[Closed] Thoughts on a RockShox warranty problem

Get the original shop on the case

The shop isnt the shop he purchased the bike from and the mechanic is a good mate of mine, and im stuck in the middle here as normally id tell him to complain to the shop owner, but thatll see my mate fall out with me.

I think you want to have a word with your mechanic 'mate' for his shop screwing your other mate over by not sending the shock off.

What Stato said.

Take it the Kona was brand new and not second hand?

They open a claim with SRAM in October but didnt send the shock off until last month, they claimed they had but hadnt had a replacement back. Eventually last month they find his shock in the workshop and send it off. So it gets to SRAM and they have said its been serviced with the wrong oil, its extremely scratched externally and its out of warranty. So I ring the service centre and explain all the above thats its never been serviced so how can it have the wrong oil in it and that the scratches must have been made whilst it was rattling around in the shops workshop

Always, always, always go through the retailer who sold the part in question.

I'm not convinced it is. I forgot to mention 2 months ago they said his shock was back and gave him a new monarch. A week later I get a text that it wasn't for him and they need it back.

Matey is of the mind he sent it back as a favour and it's just caused him hassle. End of

BNIB from wheelbase

Matey sounds like a bit of a ****. Sending a shock to a service centre under warranty is hardly a hassle and why would he agree to do it in the first place if it was?

Get the shock back as-is and try and work out if its the correct one. It's probably not even the right size

SRAM confirmed it was 200x57. Never occurred to me to keep the serial though

I'd still want it back to have a look. If you get it back and it's battered, or missing stickers, or something that makes it look like it wasn't the original shock then words need to be had*

*mostly on the internet of course

Basically, I think he's ****ed. I can't see that SRAM are in the wrong here.

I'd be going to the shop to see what reparations they can offer - e.g. providing a replacement at trade (or less).

Why is the shop testing you anyway? It sounds like you've managed to get yourself into the middle of this and, if that was the case, I reckon you may need to sweeten it a little by contributing to the replacement too.

So in none of this is RS at fault. Just you, buddy and matey.

Buddy is out a £300 shock
Matey is going to get a ticking off from his boss and learns to not do favours again
You are going to have an annoyed buddy, annoyed matey and no shop discount

I had exactly the same problem with my Kona Process. Which basically killed the shock! Didnt bother with a warranty claim as i bough the bike second hand. I wanted an upgrade anyway. But there is an inherent issue around the Process and shock wear (just google it) Be also worth getting your mate to check the rear swing arm for cable rub from the brake hose. Mine nearly wore completely through the frame. I tried to buy a replacement chainstay but Kona were absolutely, completely useless! Both the manufacturer and the UK agent.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/psa-cheap-fox-cdt-shocks

Sussed out susp have 200 x 57mm Kashima CTD shocks on sale @ £150

Cheers. I'm stuck in the middle as the owner of the bike suffers with a mental medical condition and can barely leave the house some months never mind sort out an issue with his shock. If I hadn't done anything he'd just be "not heard about my shock" on a weekly basis for the next 20 years.

I've just got a pic of the shock and it doesn't look that scratched to me. I just don't get the whole wrong lubricant thing.

The "wrong" lubricant is a shitty excuse fork/shock producers usually come up with.
It's not like it was serviced with sunflower oil; the damping fluid RockShox uses as a lubricant is certainly not the best oil suited for the task (see their switch to some mistery 0w30 for the lowers of Pike forks).

And havent they stopped using oil in the monarch aircan and now recommend their military grease?

Would it have been 'in warranty' if the shop had sent it back in October when they should have done?

I may be interested in the knackered shock if you wanted to sell and it was no use to you.

It would have been in warranty. But SRAM appear to warranty stuff 2 years down the road. They just seem to have taken a stance on this shock for some reason.

And havent they stopped using oil in the monarch aircan and now recommend their military grease?

The last service kit I bought had both oil (2.5wt?) and grease. The grease is still in there, the oil made its way out over a few rides.

Havent Sram changed distro? Fisher to Fisher-Zyro? This could have changed how they deal with warranties?

Unfortunately your acts of kindness seem to have blown up in your face. It's always better to go through official channels for this sort of thing.

Sussed out susp have 200 x 57mm Kashima CTD shocks on sale @ £150

Also got cheap canecreak inlines in the right size.

Fisher to Fisher-Zyro?

Isn't that just a merger?

No good deed goes unpunished it seems... 😐

Shameless opportunism, but if your mate wants to get riding I'm selling [url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-fox-rear-shock-as-new ]THIS[/url] for my mate. It was genuinely taken straight off a new Tracer before being ridden.

I took my 10 month old monarch off to be serviced and noticed wear on the stanchion.
Sent it back to Merlin and they sent it to SRAM.
Received an email explaining that it had Fox bushes and dirt has caused the issue.
If you want it fixed that will be £130.
Ask for it to be returned as it was still working Ok, turns up together but with the bushes in a bag.
WTF....

I sent off a Monarch for warranty with shaft wear (but not scratches). SRAM also claimed I'd used that wrong grease initially. After I sent a photo of the 2 tubs of SRAM own brand grease that I had used they warrantied it.

My 2014 Process had the same problem , air shaft scored ( bit of a pattern here ? ) SRAM said they would look at it providing it was returned by the shop I bought the bike from . Contacted bike shop ( it's a 2 hour drive for me ) I sent it to them they sent it to SRAM I ended up with a brand new shock upgraded to Debonair

Don't know if things have changed now, but Fisher are normally pretty good with warranty. If they refuse or kick up a fuss it will usually be for a very good reason.

Still, wrong oil - hmm. Unless it's seriously totally the wrong oil like thick crude. Getting the wrong weight oil in shocks a little off isn't a killer generally. Maybe the seals won't be so happy. Vague possibility seal could prematurely fail and dirt gets in then scratches.

However scratches on rear shocks I've often heard are from the way shocks are mounted / mount design. i.e. lateral forces some frames will put the shock under.

I can't see what oil they're talking about. The aircan was off and had been wiped down. Where's this wrong oil living? Which leads us back to the did they get the wrong shock?

In my ten years in the trade I have never found Sramtech to be of any bloody use at all.

Shock back today. Warranty denied due to exterior scratches, incorrect lubrication used and suspected frame misalignment. Make ya mind up boys

wysiwyg - Member
SRAM confirmed it was 200x57. Never occurred to me to keep the serial though

If you go back to the shop and ask , they will have had to submit a warranty request to Zyro/Fishers and to do that they will have to have included the serial number of the shock . See if it matches the serial number on the shock that you currently have .

Make ya mind up boys

We'll be needing some pics then.