Terryhagle,
IMHO the ground handling with oleo gear may be better then spring gear if they are serviced correctly, however that would not be the decision point for me between the two. The old style oleo gear are tried and true for sure and with a set of larger tires allow considerable abuse as in dropping it in from a few feet above the runway. They absorb a lot of shock and don't bounce you into the air again so much as spring gear would. That's the plus side.
The negative side is they are mounted to the airframe with attach points that do wear over time. Often times when you remove these gear and install the aircraft on floats you will see that the attach area bolt holes at the airframe are starting to get oval vs round from wear and directly correlates to hard landings. They also require to be greased at the oleo strut. Each oleo require's exactly 8.5 oz. of 5606 (red) aviation grade hydraulic fluid when servicing and checking for leaks. They pretty much have to be off the airframe to service correctly. If they need over haul I wouldn't call them the easiest in the world to service. They have a spring that is inside the strut. Also by the way they have two options for springs and you want the larger stronger spring option in these gear. They do have a pretty good long service life once serviced correctly.
Also Airframes Alaska now has a super cub style replacement gear that bolts directly on per STC. I worked years ago with the guy whom developed the first pair which were put on a few aircraft up here. They work really well and put the aircraft at a higher angle of attack for take off. If I bought an oleo equipped citabria I would defiantly do the super cub style gear change.
Cheers, Brian
