[Closed] BOS reliability

Pike/Monarch all the way. Great performance (I think my Pike is better than my Deville was and far easier to setup), great reliability and if it does go wrong, Fishers will sort it out properly, in double quick time.

Reliability was never really the main problem. Support and back up were always the issue. I've been using BOS products for a while and though I have had manufacturing quality control issue (an undersized steerer, long story) I've not actually had a product go faulty.

However, they seem to lurch form one UK distributor and service centre to another. They always end up messing the distributor about so much that they, the distributor, just gives up in the end.

So while the products are excellent the concerns about where you go if things do go wrong is a real concern. I think you need to be pushing things pretty hard to get the added benefit of their performance. I wouldn't buy them again since I've scaled back the speed and frequency of my riding.

I better add to my comment. My BOS Vip'R rear shock went bang in September last year. It still hasn't been fixed. It was 6 months old at the time. I'll just leave it there.

Never had bos forks but my new pikes went wrong and went back to fishers and were rebuilt and back in a few days. Good service

My Vipr started making horrible noises after 6 weeks of use (clicked - sounded like chainslap when riding fast). 2.5 months to sort under warranty. (OE kit, so had to go straight back to Bos, no involvement from teh UK importer)

Best air shock I've used when it's working, but I wouldn't put any more money their way.

Cheers, it's great to get some real world advice. Looks like I'll be heading down the Rockshox route.

Another option is Pike & CCDBair (if it'll fit your frame). Amazing performance.

Reliability was never really the main problem. Support and back up were always the issue.

This was my understanding too. Who are the current distributors by the way?

I think Jungle are about to bring them in.

I've had a Vip'r on my Rocket for 18 months it's been faultless, but I'm getting worried about where to get it serviced.

Mad Elk were very helpful with eye bushes.

Jtech, loco, mad elk all service BOS. My forks and shock have been seriously reliable, as have the ones owned by the guys I was chatting to at Aston Hill today.

Jungle told me they should be set up for servicing by the end of April.

JTech bodged mine back together for me, when I couldn't get the bits anywhere to fix them

Just just the Pikes/Monarch.

BOS is imported by Surf Sales at the moment.

Nope it's jungle who should be all sorted soon

Good stuff, Surf Sales were useless

Good stuff, Surf Sales were useless

I thought that, as above, the issue was less Surf being crap and more BOS not providing them with any aftersales/spares etc?

Well, 2 emails and no reply is crap to me!

Jungle are "not set up yet" according to an email from yesterday

Same old same old . . . . . . . . . . . 🙄

Yep

Jungle are the New Importers I know this as I used to do the servicing before them at Surf Sales.
BOS were more interested in us buying stock than fixing the stock that went wrong. They did not support us with Warranty stock or service parts. The forks if set up correctly are amazing but there were no instructions with your new forks about equalizing the air chambers before use!! We had a stream of forks coming in from people who had pumped them up ridden off then the fork cavitating.
BOS are not business people more engineers

It's such a shame - it's like they simply don't understand that what they're not doing at the back end is massively impacting the front end. There's only so long that people will keep taking a punt on "the best performing fork" if they're not going to be able to get it warrantied or serviced in a reasonable timescale.

People will just go and buy Pikes. . . . . or Fox if they're daft.

Agree with the comments above - awesome equipment - terrible support

I've swapped my Devilles for Pikes as I know 1st hand how good Fisher are and have had major issues with Surf/BOS

Hopefully, with Jungle on board, they can sort BOS out

I've just had my BOS Forks and shock serviced by JTech, in a very quick turnaround, subject to JTech's own availability.

I've owned 2 sets of BOS forks and haven't had any issues. I don't think Bos have better or worse reliability than the other main brands but they just don't have reliable after sales support and that's a problem as many have indicated in this thread.

Personally I think BOS has lost their lead on performance and other brands have caught them up on price! I bought a new bike a few weeks ago and I went with a set of Pikes and I'm finding them better than the Devilles on my old bike plus my LBS can service and support them.

I had a pair of stanchions on some devilles wear out after 9 months use, they refused to repair them under warranty and I had to pat for a new set. Despite the information saying 2 year service interval or 1 year with heavy use and them being 10 months old I should apparently have known to service them early.
Dealing with them a pain and they were very unhelpful. Consequently I sold all my Bos bits (deville, idylle and stoy).

I gotta admit that my BOS Units (Idylle SC and Void) came with my bike and as such, I have been very happy with them. They are the best performing suspension I have ever used. Previously, I was a big fan of RS Lyriks, but the BOS' feel far better. However, would I buy them separately as a bike build or after-market replacement? Almost certainly no, mainly due to the price, but also because other makes perform almost as well, which makes the extra cost even harder to justify.