My brand X dropper broke the other day (no longer returns at all) and CRC warrantied it with replacement vouchers, but they don’t want the broken post back.
Yep, sell it. My last two droppers came as spares or repairs. One fixed just fine, the other loses a little air but only needs topping up every few months so I can live with it. If it 30.9 I’d be interested 🙂
If it’s like most of the other BX posts it’s basically got a sealed gas strut inside, odds are this is the point of failure and CRC/wiggle don’t seem to carry the spare, the post itself is just a re-badged Trans-X, the same design is sold under a few other brands and you might be able to find that Gas strut/cartridge part.
This might work but at ~£75 with postage it’s not really much less than a new BX post in the sales…
Anyone buying it expecting to repair it will struggle to fix it without that specific part, which potentially makes the whole exercise a bit uneconomic (so I’m not surprised CRC don’t want it back). I don’t know what it’s really worth to anyone unless they’ve scuffed an outer tube…
But like I said, just have it apart to poke about for fun.
It’s worth disassembling before you chuck it on eBay, at least then you’ll know what’s actually failed and if it’s an easy fix or not.
Or I’m wrong, that sealed unit is fine and its just gotten full of dirt and grit, and bound up on the keyways? and just needs a good clean and re-grease, in which case opening it is a piece of piss OP:
Anyone buying it expecting to repair it will struggle to fix it…
Or I’m wrong
Such is the joy of buying spares or repair. I think I’m generally ahead. Most things I’ve bought like that have been easier to repair than expected. A few things have been beyond me and gone in the bin or back on ebay. Usually worth a gamble and way better than stuff going straight to landfill.
Yeah it’s quite funny really, I’m still using an X-fusion Hilo I bought in 2011, so it’s nearly a decade old and has been on numerous bikes, it’s completely user serviceable, uses regular fork oil, air from a shock pump and I’m still able to buy replacement seal kits for about ~£25ish…
Effectively its an “open bath” dropper if you like, it’s no more complex than a late 90’s Marzocchi fork.
If I’d been too scared to open my dropper, I’d have probably bought 4 or 5 replacements by now so it’s saved me ~£500 over the last decade… at least that’s my logic.
By using a sealed Gas strut they have simplified the manufacture of that Trans-X/BX post. but essentially they’ve made it non-user serviceable, you can take all the care you like to grease the bushes, fit a guard to keep crud off of it, etc, etc. but if that gas strut goes it’s useless…
Progress innit.
Anyway my generous offer of a tenner still stand OP, save you those ebay fees 😉
Ok lads so a question for ye, Both my droppers appear to have a small amount of rotation in them ,is this just something loose inside or a common thing ?
Depends how small. All droppers (IME) have a little play. It’s inevitable from the mechanism, that needs to be loose enough to freely move up and down. Some.more than others. A few mm at the saddle nose is normal, 5mm+ might point to something a bit worn
Mountainman, i think a little is normal. For my brand x one I had huge amounts of play one – this is caused by the ‘keys’ wearing down. can replace these pretty cheap
they are the same as koryak posts. When i contacted CRC for service manual they sent me the manual for koryak so im pretty sure this is the bit you need if you wanted to fix it for 30 quid
