I bought a new bike in December (RRP £2700!) with Reba RL 29s fitted. I did 11 rides and 178.5 miles over the next 2 months and then forks went wrong. Fair enough I think, these things happen and sent them off under warranty (via the LBS).

2 1/2 weeks later (after missing the entire dry spell!) I finally hear back only to be told they are full of mud/water and need a paid service at my expense. A bit miffed at being told this I speak to the SRAM warranty department myself. I then have the pleasure of spending the next half an hour being told all about how they are overdue a service (in 11 rides?), how I have jet washed them and forced mud in (I haven’t) and generally caused all the worlds evils (should I be doing anything other than hosing the mud off the forks after each ride?). They even had time to impart such knowledge as how the fender bender I fitted since new was actually increasing stanchion wear by keeping the mud in the area (I’d better let MuckyNutz know to change their marketing immediately).

End result – I’m having the forks sent back and will fix them myself for a fraction of the cost in a fraction of the time and learn a big lesson about buying SRAM again.

should I be doing anything other than hosing the mud off the forks after each ride?

Warm soapy water, sponge and cold water poured over to wash away the foam. Never, ever blast it with any sort of pressure hose.

Anyway, I detect some sort of information disconnect here. SRAM generally know their stuff, and I don’t doubt they’ve seen it all. So how do you account for the damage?

How do you think the mud/water got inside?

SRAM generally know their stuff, and I don’t doubt they’ve seen it all. So how do you account for the damage?

How do you think the mud/water got inside?

Oh oooh…. here they come, they will all be after you in a minute to get to the bottom of this.

What exactly went wrong with them?

How do you think the mud/water got inside?

I can only figure a seal has gone/theres a fault somewhere/something out of tolerance or cold weather caused the seals to shrink a bit?

None of the people I’ve done the rides with have had similar issues despite their bikes being older and washed in the same way at the same time (end of the drive with a hose pipe).

Don’t get that with 26″ wheels… 😯

I’ll get me coat…

What exactly went wrong with them?

I was getting near the end of a ride and noticed they looked a bit sagged down and felt very firm. Closer investigation revealed they worked fine when off the bike and pushed down from the fully extended position, but if they were pushed down to the sagged position then pushed again (as in normal riding) they were locked to the point that the bars would flex but forks not move.

Rorschach – Member
How do you think the mud/water got inside?

It was a strategic placement done out of malice by the OP…

Well I use a hose pipe on the lowers and on the arch. Always avoid the seals (shield with hand when hosing the arch) and just to be anal where the crown and stanchions meet.

Also I’ve seen neglected forks still working pretty well and when opened up have much crap inside… Would not have thought it would kill them, as much as cause accelerate wear on parts… I’m just an amateur fork fettler though. I was once told off by TF for jet washing and forcing water in on a service sheet, which miffed me tbh. When doing my own forks I always look for water in the oil by way of judging any need for seal replacement, only ever found it when I expected it on neglected ones, suspect seals.

Before you all get too angry at me daring to use the hosepipe on my bike, the Pikes on my old bike were used for 5 years of the same riding and cleaning. They have never been touched yet still work perfectly, the seals still seem fine and stanchions show no sign of wear.

Maybe I was just expecting too much from the Rebas. After all they do say they need to be serviced every 25 hours in the get out warranty work free book manual.

Does it say service? or oil change?

But in all honesty no-one keeps those schedules.

Lower service at 25 ish hours I believe

My mate had exactly the same with sektor’s they said they were full of mud and water and blown a seal. After 35 hours riding, he dug his heels in and Leisure Lakes ended up sorting the warranty not Fishers. Fair play to Leisure lakes but fishers not so good. This has been made worse by 2 rides after there full service they have developed loads of play and got back again.

I have always used a hose (low pressure) on suspension forks and never had any trouble and I don’t see the problem with it as long as your using common sense and not blasting water directly at the seals at high-pressure.

For a company the size of SRAM to give you grief over what sounds like a rogue set of forks is piss-poor imo.

Maybe write a letter to them?

Hold on a minute. 25 hrs? That’s not very long. What kind of service is expected?

I had a set of reba race go back for warranty work recently 26iversion.
Turns out they just needed a service, I’d only had them a few months.. Seems Rockshox service schedule is not much better than the ( much criticised) Fox service schedule….

Mine were done under warranty though, so I was happy with that.

Edit..
I believe it’s an oil change and clean that’s required every 15 – 25 hours depending on the type of riding.

