I may be going nuts….maybe. I had an issue with my 2015 rockshox reba rl 29, they had excessive movement fore/aft on the compression leg when unweighted on the bike. These were sent back under warranty and replaced by SRAM with brand new 2016 reba rl. Which I got on Monday this week.

Well just fitted them late last night and they are exhibiting exactly the same symptoms and haven’t been ridden yet. Feels just like a loose headset except it is not, it is not the brake pads either. I just don’t get it, it is just like what I would expect for worn bushes but they can’t be worn. It took 5.5 weeks to get the warranty replacement I don’t relish the thought of going through it again.

Has anybody anything to offer up on this at all?. It is seriously driving me bonkers.

I don’t imagine rock shox warranty anything without thorough investigation. So I reckon you were right abiit thrre being a problem first time and probably this time too

Turn the bike upside down for about a minute. Thats a sign that there’s no oil in the bushings, which could just be where they’ve been in transit and the oil is in the bottom of the lowers now.

Should fix it. If it doesn’t chances are you need to pop some oil in the lowers.

What length travel are they?

Rockshox forks when unweighted can feel like that as the stanchions are at full extension and close to the bushings. When weighted/being ridden this goes away.

Are they 120 travel?

They are 120mm travel.

Can’t comment directly but sounds very similar to the issue solo air Pikes have in the first 5 to 10mm of their travel?

Sounds exactly as what you describe?

If it is the same as the pikes, then lots of info online.

Commiserations. I know the feeling. I, and several others, have had different issues with the same fork.

Whats up with the Reba solo airs??? I’ve had so much trouble with mine. Keeping the air where it should be (2014) that if the latest fix doesn’t work their going in the bin. That or a spring conversion, if it can be done 🙁

I’ve had the same problems as a lot of people on here. Rockshox have just sent me a new pair after mine went back under warranty for the third time. Will see how I get on with them.

I reckon some of the issues could be caused by;

a. The manufacturing tolerances at Rockshox on this particular fork have slipped since switching to the solo air system. Solo air seems to be more of a money-saving move by Rockshox as I personally think it offers no performance benefit over dual air; in fact performance seems to be much lower than my old dual shock rebas.

b. The solo air system has some fundamental design flaws (e.g. the common issue of grease blocking the poz / neg air valve).

c. The new lightweight lowers are overly prone to flexing / warping.

It could be a combination of the above, or none of the above, but I’m really not happy with these forks, and it has put me right off Rockshox stuff.

I’m a light rider (69kg without kit) who predominantly rides XC with some trail centre reds now and again so I’m not ragging these forks. Unfortunately I’m stuck with them as decent new 1 1/8″ steerer forks are so hard to find nowadays.

Sorry for hijacking but rather than starting a whole new thread…

I’ve got Reba RC29’s on a Camber Evo that’s just a few weeks old, a couple of observations if anyone can throw any light…

1) the compression adjuster atop the right hand leg seems to do close to stuff all and despite having a little padlock symbol doesn’t come close to locking them out.

2) they feel a bit slow in compression and rebound. I’m only about 8-10 hours of riding in but with my weight/air pressure I’d expect them to spring back a bit quicker than they do.

3) I cannot see a marker line for 120mm (on the sag markings) at full extension – it seems to be just under the seal – again normal?

I’ll be giving the LBS a ring over the next couple of days to ask them but wondered if the STW hive mind had experienced any of these issues with Rebas.

^^^^^
Take them back to the LBS if they’re new. That doesn’t sound right at all, especially regarding the low speed compression damping lockout. Are they poplock or crown adjust?

If crown adjust then when fully over to the lockout position then you should get little movement unless you whack something hard. Its not a complete lockout like some cheaper forks though.

Regarding the travel marks on the stanchions, if they’re too far below the line then it could be an overpressured negative chamber, the same problem loads of people have had on here. Either way, it needs to go back under warranty.

Rockshox just sent me a new fork after I’ve had pretty much all the problems you’ve described, and more, over the past year with my Rebas. They are great forks when they work, super light and easy to service, but the solo air system isn’t particularly reliable in my experience.

the compression adjuster atop the right hand leg seems to do close to stuff all and despite having a little padlock symbol doesn’t come close to locking them out.

If they are like my much old Reba’s and Rev’s, they won’t feel locked out if the blow off threshold (little metal knob, gold on mine) is adjusted.#

Locked out with the adjuster fully open will not feel much difference, turn it a bit more and it’ll turn into a platform fork, i.e. it will compress over roots etc but feel locked out on the flat/climbing (if you shove the bars it will blow off and move) Adjuster fully closed, it will become locked out and only blow off on a big hit.

If they are not like my old forks…ignore 🙂

Thanks for that. 8 week bike check due imminently so will try and sort both together… Irritating I didn’t spot / think about it last week before I took the rear wheel in to be retensioned!

Thanks again all. Went to check pressure for a night ride tomorrow pumped up a bit then released a little air and they got shorter (sucked down about 5-10 mm). Call to the lbs in the morning I think.

Pretty poor/unfortunate for a fork with less than 10 hours service.

Would explain why this years camber has rev’s, I had reba’s 100mm travel on my last bike and the Rev’s on my new camber are super responsive and tbh a great fork and yep in 29er version.