Alpine 160 rp23 leaking air / what pressure do you run….

So I’ve recently built an Alpine 160 and am loving the bike. It’s second hand so you’re never quite sure what you’ve got. My only concern is the rp23. I’ve been running 250psi in the shock which seems ok but I’m running into a couple of issues;

1. The shock won’t hold the 250psi. I pumped it up just before a blast round llandegla today and by the time I got back it was on 225psi. When I leave it for a few days it seems to settle on 200psi. Any thoughts?

2. I’m not sure 250psi is enough. However it’s hard to know as I’m not sure the air stays in long enough to check the sag. What pressure do you run in yours? Can you run the rp23 boost valve with 275psi?

I guess the leaky shock could be remedied by a seal replacement which I can do. Are there any other reasons a shock could be leaking?

Any thoughts would be welcome…other than suggestions on weight loss!?
😀

the shock may not be leaking, is not just air escaping into pump when connecting pump?
Is it the pump gauge telling you this every time you connect it?

I could cope with 10-15psi but even if I put 260psi in at the start by the end of a ride I’m still down to 225-200psi so I’m guessing not.

What weight in stone are you?

Take shock off bike and pump to desired pressure.

Submerge in bucket of water.

Find leak.

My Rp23 was leaking from arround the shrader valve and was easily sorted.

seanodav

I thought this might be relevant….

in riding kit with bag etc 105kg / 16 1/2stone

supertacky

done this and there’s no noticeable leak.

There’s tiny bubbles coming from the seal but really slowly

260 psi seems excessive, maybe wrong?
which seal is there bubbles from?

seanodav

the lip seal around the shock shaft…

Not certain on this but im sure there is no air on that side of shock unless it is in neg pressure ie stuck down.
Check its not stuck down and take aircan off,clean o ring and plastic rings on shaft and grease them see if that works

mmmm.

Try doing an air can service. Details on You tube from Mojo.

seanodav

thanks for the advice…I’ll give the aircan a clean and see if that helps. I’ll probably replace all the seals at the same time and keep my fingers crossed.

Hope that works for you.

scrap it get a coil xD

drunkenmonkey…going back to the air pressure loss. When you connect a shock pump, a portion of the high pres. air in the can has to fill the pump tube and the part of the gauge to register a pressure. Baring in mind, the shock hasn’t got a huge volume of very high pres. air to start with. It is normal to see a 20-30 psi loss when connecting a pump.

Thanks for all the input, it’s all welcome, and I would love to swap it for a coil but just can’t justify it! I’ve done an aircan service and the shock has been perfect since. I’ve been thrashed in the alps the last few days with the whiteroom and it’s been heaven… thanks for the advice.

Good result monkey. Enjoy.