[ST] Ohlins vs. what else?

["Rich Marcus" <rich.marcus@xxxxxxxx>]

>And if not what is the best for the rear or is Ohlins the only option?

Bill,

Ohlins is not the only option.  Penske builds a shock as good as Ohlins.
The guy who runs GMD Computrack in LA, Morris Ellis, sells both.  When I
pressed him, he liked the Penskes for several reasons:

1.  When I talked with him the distribution of Ohlins was changing from a
smaller dealer to Parts Unlimited.  So, he didn't know how he would be
working with them. He wasn't crazy about the distributorship moving to a
large corporation. He said that he had a great relationship with the Penske
folks, and that they were very good at working with him to resolve
after-sales problems.  (That's important to me.)

2.  When I pressed him about differences in the designs, he still favored
the Penskes.  He said that the compression and rebound circuits on the
Penske are completely separate.  So that when you make a change to one, the
other is affected.  Not so with the Ohlins.  There is some "leakage" as he
called it.  When you change one, there is an affect on the other.

3.  He also said that the inside of the shock body on the Penske has a hard
coat, as well as a smoother finish than the Ohlins.  The smoother finish
translates to less friction between the body and the piston seals.  Less
friction = less heat.  Less heat = less frequent breakdown of the shock
fluid.

As you can see, I really had to press him to define the differences.  I
really made him dig to come up with his reasons.  As you can see, they're
not the most earth-shattering of reasons.  If Ohlins were the only shock
available to me, I'm sure that I'd be just as happy, and that I don't have
the skills to actually feel the differences. He also stated that the Ohlins
were very good shocks.  But I cornered him by asking him: "If it were your
money, which would you buy and why?".

Hope this helps.


Rich Marcus
'01 (soon to be '02) Sapphire Blue ST
Los Angeles, CA


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