I've had about 4 of them apart. So far, tighties go up top, loose at the bottom. Brand new or not, your's seem backwards.
Per our PM's; although you compressed it and saw the tighter coils collapse first, I'm pretty sure thats the result of them being in upside down and they are weakening.
If you check the bikes static SAG it will give us an idea as to the springs health. All you need to do is throw a zip tie on a stanchion tube and let the bike stand on its own. Measure the difference from FULLY EXTENDED to ACTUAL ride height (how far did the Zip tie move). That's the ball park bike SAG.
Repeat with you on board and you have rider sag which when you RECORD IT and measure again at the end of the season, then you see the springs sank another 1/2" (OR MORE) and you know they are getting weaker!
Anyway - As stated in PM; on a dual rate spring installed correctly, the action of the forks compressing acts first on the spring nearer the bottom. The coils near the bottom are constantly flexing. As you encounter bumps, more of the spring compresses.
When installed with the heavier rated towards the bottom, you've increased the unsprung mass. In the ideal world with newer springs the lower rated section should compress first. And when upside down, that means the WHOLE SPRING HAS TO MOVE AND ACT AGAINST THE SPRING CAP so the lower rated section (at the top) can compress. But its not that simple. The initial shock of being moved can win and force the bottom (higher rated coil section) to collapse just due to the action of trying to move the mass of spring.
Measure the bikes static sag and tell us how much those spring settle just from the bikes weight.
Per our PM's; although you compressed it and saw the tighter coils collapse first, I'm pretty sure thats the result of them being in upside down and they are weakening.
If you check the bikes static SAG it will give us an idea as to the springs health. All you need to do is throw a zip tie on a stanchion tube and let the bike stand on its own. Measure the difference from FULLY EXTENDED to ACTUAL ride height (how far did the Zip tie move). That's the ball park bike SAG.
Repeat with you on board and you have rider sag which when you RECORD IT and measure again at the end of the season, then you see the springs sank another 1/2" (OR MORE) and you know they are getting weaker!
Anyway - As stated in PM; on a dual rate spring installed correctly, the action of the forks compressing acts first on the spring nearer the bottom. The coils near the bottom are constantly flexing. As you encounter bumps, more of the spring compresses.
When installed with the heavier rated towards the bottom, you've increased the unsprung mass. In the ideal world with newer springs the lower rated section should compress first. And when upside down, that means the WHOLE SPRING HAS TO MOVE AND ACT AGAINST THE SPRING CAP so the lower rated section (at the top) can compress. But its not that simple. The initial shock of being moved can win and force the bottom (higher rated coil section) to collapse just due to the action of trying to move the mass of spring.
Measure the bikes static sag and tell us how much those spring settle just from the bikes weight.