Cane Creek Progressive VALT Spring [Rider Review]

Our "Rider Review" article series features the honest reviews from verified purchasers of Worldwide Cyclery. They contain the photos, thoughts, feedback & overall review you are looking for. 

Cane Creek is often overlooked as a leading competitor in the suspension game. Their dedication to creating some of the best suspension in the industry is what make them one of our favorite options. You know you are getting something with a lot of thought behind it, a product you can trust. A really close friend of ours, Cy Foppe, recently tried out the beloved Progressive VALT Spring and sent over a review going over it. Let's see what he thought!

Cy's Review:

I’ve wanted to find a reason to use a progressive rate spring for awhile now and I finally had the chance to do so. If you’re not familiar with the difference between this spring and Cane Creek’s normal Vault spring, a normal coil shock spring is going to have a linear (non-progressive) rate while this progressive rate spring has ramp up towards the end of your travel, thus increasing bottom-out resistance. Normally, coil shocks are best paired with bikes that have a progressive suspension curve (since a coil shock normally has a linear rate) but this type of spring changes the game by letting you run a coil shock on a bike with a more linear suspension curve. Although my bike already works well with linear coil springs, I had a specific intention in mind…

This spring was paired with a DVO Jade X shock and went on my Knolly Fugitive LT which has 135mm of rear travel. Since I went with a 160mm DVO Diamond up front, I wanted to make the rear just a little more “party worthy”. Turns out, after slapping this baby on my coil shock, it definitely increases that factor. It does exactly what it was intended to do;

as I stated before, for bikes that have a linear suspension curve or if you’re in my situation where you want to go coil but need the progression at the end of your travel to increase bottom-out resistance, then this spring is perfect for you.

I’ve immediately noticed the difference in progression through my shock’s travel and it actually helps the shock feel more supple off the top as well. Also, when I received the spring, I was able to note the difference in weight between this spring and the traditional steel spring. Since this is Cane Creek’s Vault spring, it’s a super light weight steel spring and sheds a few pounds for you weight weenies.

Conclusion:

"I’m stoked about this purchase and although the spring may seem pricey to some, it’s definitely worth it’s price in performance and looks killer with the right color scheme. This feels like one of those upgrades that you may not think a lot about, but actually makes the difference that it was intended for when you’re out shredding the trails. If you’re trying to decide between MRP’s progressive spring and this one, I’d say the decision mainly comes down to weight and color. Both are solid products but I thought the Cane Creek would look best on my bike ;) Shipping from Worldwide Cyclery was killer as always and I can’t wait to try something else from them soon! Great product from the best bike shop on the planet." - Cy Foppe