I got a call yesterday from a very nice and knowledgable fella, who is Mike’s ‘warranty and tech guy.’ We discussed the problem in detail and he’s sending me out some shock bolts to try. he quite rightly pointed out that even the thickness of paint wearing off the frame could cause the amount of play I was getting. As a result of the conversation I had a look at the inside of the frame where the shock hardware sits, and there is a .5mm?! indentation where the hardware has worn into the frame.

I had a go at making some shims from hi-tek aluminium plating (stella can) today to fit in between the shock mount hardware and the frame, and after much fiddling and faffing the play seems to have gone. when I tensioned the bolts things were nice and snug without binding, and there was no lateral or vertical movement in the linkage. I’ll have to give it a good thrashing to test it properly, but I gave it some fair abuse around the carpark and no play returned.

I know this fix was suggested above, but tbh I’m still not sure how I feel about it as I’ve had to botch a fix for a bike less than a year old and still in warranty. It would seem that getting custom mount hardware to fit the slightly wider gap would also work, so thanks for the suggestion, I might go down that route as a more permanent solution. either way I’ll be dead happy if the play goes for good.

Thanks for everyones suggestions, and I’ll report back in a few weeks as to whether the botch has lasted.

Thanks poopscoop, good shout, I’ll bare that in mind. I actually emailed Mike Sanderson directly at the same time as posting this, and he has replied already, so that’s encouraging.

Thanks for the reply :)

I can indeed feel the movement when riding, however I can’t detect any movement between the bolt and frame. It seems that there is a bigger gap between the shock mount hardware and the frame at the end with play than at the other end of the shock.

I should have mentioned that the shock is brand new, 3 rides old with new mount hardware and bushing. I’ve also changed the bolt attempting to fix the problem.

T

Update/question; I got the bike back, the shop had put a washer between the bolt and the frame, which appeared to have solved the issue. 2 rides later and the play is back as before. I took the shock off and observed this;

https://youtu.be/WBgAFMJMFJk

Can anyone say if this is normal? I suspect not seeing as the mounting hardware on the other end of the shock sits nice and snug, with only a tiny amount of sideways movement.

Incidentally, when I reinstalled the shock there seemed to be no play, until i put a little pressure on the bike by leaning it over and standing lightly on one of the pedals. The play immediately returned, so thats how I’ll be testing in future.

I thought I’d keep this updated, to document and perhaps help someone else with the same issue-

I got the bike back with a tiny amount of play still in the joint- 2 proper rides later there is at least 1mm play- very noticeable when riding. I had a new set of shock bolts put on last time they were in the shop as they were rounded off from people cranking them tight trying to stop the play. Had a look at the ‘new’ ones again after the last ride to double check nothing had come loose, and they were rounded off too! I haven’t touched them, so clearly someone in store has been attempting to fix the problem by cranking it as tight as possible again…

To summarise, everything (including a brand new shock, as that failed separately) has been replaced apart from the frame. I’m going back in on Monday to talk to the store manager and try to make some headway.

As an aside, I suggested that GO have an online shop for replacement calibre specific parts, and was told something is in the works for that. We’ll see!

@stu1972 :The shock uses this mounting hardware; https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0062N5ELE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

with a du bush.

I don’t have the bike at the mo as it is in the shop, however there was both lateral and vertical play where the shock joined the frame before I took it in. Basically the whole thing was loose.

As a separate issue- my shock has been sent off to Fisher for warranty service, so I won’t have the bike back for 2 weeks or so to investigate any fixes.

From the posts so far the play issue isn’t as normal as I have been told. The bike is under warranty so I will push them to get it fixed.

Thanks for the responses! I agree that a spares page would be very handy. Dealing with the stores for replacement parts is tiresome, as despite the employees being very friendly most tend to not know a lot about bikes haha.

Just to clarify, the play is where the shock joins the frame, not on the seat stay.

I have asked to speak to Mike through G O customer services, but they seem hesitant to let me speak to him directly. I assume he’s a busy guy!