[Closed] Shame on you Fox Racing Shox.... (RANT)

Did you buy it from TFT? And if so, don't they "work" on shocks before despatch.

premier suspension manufacturer in the MTB world

We're not talking about Rock Shox though 🙂

I dont mean to be rude, but did you have it set up properly?

Also, surely you cant complain if they fixed it for you under warranty? everything goes wrong at one point in time, but its how its dealt with is the main importance. I had a DHX Air which was leaking air from the piggy back within 4 weeks of having it, it got sent off to Mojo and returned within 3 days. Had a full service on with, replaced all the seals and custom valved it to my weight and riding style. After that kind of service im sticking with Fox

Fox [b]Racing[/b] Shox

they dont try to hide it. if you want racing performance you have to keep on top of maintenance.

Because I've never seen a rockshox shock fail on a first ride before (oh....yes I have,repeatedly).

I mean, seriously, somethings got to be done about this. A company that has a supposed reputation as the premier suspension manufacturer in the MTB world, and for £400+ all they can give is is crappy quality components which fail after 40 ours riding?

they dont try to hide it. if you want racing performance you have to keep on top of maintenance.

Seeing as the damper is pretty much sealed to everyone except a specialist I'd think it was reasnoble to expect it to last the usual year between services.

LOL at the flamethrowers.

As if servicing or set up could have been the cause of the issues.

Seriously, pull the monkey out.

Have to say I'm kind of with the OP on this. They charge a premium for what is not (seemingly) a premium product. They don't really out perform other things on the market.

I dont mean to be rude, but did you have it set up properly?

How on earth would that affect any of the problems the OP mentioned!? If he'd said it was bobbing horrendously and blowing through travel fair enough, but I doubt poor set up make air leak into the damper fluid!

they dont try to hide it. if you want racing performance you have to keep on top of maintenance.

Bollocks, what is 'Racing Performance' anyway? Every other brand makes rival products that aren't notably inferior and don't require the same babying to keep them working. That would fly if they were offering something other brands wouldn't.

My F100s have been serviced in line with the recommendations and the stantions are still shagged after a year. Combined with the plastic remote lockout lever breaking when I went to use it, and Fox wanting £70 for a replacement. I would never buy an aftermarket Fox product!

MSP - Member
Did you buy it from TFT? And if so, don't they "work" on shocks before despatch.

No - OEM on a Yeti ASR-5

cruzer - Member
I dont mean to be rude, but did you have it set up properly?

Also, surely you cant complain if they fixed it for you under warranty? everything goes wrong at one point in time, but its how its dealt with is the main importance. I had a DHX Air which was leaking air from the piggy back within 4 weeks of having it, it got sent off to Mojo and returned within 3 days. Had a full service on with, replaced all the seals and custom valved it to my weight and riding style. After that kind of service im sticking with Fox

No. It wasn't fixed under warranty. I go the same service from TfT, as I always have in the past. My gripe isn't with TfT, its with Fox - 40hrs of "trail" use shouldn't result in the failure of so much.

Are you 12?What do you suggest doing?Stomp you feet on the ground and then shout at the LBS?
My suggestion would be MTFU and realise shizzle happens.That's why they have warranty.Or give up and go back to golfing (I would err towards the latter).
(I've got toothache)

If you read my text properly, instead of throwing insults you'd realise this isnt about me but about all the tens/hundres of other bikers out there who've suffered the same.

IMO, it isn't acceptable foe so much to fail so soon. I'm an experience biker and maintain my kit, set it up lovingly etc. If Fox continue to be OEM they need to get the basic componentry right, to avoid us all have to pay after the fact for thier shoddy/cheap /poor service/componentry.

It'd be interesting to know why this is happening. For example, have they reduced the quality of the internals to increase profit margins or summit?

meanwhile some of us are happily riding along on much older suspension/shocks from Fox, and have zero problems.

My shock is a Vanilla RC, from 2000 era (specific to the frame) - still going strong, probably thanks to its simplicity.

