Air Shocks top up ?

Just a quick question – but do Rear Air shocks require topping up the air pressure every now and then ?

Ive had mine for about a year now – i’ve not fiddled with the air pressure for probably 8 months +

Went out on it today and noticed Sag was double what it should be. Just been adjusting it and it was down about 50psi.

Topped it back up and sag is correct again. Is this a sign of a leak etc or just that it needed a top up ??

Could be a slow leak on the valve- easy to check if the core is tight.

How do you know its lost 50psi? If you pump it up to say 150psi, then remove the pump the next time you attach the ump you’ll get a lower figure as the hose on the pump gets filled.

Shouldn’t really leak that much – mine loses a bit but over the course of a few months. I only ever top mine up after Xmas when I bang a load of weight on!

Valve core is tight.

Well i dont really know if it is exactly 50 PSI but i run it about 180 PSI and when i attached the pump it was down at around 145 PSI or something – i know you loose pressure when attaching and removing the pump hose but it must have been down on a bit of pressure as it was sagging about 60% instead of 30%

All air based shocks will leak slightly over that period of time, you just tend to not notice on a day to day basis. I’ve a similar rate of leakage from my rear shock too. I think thats why the manual suggests checking it from time to time. It also depends on the volume of your shock, smaller volume shocks will lose a larger number of psi, for a set amount of air lost, than a larger shock.

Hmm Ok.

I shall take it for another ride after lunch to check what happens.

If i think about it i probably havent touched the air pressure in 12 + months as i got it late 07 about September, set it up and left it as is…

So fingers crossed it just needed a little re-freshing.

Maybe I like fiddling too much, but I do mine every couple of weeks. Why would you not check it reasonably regularly – only takes 1 minute. Same with forks.

With air shocks the pressure will vary according to air temp, so if you were riding over Christmas when it was really cold it will be running lower. Also, when it is really cold don’t check the pressure if the bike has been sitting indoors – you will get too high a reading

Ah…. That might be something ?

I took it outside from a warm house straight into the cold would that be making it sag more ?

I brought it back into the house and checked it straight away too…