Sorry I know I’ve posted on these darn forks before but I don’t think I have specifically asked this….

Can the air trapped in the lowers fault be permanently cured through servicing / spanner work? I don’t mind paying to fix but I do mind paying to not cure it.

I haven’t the time or inclination at the moment to be stripping and rebuilding a fork myself so

option 1 – send them to TF and hope they know how/what to do to fix them and can do that alongside a service. I’m going to ring them tomorrow but wondered if there was some first hand experience on here.

option 2 – new forks spendy option but if (a) a service and fix costs say £150 and it doesn’t cure them I’ll have eaten into the budget and riding time and (b) I have little enough riding time that I don’t want broken kit or down time when I could be riding.

If it makes a difference I have the rc3 Reba oem variant that was on specialised bikes in 2015.

If it’s not long term curable then what 29r/120mm travel/15mm axle/tapered steerer fork (NOT boost)? I’m not super GNAR but I’m heavy and I want reliable xc/trail centre type performance.

Couple of things worth noting.
1. Rockshox have a 2 year warranty
2. There’s a high chance that its due to a scratched/poorly machined air rod
3. Sram warranty centre offer great customer support.

Providing you’re the original owner I’d get them sent to Rockshox for warranty assessment. Worst case scenario is they say its due to lack of servicing at which point you can make a choice to pay for repair or have them back un-serviced. A warranty inspection isn’t going to cost anything so well worth going down that route first before you start paying for repairs or start pulling them apart yourself.

Thanks for that. I thought it was only a year and I had kind of discounted that route for that reason and as so many people have said they got still suffering/duff forks back. I know you only hear the bad stories. I am the original owner so a conversation with the lbs who sold me the bike may be in order.

Quick thread resurrect.

Had a long chat with the service manager at the LBS who tells me that the warranty wait is fairly horrendous at the moment and that I’m likely to get billed for a service and parts based on age of the fork (15 months from purchase now, and although not used masses I’m likely to be pushing water uphill here).

He’s given me some top tips to try and get the forks working again at home, which I’ve had one go at but they’ve not delivered the results (still got about 5mm of suckdown) and air spring doesn’t seem to have balanced right. Tomorrow night is round 2 now I’ve figured out more precisely where the “cut out” bit is that balances the two springs

Looks like an air spring service is next option if I can find a service kit in stock somewhere but if I’m honest I’m really leaning towards getting something new that works reliably from the outset and moving on. Riding time’s too precious right now to have it screwed up by iffy forks/kit.

What forks are/for:
– not prone to sticking air where it shouldn’t be
– 29R
– Tapered steerer
– 120mm
– 15mm axle
– 100kg rider

Budget – I’m happy to spend for quality but I don’t really want to be bumping four figures. If I can keep it sub £500 I’d be happier but I’ll go above if it’s the right thing for the bike.

Seen some Slant RL’s that look possible then more RS / Fox type stuff.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/x-fusion-slide-rl2-forks-2016/rp-prod140400

Are supposed to be pretty reliable.

As far as your other forks go, an air spring service is not beyond the home mechanic, and you can do the damper side at the same time.

Manitou tower pro are OK, you will need to email the US for the Clydesdale spring

I’ve got some solo air with the same issue, what did the LBS recommend?

If rockshox have a 2 year warranty why lshoudl the lbs tell you you’d get a bill and it would be a long wait.. ime rockshox service is top notch, sounds like they’re trying to put you off cos it’ll be work and cost for them.

Personally I’d give them a full service, I know you don’t want to but for £50 in tools and lubes that will do plenty of services and a bit of time to learn how it works it’s worth it. I drop lowers every couple of months or so and try and do a full service every 2/3 lower services. You can’t fix the inherent design of them, and if it’s a duff air spring as mentioned above they’re £20 on amazon. You shouldn’t need an air spring kit if you can’t find one, clean and regrease should sort it as long as your careful removing the seals.

Very much my opionion, but I’m similar in weight and requirements to you and Reba is hands down the best fork for the job. Fox is too expensive, I’ve tried slides and I’ve currently got a SID RCT3 but I’d rather have the rebas back, although I’d prefer the old dual air system.

Martinhutch – I’ve been eyeing those up.

Big N Daft

He suggested

*Deflate (cycling the air spring several times to try and clear it – preferably with the valve pin pushed in)
*Get the left hand leg (air spring side) cap out. 24mm wrench. I cycled them a couple of times with the cap out to really purge them and also removed the wiper seal to make sure lowers were empty
*Pull the forks to full extension
*Use a long stick (he suggested a spoke – I used a bamboo skewer as less likely to scratch something) to clear any blobs of grease by the transfer port
*Reassemble
*Reinflate while pulling down on the lowers (if held in a workstand) (Pulling up on the bars, wheel held down if forks in bike)
*Make sure inflated to way beyond pressure for your weight, cycle them a few times and then ease the pressure down to your correct sag/riding pressure.

As per second poster, most likely needs a new air shaft. TF can replace this easily and they do it every day on these forks. Will be a lot cheaper than a new fork.

If rockshox have a 2 year warranty why lshoudl the lbs tell you you’d get a bill and it would be a long wait.. ime rockshox service is top notch, sounds like they’re trying to put you off cos it’ll be work and cost for them.

I’d be more inclined to push the point were it not for the fact others have posted on here about exactly those kinds of issues. Forks go off, response is “they’ve been ridden so need a service/this is a service issue” and stories of long waits and still malfunctioning forks are common on the other threads on here and elsewhere.

I’m never averse to tinkering with stuff (especially bikes and cars), I just don’t want to have wasted effort if it’s not going to produce results.

Second hand Pike with a coil? It will cure the air getting trapped in the negative spring issue and the associated stick down but you will still need to burp the seals eveyr so often by using a zip tie. Well….the one on the damper side as with the coil conversion you can use the solo air springs schrader valve to burp the spring leg. You do this because air can be pulled past the main seals into the fork lowers themselves.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/pike-coil-conversion-quick-first-ride-review

Don’t use a piece of bamboo to remove the grease from the equalisation port, it’s easy enough to pull the lowers and remove the airspring assembly to give them a clean.

If you don’t want a coil fork, prepare to pay for reliability – both Manitou, Rock Shox etc have a few known issues. Fox and Ohlins are probably your best bet – but will cost you around 900 quid.

Thanks all. I realised in the next two weeks I have sod all time to muck about with them so I’m going to send the forks and the rear shock (as it’s probably about due one) off to TF next week for a full service and hope they will find/rectify the fault for me. If they still aren’t right after that then it will be no more fettling and new forks in the new year.

Feels like a cop out but I just can’t be arsed with current work and family commitments to do it myself and I think they’re more likely to fix it first time round.