I have the same problem (another thread one here). It seems to be more common than it should be and maybe Fox should issue a statement. I'm not overly impressed with the RP23, even when it worked - my old Float R was much better.

Hopefully Mojo will put mine right.

Why did you take it to TF Tuned after 40 hours riding? Was it out of warranty?

For example, have they reduced the quality of the internals to increase profit margins or summit?

I reckon there's something in that. I had some 2004 F100 RLTs, never serviced them, stantions were still perfect after 3 years (although the original ones were replaced on warranty because they were loose in the crown 🙄 . 2011 F100s and they're shagged in 1/3 that.

a) Boost valve seal blown
b) Air in the damper fluid
c) Nitrogen seal / failure leak
d) rebound damping compromised

Sounds like it's got a single failed o-ring to me. Annoying, but shit happens. MTFU 😛

retro83 - Member

a) Boost valve seal blown
b) Air in the damper fluid
c) Nitrogen seal / failure leak
d) rebound damping compromised

Sounds like it's got a single failed o-ring to me. Annoying, but shit happens.

I may not have described it properly as I left the TfT details as home, but there's definately 2 failed seals.

njee20 - Member

For example, have they reduced the quality of the internals to increase profit margins or summit?

I reckon there's something in that. I had some 2004 F100 RLTs, never serviced them, stantions were still perfect after 3 years (although the original ones were replaced on warranty because they were loose in the crown . 2011 F100s and they're shagged in 1/3 that.

Equally I had an rp2 on a previous bike which I didn't service for 3 years, and a float on a trek liquid which I never serviced ever (5 years?) until I sold the frame.

Why didnt you fire it back to mojo as a warranty item?

Girlfriends RPL died after 4 months, but was fixed under warranty, its been fine since. The RP23 I had on my last bike got ignored for 3 years and kept working fine. Its just one of those things, occaisionally theres a bad one.

Just get a hardtail and get on with life.

Kryton57 - Member
I may not have described it properly as I left the TfT details as home, but there's definately 2 failed seals

Well either way, shit happens!

Not uncommon to get kit which is dead on arrival, at work for instance we regularly buy £100-200k worth of kit and it's not uncommon to find a couple of dead hard drives or a dead motherboard in amongst it.

Adam@BikeWorks - Member
Its just one of those things, occaisionally theres a bad one.

Google it, its not very "occasional". In fact look down the forum page and you'll see a second chap with the same issues I had before my was fixed. Any btw, its my second shock failure from new on two bikes, inside 12 months.

I've had 4 sets of fox forks and 3 shocks. All have been fine with less than optimal maintenance. I've also had some rebas which caused me no end of problems.
It doesn't matter how good your qa is, some units will be duff.
To me, the op seems to be moaning that he's had exceptionally good CS. Well done TFT.

Its just one of those things, occaisionally theres a bad one.

But it's not sufficiently occasional when they charge more than the competitors, who aren't dogged with the same problems.

To me, the op seems to be moaning that he's had exceptionally good CS. Well done TFT.

They fixed it, as they are supposed to do, and charged to do so. I'd be pretty annoyed if I paid for them to fix things and they didn't! Saying that my Reba World Cups never felt as good after they serviced them, shouldn't have bothered!

wrecker - Member
To me, the op seems to be moaning that he's had exceptionally good CS. Well done TFT.

I wish people would read things properly. I'm not moaning at TfT am I? I acknowledged the excellent level of service I got from TfT.

I'm moaning about the sub standard level of "stuff" supplied as OEM from Fox.

Jeez....

In their defence, they must have almost all of the OEM shock market. That's a lot of shocks, some will always fail, still rubish if it's your's, but it doesn't mean the rest are junk.

So 2 on this forum have failed, how manymenbers are there, they propbably all have on average 1 fox shock, it must be fractions of a percent?

I'm moaning about the sub standard level of "stuff" supplied as OEM from Fox.

So why did you send it to TF rather than the shop you bought it from or MOJO who would probably have fixed it for free?

