Progressive Drop in kits

[BigSwede]

Anyone have experience with them? Are they really able to be swapped with the forks still in place? Difficulties?

Thanks.

Swede

[Highmiles]

Yes you can do it with the fork in place.
I have been known to make a new spacer that is an inch shorter, and accomplish the same thing for less than $2. The spacer is a tube, at the top of the fork, when you remove the cap. Get a piece of PVC pipe the same diameter, and cut it an inch shorter than the spacer. Save the spacer if you decide to go back stock.

[BigSwede]

Originally Posted by Highmiles

Yes you can do it with the fork in place.
I have been known to make a new spacer that is an inch shorter, and accomplish the same thing for less than $2. The spacer is a tube, at the top of the fork, when you remove the cap. Get a piece of PVC pipe the same diameter, and cut it an inch shorter than the spacer. Save the spacer if you decide to go back stock.

Very interesting. Thanks!

Why can't you swap the stock spring for an aftermarket one the same way? I mean, without using the drop in "kit"

[Highmiles]

Originally Posted by BigSwede

Very interesting. Thanks!

Why can't you swap the stock spring for an aftermarket one the same way? I mean, without using the drop in "kit"

You can, but here's the rest of the story. When you buy a "kit" the spring and spacer are engineered to give you "full" travel. The spring will compress an inch more, so in conjunction with the inch shorter spacer, you get full travel. In reality I have never lost more than a half inch of travel, by just shortening the spacer. The loss of travel is not noticeable, since how often do you bottom out your forks?