frankenschwinn]

They were not happy with the valving overall. Also his attitude after the fact has not been great either. This according to the two of them. No personal experience with the guy as I have a suspension guy in Austin that I have do all of my work.

[Tedh98]

That looks like a gold valve kit. You might be able to get the spec sheet (or whatever they call it where all the different combinations are listed out) and do your own tuning.

[scheckaet]

I doubt the shop will give that spec sheet away...
In any event it's done, gotta pick them up tonight. They said it was the wrong spring for my weight.

Most of the guy I ride with used his services and are pleased with it, hopefully I'll be one of them.

As for the rear, gotta test ride it as is and see where I stand. If they're no good, I'll have to wait or sell a kidney to get it done.

[Tedh98]

I doubt the shop will give that spec sheet away...

I was referring to race tech or whoever makes the gold valves. They provide a sheet that gives the user different stacks.

So did the tuner keep the GVs or did he use stock pistons?

[scheckaet]

Sorry if i wasn't very clear, I only gave them the front end, the pics above are for the shock that will have to wait since I'm over budget on the front.
As for racetech, I won't tell you exactly how I feel about their company but I'll tell you this: I contacted them when I was doing the hybrid because I wanted to know what spring rate the rear was. They never even bothered emailing or calling me back. I was somewhat prepared to work with them and eventually get gold valve for the front, now they can KMA...

[scheckaet]

Turns out I had gold valve in the front too, he said whoever got into it had a very weird stack that didn't make much sense, so now they're revalved. As for the fork spring he installed 0.40 instead of the 0.42 I had.

My rear is a 4.9 and he recommends a 4.8 or lower. Gotta try it as it is and see where I stand.

[gsa102]

The team green specs for the KDX call for a lot of shock free sag - 40 mm, I believe, and 105mm of race sag. You need a little stiffer spring run looser to accomplish this. Verify your sag before you change spring rates. And by all means, test ride.