Google it, its not very "occasional". In fact look down the forum page and you'll see a second chap with the same issues I had before my was fixed.

Let's be honest, it is. Compared to the numbers of Fox rear shocks on bikes out there, it's fractions of a percentage.

And if it was new OE, why didn't you send it back to Mojo for them to fix it for free under warranty? That's what a warranty is for.

I didn't read any acknowledgment of good CS.
As TINAS says above; there are a LOT of fox forks and shocks about, it stands to reason that some will fail.
As long as the CS is there to sort them out; there's really nothing else which can be done. All manufacturers have failures.

thisisnotaspoon +1
Why pay to get something repaired when it has a warranty which would cost you nothing to get sorted?
Yes its unfortunate that your shock blew so early, but the internet is hardly the place to get a balanced opinion of a product is it? How many threads do you see when people have posted up that their shock isnt broken and is actually working fine with no issues?
Human nature means people complain when things fail, but keep schtum when everything is dandy.

I can see your frustration, I'd be as annoyed as you if it happened to me but you have to realise that this kind of stuff happens. Everyone has a bad day and you got a shock built on one of those days.

To have more than one go is pretty unlucky though.

Search pretty much any product and you will find the internet full of issues, people rarely take to forums to shout about how lovely their stuff is cos they're too busy using it. What the internet makes out to be a serious issue is probably a ridiculously small percentage.

Out of everyone I ride with, the only issue any of us have had with Fox is a blown seal on a pair of 3 year old (never serviced & regularly abused) set of 32's.

If it's OEM and 40 hours old you should've got it done under warranty though - not knocking TFT mind, they're ace!

thisisnotaspoon - Member
So why did you send it to TF rather than the shop you bought it from or MOJO who would probably have fixed it for free?

I need it by Sunday, and am filthy rich, happy?

They have history on this to be fair. Back in about 2007 they had a problem with Float shocks on FSR XCs and Stumpjumpers - air leaking from the positive to the negative chamber and 'sucking down'. Every single OEM shock from that year had to go back. We had about 50. That's really rubbish. You couldn't say with any degree of honesty that it was a reliable item.

I need it by Sunday, and am filthy rich, happy?

You see, that's where you went wrong, you should have your buttler trained in shock serviceing if that's the case, honestly these new rich have no idea how to do things properly.

I need it by Sunday, and am filthy rich, happy?

You see, that's where you went wrong, you should have your buttler trained in shock serviceing if that's the case, honestly these new rich have no idea how to do things properly.

fair enuff

I've had 4 fox shock on different bikes, all have been brilliant, except the RP23 I bought from the states. Faulty from delivery, but Mojo sorted it under warranty quickly as a very quick thing & it's been fine ever since
.
As stated above given the number of fox shock about & in use, they only suffer a very low failure rate, unlike their forks. 😉

I've owned 3 RP23 & had one on an extended loan (orange blood test bike from orange). The test one and my 1st one both cavitated in the 1st 5 hrs of riding whereas the other 2 didn't have a single problem. So in my experience I've had a 50% failure rate of RP23.

However, I've had a Dhx4 & 5 air, neither of which developed a fault & I've had numerous vanilla & Dhx coil shocks, all of which have been fantastic performing and totally without issues. Incidentally, the DHx4 was on my patriot, which for a year was my only bike an ridden daily, it did 2 Mega's & was then sold to a mate who lives in Morzine. He's done 3 seasons on it and another Mega. It's never been serviced, still works well & refuses to die.

I don't think all fox shocks fail, but I suspect the RP23 has a slightly higher failure rate than the others.

If you're filthy rich buy a new shock and peddle the shock as mint condition on the classifieds.
As I said elsewhere a fool and their money....

bigyinn - Member
If you're filthy rich buy a new shock and peddle the shock as mint condition on the classifieds.
As I said elsewhere a fool and their money....

Been there, done that, its so last year.

