RS Recon Gold solo air forks. Only ridden them 400kms since new, but I’m worried by two things…
1. They make a pfsst! noise which I can only describe as a wet fart, as they compress on any sizeable obstacle
2. If I follow the SRAM tech manual directions for checking bushing wear, they do indeed ‘knock’

So, my questions – is the pfsst! noise just normal for air shocks, and do all forks have a little play in the bushings from new – surely they can’t need replacing already!!

Comforting words and gentle reassurance required…..

The ‘wet fart’ maybe the dmaping oil flowing through the damper assemblies as on larger hits that send them deeper into the travel require a larger amount of oil to be flowed.

As for the bushhings if you are worried about them and the fork is under 12 months old return to place of purchase and proof of purchase for return for a warranty inspection.

Hi LoCo, thanks for your feedback. Followed up on your suggestion it might be the damping oil, and lo and behold, if I wind the rebound adjustment right out, there’s no ‘wet fart’ anymore! So, its nothing to do with the air side of things then, but I guess the question has to be – should the oil dampening be making this noise? Oh, and I’ve also realised it makes the noise on the rebound, not the compression stroke.

On the bushings, have already mentioned it to the LBS where I bought the bike, and their knee-jerk and not very credible answer was that it is ‘normal’, so I’m just trying to get a broader opinion before I tackle them headlong on the issue at the bike’s first service, due in a few weeks.

My coil Recon SLs make a pretty loud soggy squishy noise on bigger hits, never occurred to me that it wasn’t normal.

They’ve also developed a bit of play in the bushings too, after about 1000kms. I’m going to send them off to be sized/replaced at some point soon (I’m just going to take the hit because I really cannot be bothered dealing with the shop I bought the bike from any more).

Hi mintimperial, do you happen to know if your squishing noise happens on the rebound stroke? If so, maybe this is a ‘feature’ of RS shocks and I’ve nothing to worry about. Anyone else get the same noise?

Sounds like you may have the same LBS as me – how come they’re all over us until we’ve bought the bike, then they just don’t want to know you? Don’t they realise the actual bike is just the start of a serial purchasing habit…

I’ve not paid much attention to when the squishing noise happens exactly, but I’ll try to take more notice next time I’m out and will post back here (if I can tell the difference).

If your riding with company then you should carry the can and apologise for farting!

Better that way then people thinking you have a faulty fork 😉

You’re right of course – the enduring shame of having a faulty fork doesn’t bare thinking about – if I was at home I’d just blame the dog, but I guess on the trail I could just shoot an accusing glare at one of the other riders….