Spring markings?.

I'm currently trying to find some springs and I'm finding the markings a little confusing.
Does anybody know what they actually stand for?
Say 700 2.80.
I thought the 700 was the rating in lbs but some of these go up to 1500, who is that heavy?.
Is the 2.80 the diameter of the coils?.

Blatantly taken from the TFTuned website:

TFTuned":27qoluk8 said:

The spring rate is the amount of force required to compress the spring one inch, and is measured in pounds. To determine which spring you need, you'll need to know which spring rate you need, and what your shock stroke is. A spring with a spring rate of 350 is easier to compress than one with a rate of 450, and is therefore softer. Springs are usually marked with their rate, and then the stroke of shock they're designed for, e.g. "350x2.75"

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I guess that wraps up the 2.80 question then! Not sure about the spring rate though, 700 is pretty high - 1500 is huge! (unless mountain bike springs have a different rating system... :?)[/quote]

Thanks for that, I did look at their site but pretty soon my head was hurting.
That does tie up the intended markings, maybe some are in lbs and some in KG?.

NAILTRAIL96":1xv3thux said:

Thanks for that, I did look at their site but pretty soon my head was hurting.
That does tie up the intended markings, maybe some are in lbs and some in KG?.

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all in lbs,bigger rating is most likely for bigger riders doing big drops

Crikey, I need a 200 then and the lowest I can find is a 350!.
I guess I'll keep looking then.

NAILTRAIL96":3njflvpi said:

Crikey, I need a 200 then and the lowest I can find is a 350!.
I guess I'll keep looking then.

Click to expand...

200 what are you about 7 stone

the rating on the springs isn't related to rider weight like air shocks pressure

the small number relates to stroke

the big number is more like soft, medium, or hard

7 stone?, I wish.
It's for the front end and and all the pics of later sprung crosslinks have a 200 coil on the front and a 350 at the back.
I guess it's because there's very little leverage as the spring just makes up part of the rear triangle at the back.
I am quite light though being under 12 stone.
I know an air shock is the easiest thing to set up being as adjustable as they are but as the frame was never intended to take one it's the most work to adapt one.
Cheers for the thoughts.