I cannot bear to go through the "change the shock", "try coil", "try a ti coil", "what about a BOS Viper" year that I went through last year. Plus I love the way my ASR-5 rides as is, and don't want an "upgrade" to change that.

Hopefully its fixed for a whi;le now. I know Tft use "tougher" seals that the fox OEM so fingers crossed I'm ok for a bit.

I know Tft use "tougher" seals that the fox OEM

Do they? I thought they just bought parts of MOJO like everyone else?

I know Tft use "tougher" seals that the fox OEM

Do they? I thought they just bought parts of MOJO like everyone else?

they do use mojo part

Thats not what Tim Flooks told me a year ago. It was the very man I was talking to when I was discussion my then other rp23 failure. He told me the OEM fox seals were a weaker part than that which TfT use.

That may have changed though I guess, but I can't see why he's lie to me. Perhaps the fox service kit is better than their oem assembly components.

glitchybump

Let's be honest, it is. Compared to the numbers of Fox rear shocks on bikes out there, it's fractions of a percentage.

And if it was new OE, why didn't you send it back to Mojo for them to fix it for free under warranty? That's what a warranty is for.

This....

oh because you've got too much money and WANT IT RIGHT NOW. My heart bleeds for you really.

There's a ridiculous level of hysteria about Fox stuff going wrong. As I've said before based on my experience Rockshox fails 100% of the time and Fox never ever goes wrong.

Fox don't sell their damper seal kits to anyone, so everyone has to get their seals manufactured, whether they're 'tougher' is debatable, good selling point though 😉
Your shock sounds like it had a not been assembled very well (Possibly) and subsequently failed pretty quickly, Mojo would have warrantied it as quickly as TF did for a charged service I would guess.
Reliabilty of Fox rears is pretty good TBH, never had any issues with any of mine from new as long as they were looked after properly.
When did you speak to Tim? he sold TF 2 to 3 years ago.

based on my experience Rockshox fails 100% of the time and Fox never ever goes wrong.

What a daft statement, that's clearly not representative of 'real life'!

What a daft statement, that's clearly not representative of 'real life'!

It's only slightly more daft than people who claim that if you buy fox stuff it will almost certainly go wrong because there's some forum posts about it come up in google. That was my point.

Your shock sounds like it had a not been assembled very well and subsequently failed pretty quickly, Mojo would have warrantied it as quickly as TF did for a charged service I would guess.
Reliabilty of Fox rears is pretty good TBH, never had any issues with any of mine from new as long as they were looked after properly.

Oh dear OP 😆

X fusion shocks ate my hamster 😥

Thanks Loco.

I spoke to Tim last in 2010 - despite the fact he sold the business I think he still floats about from time to time, may not so now.

I'll drop Mojo an email and perhaps see if they'll refund the cost, worth a try.

I'll drop Mojo an email and perhaps see if they'll refund the cost, worth a try.

I've done a draft for you:

Dear Mojo,

I've been childishly bad mouthing your products on the internet after a single failure which could have happened to any product. I thought it would be best to act like i just found out I wasn't the real father of my children.

I compounded my problems by unnecessarily paying for someone else to fix it when you would have done it under warranty just as quick.

I now want you to give me my money back, but I will continue to whine about your substandard products and service.

Regards

Kryton57

HTH

grum - Member

I'll drop Mojo an email and perhaps see if they'll refund the cost, worth a try.

I've done a draft for you:

Dear Mojo,

I've been childishly bad mouthing your products on the internet after a single failure which could have happened to any product. I thought it would be best to act like i just found out I wasn't the real father of my children.

I compounded my problems by unnecessarily paying for someone else to fix it when you would have done it under warranty just as quick.

I now want you to give me my money back, but I will continue to whine about your substandard products and service.

Regards

Kryton57

HTH

What I'd like to post, would get me banned again. Kindly Far Cough*.

*waits to see if you may not see me for a short time

The Fox DHX air is pants in my experience. Increased in slurpiness from the day I got it until damping went odd. Had a full Loco service, worked well for a couple of months and then started cavitating again 🙁 I think it is just a bad shock ime.

