Type of Shock Absorbers in your bike

 Shock absorbers are a few of those part in our car or bike, which we know is there but don't often think much about them. Yet, they play a major role in deciding your comfort, road grip and contributes to the overall performance.

In our day to day life, we get to see mostly 2 types of shock absorbers, which are,

• Simple Hydraulic Shock Absorber(in image Twin-Tube)

Spring Loaded Shock

 

 These have been used since ages while most of   which are now getting replaced by the latter. This simply works on the Hydraulic Principles. When the foaming occurs inside, the damping effect gets deteriorated. 

This in longer run makes the oil less viscous which also results in leaking. This process is called as “Cavitation” and can be understood by shaking oil in a bottle or container. Actually, there are about 10% of gas molecules present in the oil which get loosen their bond with the oil molecules when shaken or blended. These gas molecules come out in the form of bubbles and collectively they take form of foam in later stages. 

 

• Nitrox Charged Shock Absorber 

Nitrox Shock

  

A small cannister is attached with the regular spring loaded suspension, this is filled in with  Nitrogen gas. Its purpose is to keep the damping oil pressurized under stressful conditions. It lasts longer than normal spring loaded suspension. Normally the pressure ranges from 15psi to 50 psi depending upon your need.

Now there is also another configuration in which these methodologies work but on a single damper, we get to see such units in high-performance bikes where speed is the main concern. A few of the key advantages are, 

• Better Cornering and Highway stability. 
• Allows higher suspension and swingarm travel. 
• Eliminate torque to the swingarm. 
• Easy to tune and adjust

To be precise the damping force exerted by the mono-shock is more accurate than the twin-shock since it is dependent upon a single but larger piston. It is like z = f(x,y) where z is dependent upon two variables and each of them is equally important in considering the total damping(i.e total damping = z, two dampers in twin-shock are x and y ) where-as z = f(x) for mono-shock since it has one piston or one damper only. 

Although they are expensive and not ideal for higher loads, in that scenario you should always distribute the load under multiple dampers.

On the front side, we can also find 2 types of dampers which are Telescopic-suspension and Upside-Down suspension. The below image depicts the difference,

In the case of a telescopic fork, i.e the image on the left,

• A telescopic suspension consists of two parts that house all the mechanisms, an outer tube and an inner tube.
  
• The system consists of a spring and a damper filled with fork oil that provides resistance when they move.
• In this type of suspension, the slider bar of the inner tube is attached to the triple clamp. It is a part on which the handlebars are mounted.
• That said the outer tube or primary barrel is mounted on the lower side, on the wheel.
• This is where the telescopic suspension's flaw lies. That is, most of the weight of the suspension is on the wheel. This makes it difficult to change direction or steer.

The reasons for which they are used are, 

• The telescopic suspension is cheaper to design, that's why you see them the most.
• This conventional suspension is easy to repair if anything falls apart.

In the case of USD suspension, just like the former, this too has an inner tube or slider bar and outer tube or a primary barrel.

• The difference lies in their placement. In USD, the sliding tube is on the lower side of the wheel of the bike.
• The primary barrel is attached to the triple clamp. This allows the triple clamp to take most of the suspension weight. 
• This arrangement makes the bike nimble and easy to manoeuvre. Makes it more agile.
• Though the cost of manufacturing them is higher than the former.
• They allow more bump absorption that makes them more prone to damage. since the oil seal is faced downwards, so if it damages then the oil will drain faster as an effect of gravity, unlike telescopic.

So, if the value for money is the concern go for telescopic but if you want comfort and nimbleness USD is the answer.