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So with the talk of the 49mm showas being cheap A-Kit or derived from A-kit. How does this stack up with the fact that it now has factory coatings on it.
Obviously suspension really depends on personal set up and valving. But how does stock 49mm, the WE 49mm and A-kit compare to each other. Same question with the shock.
Obviously suspension really depends on personal set up and valving. But how does stock 49mm, the WE 49mm and A-kit compare to each other. Same question with the shock.
But, ultimately it depends on who specs for the forks. Showa's kit forks and Pro Circuit's are actually fairly different at this point.
The "works edition" Showa suspension has the same internals as the "base" Showa suspension, but will have the fancy coatings that Honda claims to provide better small bump absorption and finer movement. Coming from mountain biking and snowmobiling, Kashima coating and Titanium nitride coatings on shock parts really don't make all that big of a difference for the average guy. Titanium nitride on the fork legs is a hard coating that is used to prevent wear on the shafts. Looks cool, but for the average guy it will just be a placebo effect. Ohh its a different color, has to work 10x better than stock.
Lastly, Showa A-Kit is going to feature the same 49mm forks and coatings on the base and works forks. However, the fork internals and shock internals are where the biggest differences are. The fork is going to have billet bottom fork lugs, a larger piston in the fork, 39mm subtank, and dimple processed outer tubes. The shock is going to have a larger shock shaft diameter, 30mm compression adjuster, and a 50mm billet shock body.
Upgrading to real A-kit is the best option and value. The Works edition is just "pretty" stock suspension.
But you could in theroy build yourself a good set of kit forks as there are options for lugs, perches, clip heights ect ect. Realistically you could send these to PC or FC and have the upgraded to true A-kit (i assume) a reasonable price vs buying a akit for another bike. Are the internals same material as well or different materials for production forks. For the difference in price it seems worth it to have have the upgradeed WE vs standard.
Im intrigued by these forks as i havent gotten my hands on a set to compare them to Akits ive worked on in the past.
The Shop
As mentioned above the stock 17-18 forks are good in stock condition. The kit shock is better, especially for supercross with the 18mm shaft.
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