Originally posted by SlowPro48
Seems like even if you apply a million pounds to the axle at the rate of 1 inch per second for 3 seconds - if the shim stack and oil in the shock only resists with a force of 25 pounds at that rate then that's all that will be transmitted to the frame - 25lbs - no matter what the angle of the shock.
Good point. I hadn't really thought of it that way. But what if your force is less than maximum resistance? What if it's 15 pounds? if lay-down shock takes 15 pound vertical loads as 25 pound axial loads, then it's doing more work. Also, if it travels 18" versus 12", it's doing more work. It may perform better, but I'm pretty convinced that performance increase is at the expense of shock life. That's something that's common in all aspects of racing.