hi all i have a 2005 kona dawgmatic and recently upgraded my forks to a set of manitou nixon comps (well pleased over the standard forks) now i want to upgrade my shock from original fox float can i put a spring shock on with slightly longer length and stroke so i can have a bit more travel at the rear wheel? im thinking this because the new forks have risen the front end a bit so hopefully the longer shock will provide more travel and raise tha back end too? or am i barking up the wrong tree? cheers in advance
It's not always as simple as getting a longer stroke shock I'm afraid.
Some frames (e.g. the old Specialized stumpjumper and Giant Reign) let you do this but other's don't have the frame clearance.
I reckon your best bet would be to go ask about on one of the dedicated Kona forums on mtbr.com. You're likely to find someone who's looked into it.
Also bear in mind that by increasing the length of the shock you could be raising the bottom bracket height and affecting other angles etc.. not necessarily for the better!
have a look hear and give them a ring to see if theres one to fit your bike. a couple of notes of caution; you may need to get an slx front mech to prevent fouling with the chain stay with the additional travel, and you may need to get new top spacers for the shock ( a vanilla rc will work well) if you want a coil shock.
BETD do longer travel linkage plates for a lot of the Konas, but as Dan said it may mess up your angles. A longer shock 'll steepen the head angle and raise the BB, the Betd plates might, I'm not sure on that one.