1. The bushings in 2gen Sweetspots are usually too wide, and you need to pull the rear triangle apart to make it fit over the bushings. Since the rear triangle is pinching the bushings really hard, it adds a lot of friction to the system. To fix this I removed the bushing, and then lapped their outside surface using a sheet of 150 sandpaper on a flat surface, finishing them off with 400 sandpaper. I removed just enough material so the rear triangle is only lightly pinching the bushings. This doesn't introduce any slop in the suspension system, but does remove a lot of friction. I probably wouldn’t try this with the Teflon coated aluminum bushing some Homegrowns use as you can remove the Teflon layer completely.
2. The front and rear triangle are always slightly misaligned. This causes the shock to bend slightly when installed. This isn't really a problems with the RS coil shocks, but is a problem with the Alps series Fox air shocks. The Alps will partially bind, which adds a lot of stiction to the shock, and can also cause a shaft failure, as it's having to support a lot of sideways force it was never meant to support. I wonder if Schwinn started specing the coil shocks so they wouldn't have to deal with this issue. To fix the problem, mount one end of the shock in the frame, and then see how far it's off at the other mount. You can then either install a shorter bushing on one side, or sand down the outside surface of the existing bushing. Use washers to make up any necessary space between the other bushing and frame. This will center the shock correctly in the frame. The shock will still be forced to bend slightly as it compresses, but it's negligible.
