Any ideas what the normal cause of this is? The LSC dial used to lock the fork out completely, now it just makes it slightly firmer.

I guess a bleed might help (if I had the tools!). But, when I’ve had air in Charge Dampers before, the symptoms have been different (more of a dead spot at the top of the stoke, but that was in a RCT3 Pike)

cheers

Probably a blown seal head.

have you got the gate closed all the way off? the little dial on top of the compression lock out.

As Ben mentions likely the seal head either letting air in or leaking fluid out. It’s a know problem, hence rockshox fitting a new seal on 2016 forks.

If in warranty get them to fishers via the shop they were purchased from. You could service the damper but it will likely happen again so best getting it sorted.

If not in warranty try the nsd damper seal assembly. Seems to sort them. But not cheap for what it is once you factor in import charges.

Thanks guys, I wouldnt know how to service the Charger Damper, but have ordered a bleed kit, so may as well try that.

So, the seal head is more than an o-ring issue…?

The original seals / bushing in the head assembly aren’t upto the job and end up leaking. Think there’s an o ring and kind of a wiper seal. The nsd assembly is good because it uses a longer bush to help prevent sideways movement of the shaft too much and better seals.

In relation to the bleed you know when you have a good one as the lockout will lock it out rather than making it a bit firmer.

The first time I had issues it had leaked. The second time air got into the damper. It’s frustrating and it makes a big difference to damper performance.

Well, I’m sure my Reverb will be due another warranty replacement soon, so I’ll return the forks to Fishers at the same time and save some postage.

The new RS sealhead with a SKF seal comes with service kits. A service kit is cheaper than the NSD sealhead so it’s a no brainier.

The lsc dial on my pikes has never worked like a lockout – I’m certain I read that this was by design though?

I got two sets of 2016 pikes just around Christmas. They’ve never locked out not matter where any of the dials are set. How “locked out” are the supposed to be?

It used to lock out completely, as does the RCT. I could live with it as just firm compression, but if the seal head is faulty then presumably other issues will start to occur.

So does this mean that suspension oil is moving past the seal head? If it does, doesn’t that mean it would bleed into the lowers and be replaced by air? As you can tell, I’m no Loco or Tim Flook!

Yes, it means oil is moving past the sealhead, it then collects in the fork lower, so if you remove the lowers and there’s more oil than there ought to be in the damper side one- quite a lot rather than very little – that’s probably what’s happened. It also means not only does it screw up the damping, it does odd things to the spring rates as well.

I think, btw, that you can retrofit the latest RS sealhead to the 650b and 29er versions of the Pike, but the 26″ one also needs a new damper tube.

ps: whenever I write ‘sealhead’ I have visions of a seal’s head mounted on a plaque. That’s normal, right? 😐

Thanks Badlywired. There’s no sign of suspension oil in the lowers, so that might be the issue.

I got two sets of 2016 pikes just around Christmas. They’ve never locked out not matter where any of the dials are set. How “locked out” are the supposed to be?

Also interested in this question. My 2016 160mm 650b Pikes are definitely stiffer with the RCT3 dial all the way round (clockwise, direction of the little padlock symbol), but definitely not locked out. Don’t think they ever have fully locked out, feel fine otherwise though, great forks. Should they be properly solid?

No they should have around 10mm of bounce at all times even locked, and blow off with moderate force.

No they should have around 10mm of bounce at all times even locked, and blow off with moderate force.

Ok, cheers. Mine gave more than 10mm when I checked but that was with me honking on them with all my weight so I suspect they’re just blowing through as they should. Ta!