The heavy-duty progressive-rate fork springs soak up small road bumps, yet are firm enough to absorb the ones that shake the kidneys. Spring rates have been chosen to reduce front end dive during braking, yet still provide excellent ride comfort, and also balance the weight of a bike laden with greater-than-average loads. A progressive-rate spring has the advantage of a resistance to compression that rises as the spring is being compressed - it gets tougher to compress as it is compressed. The benefit of this is that the spring can be soft enough at the start of the travel to offer a plush ride, yet be firm enough at the end of the travel to soak up the big bumps.