Coil vs Air Shocks: MTB Suspension Explained

What's best? Coil vs air shocks. Today we're back at the pseudo-science to help you decide if you should run a coil or air shock on your mountain bike. One is grounded and planted while the other is light and poppy. But, is one of them better? Stick around to see the results of all our on-bike testing. This one took a lot of laps.

0:00 Intro/Test Setup
1:21 Results
2:10 Flow Trail
3:35 Tech Trail
5:18 Climbing
6:11 Pump Track
6:54 Sprint
7:52 Un-Timeables
9:28 Conclusion

[Raykdang]

This channel has great things ahead of it. Relevant topics and no click bait gimmicks. Keep it up and looking forward to the next videos.

[hpkiunzy]

I love the coil for our local trails.the trails here in quebec are pretty raw, but what's hard on a coil is popping on a technical downhill when there's no lip.

[EdwardFagan]

A fair and informative review of both types of shock, and thank you so much for spending time and effort testing, measuring and sharing the findings with us.

[adrian_veidt]

I switched to coil out of curiosity. Feels plushier which is helpful on raw trails here.

I prefer it since I have a limited access on bike shops which can service an air shock.

I don't have much worries on a coil shock.

[rubenvor]

Great video. I just bought a new 150mm travel frame, and was having a hard time deciding between the air and spring, this video helped me deciding for air. Thanks a lot.

[JJMilk]

Bumped into your channel by mistake. Loving your simple, down to earth reviews. Thanks!! 🤩
Big fan!! 😎

[jasonmcdannold]

Also worth noting that the Jade X is a "trail" coil shock. Different than the original Jade or a DHX2, CCDB coil, or super deluxe coil. As well, the nuances of coil setup are an important factor to keep in mind. Spring rate, sag, turns on the preload, etc.

[asherb]

thanks for posting the times and talking while showing the ride sequence rather than having the ride sequence and then results like a lot of other people do. much more interesting this way.

[SDmountainbiker]

Nice detailed, unbiased review. To me fastest time and weight isn't the end all. Overall ride quality is what I'm after. Thought your data driven information was spot on. Switched to a coil shock on my downhill sled and love the performance. Not a big jump guy anyone as I approach my 60's and really like the stable, grounded ride quality with a little less "feel" characteristics. Fortunate enough to have a Yeti to compliment my dh bike and am debating on switching it to a coil as well. Your review gave me good info to consider. Happy Trails!

[LightMonkeyHD]

I've used the Rockshox Super Deluxe Air and the Coil. Both are great and definitely prefer the feel of the coil just how stable the bike feels. I was lucky enough that my bike came with a coil out of the box.

[BramBiesiekierski]

Alot of the differences you noticed could be down to damper / damper set up. And not just the difference between coil and air.

[fcbotieno]

To anyone who runs coils, try progressive springs. MRP makes them.

From the automotive world I'm used to "helper" springs, nice to see a similar concept being utilized for MTB.

Send it!!

[mikestivers]

DVO makes a progressive spring that ramps up in the higher travel. try it!
for a propain tyee with very progressive supsension, i dont get the full compression or "clang" even with 30% sag and in open mode. the coil is def not as 'poppy' as my RS SDU but the latter doesnt hug the rocky trails.. it's a matter of ride feel. like you said: for racing, like the world cup downhill - most wins are on coils fwiw.
imho, if you ride hardpack, and jumps, go air. if you ride chunky downhills and lots of loam w/ roots and rocks, go coil.

[IthacaDon]

Enjoyed your review, thanks. I own a Ripley v1 and a Giant Reign (2018) with a coil shock. I rode both at Kingdom Trails summer 2019. Obviously, the Ripley climbs better. Later in the year I changed the front ring on the Reign with two less teeth and the Reign climbed much better. At Kingdom I rode a very rough rutted and chunky service road descent on both bikes. I was constantly braking and getting bounced around on the Ripley, On the Reign I never touched the brakes and actually pedaled to go faster! September 2020 I bought a new Mojo HD5 (air shock). It is incredible. I enjoy the HD5 more than the Reign. If I were racing I'd use the Reign but for just plain fun the Mojo is the way to go.

[kaiul]

I agree with everything you said. Coil is very planted and I do have trouble catching more air off jumps. Air is very versatile and tunable. I honestly just rock a coil for the looks and cool factor 😎😝

[ssjj]

Be cool if you did the test with a MRP progressive spring that ramps up compared to air.

[alexander-vlasov]

The Leverage Ratio of the Ripmo is very linear and is not suitable for installing a coil shock.
DW-Link systems works with very low compression damping.
Trailbuilders build a lot of jumps, and people love it.
Right now coil shocks don't have Bottom Out adjustments.
High end air shocks works really well.

[mtb]

Obvious Results with Quantifiable Results. Excellent test and review. Thanks.

[TroyCollier]

After riding with a buddy on the exact same bike seeing how much pop he can get I'm removing my plush dead coil for a fun, poppy jump enhancing air shock. Just hope I don't lose too much of that initial bump absorption I love.

[ChariEL-JP]

I'm serching this vs epics.
Your opinion helped me!
Thank you! :)