Rear shock on a budget

Tonyandthewhale

I've been stuck at home a lot over the last year which means I've been in the shed a lot. The natural outcome of that is that I've started building a DIY recumbent.

If you don't know a recumbent bicycle is one where you sit low to the ground on a reclining seat with the pedals out in front. Since you can't stand up on the pedals for a little natural suspension many recumbent bicycles come with rear shocks even if they're not built for off-roading.

Unfortunately I don't know much about rear suspension since I've only ever ridden a hardtail.

I don't want to spend big money on a fancy Fox shock or the like because at most I'll be riding gravel on this thing. I'm not going to be going over ANY jumps and need minimal travel. I just want it for a bit of comfort and stability going over potholes.

For very cheap rear suspension you've got the option of a simple spring like you find on a supermarket bike (basically useless) or generic Chinese options from alibaba.com for tiny money that I presume will break immediately.

From there it seems to jump up to rockshox monarch for about €170. Are the rockshox shocks reasonably reliable for very light usage? Are there cheaper options possibly worth considering? Suntour perhaps? Or a vaguely reputable Chinese alternative?

boomdocker

what size shock are you looking for? i've a few lying around which are surplus to requirements

Tonyandthewhale

boomdocker wrote: »

what size shock are you looking for? i've a few lying around which are surplus to requirements

Well I'm still in the design and prototype stage so that's not set in stone. Anything from 150-190mm bolt to bolt length could be made for.

boomdocker

Ok, let me have a look and see if I have anything suitable