Antarius
Site Supporter
Also, I see what you mean about the valving being unrelated to spring rate. So it should be related to travel to stroke ratio. A very short stroke shock would move slower and have more resistance, right? Or a shock with the same stroke meant for longer travel.
Unless it was poorly (or cheaply) designed, yes. In theory you would need more compression damping for less travel than a bike with more travel to prevent bottoming.
Of course, you may have tons of travel and still prefer a stuff shock for your used and run a lot of compression.
Anyhow, in a properly designed shock with good valving, the spring rate should only affect preload.