It now sits in the tool box unloved as I don't want to pay to service it every 3 months.

Strangely I also have a Fox 2004 triad that has never cavitated and has only required one air canister seal change and a few minor DIY services with float fluid.

[i]What I'd like to post, would get me banned again[/i]

What about the letter do you think doesn't report what's happened then?

The thing is, if it was a case of mojo refusing to warranty it, or it failing on you repeatedly after being replaced, I'd be on your side. But 'it went wrong and I read about some other people on the internet who had the same brand go wrong' really isn't anything to get so upset over, unless you're twelve.

wwaswas - Member

What about the letter do you think doesn't report what's happened then?

Sorry, I'm running on 8hrs sleep since Tuesday - please clarify?

grum - Member
The thing is, if it was a case of mojo refusing to warranty it, or it failing on you repeatedly after being replaced, I'd be on your side. But 'it went wrong and I read about some other people on the internet who had the same brand go wrong' really isn't anything to get so upset over, unless you're twelve.

Grum, feel free to talk to me, but if you keep throwing insults for no reason I'm just going to report you. You've targetted me personally twice so thats grounds for it IMO.

The OP is Heather Mills. I claim my £10!

well, someone suggest the wording of a letter, which apart from slightly sarky wording seemed to sum up what you've done and said pretty well.

I wondered why you felt the need to write stuff that would get you banned/avoid the swear filter about the person who composed it?

[edit]

[talking to a 2 year old voice]

I think you should go and have a sleep and come back when you're in a better frame of mind and can talk to the group sensibly.

[/talking to a 2 year old voice]

For gods sake WWW.

Its in warranty, its failed - whats wrong with claiming?

My non swear filter comment is based on the fact the Grum feels he needs to insult me in every post.

mr plow, if it's cavitated after 3 months it's covered by my warranty, have you contacted me to arrange getting it sent back? I would have rebuilt it for you.
Obviously on older units that have worn, without replacing major parts the tolerances will mean that they don't necessarily stay functional for a reasonable length of time.

Grum, feel free to talk to me, but if you keep throwing insults for no reason I'm just going to report you. You've targetted me personally twice so thats grounds for it IMO.

Probably should have thrown a few smileys in, meant it in a good natured ribbing kind of way (but I do think you're being a bit ridiculous, sorry)

[i]Its in warranty, its failed - whats wrong with claiming?[/i]

nothing, it's just the somewhat convoluted approach you've taken that's causing some amusement/incredulity.

Personally if I was trying to get money out of a company I knew looked at stw I wouldn;t use slagging them and their products off in public as a way of getting them to cough up money for a repair they coudl have done themselves for far less money and in the same time. Just my 2p though.

Frankly, if I found another thread like this from you I might be tempted to post a sarcastic remark too so why not hurl the abuse now and get it out the way?

Loco - the shock was serviced a year ago and it is living the easy life in a box. Thank you for the reply. 🙂

It is not the Loco service that I don't trust as it came back lovely. It is the shelf life of the shock in general as the dreaded squelch is evident.

WWW - I didn't start this thread as a means to get the money back, just a rant. I accepted paying the cash before I sent it, that isn't an issue (and btw, Mojo have just replied stating their turnaround would have been just as quick / they would have warrantied it - so that'll teach me a lesson won't it).

I made a quick decision, becuase I need to get the shock off / sent before I went to Scotland for work this week. Obviously (see above) in my haste I made the wrong decision.

I don't understand your last para, which feels to me like you're trolling for an argument TBH.

[i]I don't understand your last para[/i]

grum made a couple of what seemed to me like tongue in cheek remarks that were makign the same point numerous others had and you seem to have taken umbrage.

I made a couple of slighty tongue in cheek remarks pointing out that you've not done yourself any favours with how you've approached all this with Mojo (which you seem to now acknowledge) or on here (which is still under discussion) and was expectign short shrift from you too.

