My 125 mm drop Reverb has developed a bit of sag. When pushed down on it moves approx 10mm then springs back. It did this under warranty and was repaired FOC. It’s now out of warranty so I guess I’d better get round to fixing it. Watching the first of the four Rockshox vids on the servicing of the post it advises that if you’re experiencing this problem the post must be returned to an authorised service centre. Does anyone know why this is ?

Thanks in advance, D.

Mine has done this a couple of times in the last couple of years.
I put in the LBS for a hydraulic bleed which cured it. First time didn’t fix it for very long but the second bleed has cured it for a good few months and still going strong.

Via your Fishers dealer then back to Fishers probably.

read somewhere it is an air gap in the damper. How old is the reverb?

Yeah like Tuska said, it’s air in the damper so instead of a bed of oil to rest on as you sit on it, it has now got a bit of air in there too so you’re compressing the air first, then hitting the oil level after 10mm. Common cause of it it with the post down, picking it up. This can pull air past the seal head and introduce air in the damper…there are numerous other ways of it happening too, like leaking seals etc.

Sending it in, or doing a full service is the only way to sort it as you need get rid of the air, however as you unthread the bolt to access the IFP and oil level, it will be under pressure. This is why they want it back to sort as it can literally fire off. Some jobs are just worth leaving to others and this is one of them (unless you’re very familiar with the internals of the Reverb). Whatever you choose to do, hope you get it sorted dude 🙂

As above, it’s air in the internal oil system. The SRAM full service procedure will fix it but was a genuinely massive pain the first time I did it (although not actually hard). As in it took me three attempts before I got it fully working. Great now though.

I’d echo what was said about the post internals being under pressure sometimes though- the assembly under the seat clamp fired itself off with some alacrity and needed a good half hour to find the bits. I’d do it in a box or something if you can. The SRAM guide also has a misleading bit in the video that stops the post extending fully if you follow it to the letter- shout if you want to try it and I’ll explain.

How much do you want to try it yourself?

Many thanks for the detailed replies. I’d guessed that air in the hydraulic fluid would be the cause. Every possibility this has been caused by picking the bike up with the seat lowered. I’ve got more than one Reverb & can’t see me sending them away for regular servicing, I’m simply too much of a tight-wad. I’m going to buy the service parts & give it a go.

What could possibly go wrong….

Many thanks for the info

When I fitted mine (Stealth) it needed a bleed – using the syringes that came with it was pretty painless, and worked well.

I’ve had two reverbs replaced under warranty which developed this problem after a year of use. I described the problem and was told to send it back for a replacement, no questions asked. I wasn’t going to argue 😀

Obviously worth checking the air pressure and bleeding first though.

For what its worth, I had a similar problem, tried bleeding and air pressure checks, it got worse. Eventually sent it in, out of warranty, and for a £40 service, they just sent a new one back.

This seems to be a default action on some of the original Reverbs.

There’s an internal bleed and the remote bleed. The remote bleed sometimes seems to help but not consistently.

Mine does this, came new on my Cube Stereo.

It’s going to be a pain to sort – I’ve no idea how to remove it as it’s internally routed and the shop I bought the bike from has closed down.

What’s the worst that will happen if I leave it?