Rear shock upgrade

CandT said:

Is it possible to replace any rear shock with any other (of the right size of course)...

For example - I have a single pivot 5 inch travel sus with a coilover Fox Vanilla R... I was
thinking, in a few months, could I upgrade

What you need is a shock that has the same "eye-to-eye" distance, the same stroke length, and the
same size holes for the bolts. That last one you can usually get around by getting apropriate sized
bushings, but the first two are important.

There are a number of standard sizes for eye-to-eye and stroke length (like, 6" / 1.5", etc). You
might get lucky and have one of these...in which case there are lots of possibilities.

However, if your bike manufacturer got Fox to build an old size for them to fit their bizarre
geometry, then you're in a little be worse shape.

Stratos has some info on what fits what...I found an aftermarket shock for my bike there (after
blowing the stock one twice):

stratashock.comstratashock.comOpen ↗

Duke

"CandT" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Is it possible to replace any rear shock with any other (of the right size

of

Quoted message said:

course)...

For example - I have a single pivot 5 inch travel sus with a coilover Fox Vanilla R... I was
thinking, in a few months, could I upgrade to a shock

with a

Quoted message said:

lockout, or one of the new fangled systems for keeping fim until you need

it to

Quoted message said:

be soft...

Know what I mean?

Cheers,

CandT

eye-to-eye distance is the important factor, which is basically how long the uncompressed shock is.
Second most important is stroke length - if its too much, you might end up having your rear wheel
hit the bike frame or seatpost - too little and you'll lose travel.

However, you do have to be careful about clearances. Some of the new shocks especially have big
piggyback parts that might hit parts of your frame somewhere in the stroke. I know at least hte
Manitou Swinger SPV now has a remote reservoir option, which places that part elsewhere on the
bike, connected with a tube. I'm not sure if you can get them set up that way aftermarket, but my
guess is you can.

Jon Bond