I thought I’d share some experience about Ergo Clear weights while we wait for the official Cherry Ergo Clears.
I’m on my third or fourth Ergo Clear keyboard right now, depending on how you count things.
It looks as if Ergo Clears take well to Spirit springs, including the Progressive.
The 63.5 Progressive Spirit are like 55 G Cherry springs at the top, but allegedly are heavier at the bottom. Ergo Clears will actually function with these springs [except spacebar, I use 62 G linear there]. They will benefit from break-in and careful lubing [with any lube] beforehand that focuses on the operating parts of the switch.
These give you very light Ergo Clears that feel like Browns but more tactile. And they can sound better if you use 3204/205g0. They are more ‘crunchy’ than Browns.
[The next weight up from this for me is probably the 58 G springs in stock Naevy 1.5, which works just fine with those switches.]
There are also 68 G Progressive springs. These still require decent lubing to run optimally. You end up with ~45 G actuation weight at the top, like stock MX Brown springs, but they may have more force for spring-return. With heavier PBT keycaps like Leopold’s, these Ergo Clears can be very nice to use from a keyboard-tray position.
I have a whole FC900R PD using all 65 G [14mm] TX springs. This is a good weight for ensuring operation, even with more restrained lubing. The spacebar, using stock Leopold stabilizers, is still poppy. That whole assembly, including switch, was well-lubed. 65 G TX will power even MT3 PBT keycaps easily.
The most interesting is my recent build of Ergo Clears on an NCR-80. It’s using 62 G 14mm TX springs. This turned out to be quite a marginal weight for anything other than 1U keys. The right, full-size Shift key actually hangs a little with the 62 G spring. [Using GMK!] I am using TX stabilizers, they tend to be tighter and less-forgiving than Cherry.
Had to move from 62 G TX to 65 G TX on the spacebar, and even that weight is marginal for the TX stabilizers.
So this has implications if trying a ‘minimal weight’ build using 14mm linear springs. It seems as if 62 G is fine for all 1U keys. But it would be better to use 63.5 G or so for all modifiers. And then at least a 65 G for the spacebar, although I’m inclined to use 67 G at this point.
That’s what a minimal overall 14mm spring Ergo Clear would look like to me, right now. Somehow, the 63.5 G Progressive [behaves like 55 G linear at the top] Spirit springs seem easier to build Ergo Clears with than 62 G 14mm. [The 14mm TX build is also ‘snappier,’ sharper and harsher, while the 63.5 G and 68 G Progressive builds are much more Brown-like.
Lube, spring choice, and stabilizer choice are all very important while building Ergo Clears. Hopefully this provides some insight into available choices if you are planning to respring the Cherry Ergo Clears for a lighter build. [BTW the 58 G 2-stage springs did not work as well on spacebars as 65 G TX. The 2-stage spring does not prevent the tactile notch from catching on the way up.]