Service manual, says remove lowers and clean and relube every 50 hours

http://cdn.sram.com/cdn/farfuture/qiOw86pBDRzrQ2xW6l_9434o6PW1hV2rDGi0zNPhqZM/mtime:1324596780/sites/default/files/techdocs/95-4015-023-000_suspension_fork_-_rev_d_0.pdf

2011 Fork Manual

Still think I’m mad wanting a lefty 🙂

I have the same forks & no problems at all, I live in a warm country so the bike never sees mud though, just lots of dust. I’m in UK at the mo & Bromptons don’t like mud – those little wheels just spin round.

OP’s stated use and care/cleaning of fork, and fishers/sram’s understanding of what is wrong with the fork (or its user) do not match at all.

Lowers full of mud and water with that kind of use really is most odd: I have never taken a jetwash to a bike, but have hosed a-plenty, dozens and dozens of river crossings at events or just out riding, and even dunked my bike in the river to de-clag between ridiculously muddy laps at 24hr races.

Yet in fifteen or twenty services on the 8 different 32mm RS forks I have had over the years (including four rebas), plus a couple of others I did for mates I have never found mud or water in the lowers – nothing beyond the right volume of oil but a little bit browner than when it went in, and a tiny bit of dirt right behind the lip of the dust (ie big grey) seals.

[Hércule Poirot moustache twirling] Methinks the OP has jetwashed the bejeesus out of his fork, has had it for a lot more than 2 months/11 rides/178 muddy miles, or just maaaaaybe, the distributor is covering up a fault with the fit of the dust seals on the stanchions… [/Poirot]

Also fwiw neoguard/beef curtain (or indeed the guard that RS used to make and sell specially for 09-’11 Sid forks!) is way worse for directing mud towards your dust seals than an under-crown mudguard like a fenderbender/marsh guard.

Ops version of bike usage and cleaning is accurate rest of the bike is still spotless.

parkesie – Member

Ops version of bike usage and cleaning is accurate rest of the bike is still spotless.

well that will be the distributor trying to get paid for fixing a warranty claim then. 👿

Iirc nothing in warranty about under-crown guards or gentle hose use, and unless the OP’s average speed was less than 3 mph, it was comfortably within the 50 hours lowers service interval.

If I were you I’d be asserting your legal rights a bit more strongly – under 6m and the burden of proof is reversed and on the retailer (not manufacturer) to prove that it is your fault.

Try getting to grips with the phrases ‘not fit for purpose’ ‘not of satisfactory quality’ ‘pieces of s**t’ – well maybe not the last one.

Letter to the retailer with big red letters ‘Letter Before Action’ sent signed for, informing them that either they sort this s**t out or you will be buying a new set of comparable forks from another manufacturer (DT Swiss I say) via another LBS and issuing a small claim writ against them for all the trouble, including fitting cost.

I once sent a digital camera for warranty repair to be told that they had found a lump of toffee inside! We discussed the options of how it was most likely to have got in there, after this they did it FOC.

Ops version of bike usage and cleaning is accurate rest of the bike is still spotless.

Well on the one hand the shop are telling me the bike was pretty dirty, has clearly been used in muddy conditions and lacking in care and maintenance (In my defence the forks broke on an 18 mile after work night ride. Motivation for polishing was a little lacking afterwards!)

On the other hand I have SRAM telling me I have jet washed my forks to death which I guess is the exact opposite of the reason the shop are saying! There is just no winning!

has had it for a lot more than 2 months/11 rides/178 muddy miles

Nope, I even went back to Strava and listed out every single ride since new (Strava in actually being useful shock!)

Still think I’m mad wanting a lefty

Now if I could just win the lottery, I could get some too! 😉

Maybe…I dunno. The OP certainly has an issue to resolve, but objectively speaking, this looks like one of those ‘ my Cotic Soul frame has cracked and they refuse to warranty it! By the way I’m 16 stone and like jumps and drop-offs’ sort of thing.

Well, I got the forks back, service kit and oils come in the post Saturday morning (total cost £30 with enough oil for about 10 services!). Spent a could of hours in the garage having a play around and they are good as new 😀

SRAM service had drained all the offending oil/muck out so nothing for me to inspect other than the dirty foam seals.

To be honest, a lower leg only service would take me all of 30 mins from start to finish next time, so probably not worth getting in a fuss about if it happens every couple of months.