All fox shocks/forks work fine in California.

grum made a couple of what seemed to me like tongue in cheek remarks that were makign the same point numerous others had and you seem to have taken umbrage.

I made a couple of slighty tongue in cheek remarks pointing out that you've not done yourself any favours with how you've approached all this with Mojo (which you seem to now acknowledge) or on here (which is still under discussion) and was expectign short shrift from you too.

Righto. Maybe I'm a bit grumpy today, and didn't react well to being called
"childish" or "a 12 yo".

Doesn't change the fact there are more than a "couple" of well documented failures of oem fox products, and I've been unlucky enough to have had 2 on 2 bikes.

The mojo thing I've acknowledged.

I won't suggest a group hug 🙂

Pretty common for Fox shox to be unreliable and faulty from new. I have sent several Fox rear shox back to MOJO, most recently 2 RP23s. The first time they just serviced it and sent it back but that left the grinding, leaking, squelching problem unsolved. The second time MOJO did actually repair the issues (similar to above problem) but I had lost all faith as this was my 5th FOX to fail. So I sent it off to TF for a PUSH tune and have not had a single issue with it since.

I have severe OCD when it comes to my bikes and will do routine maintenance on the rear shock once a week so you can't really blame it on that.

All that said, I think the RP23 is still one of the best air shocks (haven't tried Cane Creek DB Air yet) and particularly after a PUSH tune. It is now faultless in all conditions with a lot of use (3-5 rides per week) and all it needs is an air sleeve service now and then.

Mr Plow, no problems 😀 As long as you're happy that's fine.
As always if anyone has any issues feel free to contact me at the workshop. 😀

Loco - I have a pushed VanR on with a custom tune to give it more pedal/pump support on my 06 Enduro and it is currently bliss. I don't think a rework with DHX would achieve anything and waste your time. When I took it off it was at the stage where you stroke it a number of times and the squelch dies down. I know if I ride it more it will probably deteriorate at the same rate as it previously did until the damping gos sour. Thank you for your help.

Just for balance like, here's all the forks and shocks I've owned and how they went wrong:

RS Indy C: blew up damper jumping off steps.
Marz z2 x-fly: slipped glide ring made them sticky. Never failed since fixed.
Marz mx pro: never went wrong.
Magura Durin: shipped with dry lowers and siezed, lower legs recalled, air o-ring failed. Now running RS seals!
Marz mz comp: prev owner had run the air piston leg dry. scored stanchions but fixed.
RS reba race: moco cart replaced under warranty
RS reba comp: never went wrong
DT swiss HVR200: damper piston mis-machined so rebound didn't close properly. fixed under warranty.

Things go wrong sometimes. You'll notice though that the list doesn't contain anything made by Fox!

Pretty common for Fox shox to be unreliable and faulty from new

Not according to the guy who services them for a living.

I have severe OCD when it comes to my bikes and will do routine maintenance on the rear shock once a week

That's probably the cause of all your problems 😉

I'm glad my post didn't turn out like this 🙄

Mojo told me that if the squelch, gritty feel is just in the first few mm of travel then it probably just needs riding to get the oil flowing again after been sat around. If its the whole stroke then its cavitated and Mojo will repair under warranty.

My five month old unit with less than 40 hours riding has gone back to Mojo under warranty. I agree, if you check all the various forums including this you will see quite a number have had issues, especially cavitation from fairly new.

Im starting to wonder whether there was a slightly duff batch manufactuered last year that are still working their way through the system.

Some shocks sit on new bikes in shops for some time before they are bought, so can take time to get used and then fail.

Alternatively, could the really cold weather been a problem, as I was riding several times in -5 to -9 weather. Perhaps the shocks dont like it too cold?

Hopefully Mojo will sort it so it lasts a reasonable time before its next service.

The cold weather was the cause of the only time my old shock stuck down. IIRC the rubbers got stiff when cold and allowed air to migrate to the wrong side of the aircan piston.
Also I think the rubber compound was changed around 2008 to a more flexible one (when cold).