Digressive vs Linear vs Progressive Piston & Valving Article (and video)

TRD

TRD

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There are a lot of choices when it comes to what type of damping you want in your shocks so we put together an article which explains the different types, their benefits, and how they work.

Piston Damping: Digressive, Linear, & Progressive pistons explained

When it comes to off-road shocks Fox and King have linear pistons with fairly progressive damping curves while Icon and Bilstein use digressive pistons and digressive damping curves.

This article is fairly generic and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.
 
Is there anyone making regressive dampers for offroad use outside of offroad racing? I'm just curious, and I'm not sure if regressive damping is even a good thing for the lower speed crawling stuff and not KOH-style racing. I don't know much about offroad shocks, don't laugh..
 
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Fabrik8 said:
Is there anyone making regressive dampers for offroad use outside of offroad racing? I'm just curious, and I'm not sure if regressive damping is even a good thing for the lower speed crawling stuff and not KOH-style racing. I don't know much about offroad shocks, don't laugh..
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That would be worse than digressive. It'll feel stiff and firm and in control, then you'll push it harder and it won't have any stiffness or control and you'll crash.
 
TRD said:
That would be worse than digressive. It'll feel stiff and firm and in control, then you'll push it harder and it won't have any stiffness or control and you'll crash.
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Works great for racecars on asphalt, that's why I was curious if it translated to offroad use as well. I'm not sure if Penske is doing anything for regressive offroad except for some technology licensing to Fox/Trek for mountain bike stuff, but I don't play in the offroad racing world.
 
Fabrik8 said:
Works great for racecars on asphalt, that's why I was curious if it translated to offroad use as well. I'm not sure if Penske is doing anything for regressive offroad except for some technology licensing to Fox/Trek for mountain bike stuff, but I don't play in the offroad racing world.
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I've worked with similar technology before (Inertia Active Shocks) and it works ok in a very controlled environment, but easily gets confused and delivered the wrong damping curve in rough terrain or in series of bumps. There's likely a technology or setup problem and this is acting as a band-aid. Once they fix the problem they'll probably end up with a more standard damping curve.
 
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