[Closed] Where is Bos suspension made ?

Given what I hear of their reliability, surely has to be all French 😉

Some of the seals are high quality SKF.

So what's the story with reliability, or is it the slow availability of spares?

A number of smaller companies fit it OE

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Bos is likely to be using standard seal sizing so for those parts at least a factor could be used.
There are lots of companies in the fettling mx motorcycle suspension who could probably service these forks.
There is also a healthy uk motorsport suspension manufacturing industry.

http://www.nitron.co.uk/index.htm

I had a look at some of the Bos promotional videos which show prototypes being machined in their French factory. There is also some assembly going on but I can't see any manufacturing so I guess they are made in Taiwan ?
The other possibility is they get damper cartridges custom made at Öhlin in Sweden or Bilstein or Sachs in Germany.

It's only a bit of machining, anodising and fitting parts to components so not really much that couldn't be done in house or contracted out to local companies.

I was told by a former Bos employee that seals are outsourced & all mechanical parts are manufactured in house. They have a fairly long history and good reputation in motorsports and already had the necessary expertise and tooling to manufacture their own product. Also consider that they started off by making replacement internals and damping that slotted into the big manufacturers products. I recall the 888 cartridge/conversion was very highly regarded.

It's potentially their in house production that causes the problems when it comes to after sales service & support. That, and a certain disregard to the world of emails and answering questions.

Having ridden some (very nice) the lever on the axel is very poorly designed. We (I say we, my good mate who is on the team and me) were testing polygons proto carbon enduro bike and it's such a fiddle, the little black lever in the pic just flops about. They have been sponsored by Bos this year so hope their parts are good as I can imagine those guys(mick Hannah etc) giving them some abuse.

mildred - Member

It's potentially their in house production that causes the problems when it comes to after sales service & support. That, and a certain disregard to the world of emails and answering questions.

Some direct contact details here:

http://www.pinkbike.com/u/bosmtb/

No issues with mine 13 months in and performance is out of this world.

Through axle lever as mentioned above is a complete non-issue for me.

Not sure where they're made but they are damned good forks!

Developed by Nico,used by Anne Caro last year...

As for reliability,how many people post on forums 'I've bought had these forks 6months & they haven't broke yet!'?

Dave

As for reliability,how many people post on forums 'I've bought had these forks 6months & they haven't broke yet!'?

That's not really the point. Three different distributors in three years puts a lot of people off on the basis that, [i]if[/i] the forks you've bought do break, it's potentially going to be horrible trying to source spares.

Developed by Nico,used by Anne Caro last year...

And here lies the crux of it. Nico hasn't slowed down since he went onto Fox, then Rock Shox, and likewise AC hasn't all of a sudden gone any faster.

Which reflects my own experiences. They all feel diferent, but i've never sped up or gone slower with one fork over another.