[Closed] Buying used suspension

factor a full rebuild and tune into the price and you are fine as long as you make shure no expensive components need replacing for wear or damage.

will be better than a crappy factory build

I've bought most of my suspicion parts second hand. There is a degree of pot luck. Most has been in very good condition. I'm happy enough to do a service but it isn't always needed. Only had a couple of significant issues. One very slight air leak that I just couldn't fix but lived with, another that had a DIY travel bodge. Only found it because it was causing another issue. Easy enough to fix properly once opened up. Significant savings over new so well worthwhile.

If you can service them yourself that helps a lot- pro servicing eats up too much of the savings. And you should pretty much assume that any fork you buy used wants at least a lowers service (even the most conscientious servicer could well leave it undone when they plan to sell).

Can't remember the last time I bought a new fork tbh, but it was a 26er for sure. You can just get so much more for your money and with good products and mainstream brands it's not that much of a gamble- real neglect tends to be visible. Having said that my most recent ones had the opposite, they'd been serviced and had a debonair fitted by an enthusiastic amateur, and it was pretty close to trashing them. Probably the closest I've come to a real fail in all the used forks I've ever had.

Plenty of people sell off 'lower spec' forks & shocks cheap, if you're happy doing a lower leg/ aircan service you can get some bargains on a mint yari or something similar

Always a risk with secondhand, especially with the premium prices these days, might be worth looking at discounted sets, i'm struggling to see many bargains that don't have increased risks, you know that anything you buy will more than likely be hammered and well past their service intervals, so as above, factor that in, i tend to do my own lowers and minor servicing, but that does add cost, 30 quid for seals, specific oils required, flat sockets, etc, etc.

Might be worth trawling the usual sites to see what's around, or if you have to hit secondhand, aim around those upgrading, the ones who want a better coating, or damper, or compression levels and so on, although usually they are the same folk who are selling them at high prices.

Bought used forks in the past, its not so much of a lottery if you do your homework

-make sure you get decent photos of the stanchions
-Service history
-Overall condition

I'd always factor in a lowers service, even if they are brand new (unless bought from Jtech/TF) to make sure they have fresh oil in. Lowers servicing is pretty straight forward, plenty of videos and guides about.

good to do your homework as well with regards to known issues.  Boxxers from 2016-18 were known for stanchion wear on the left leg, Fox 36 csu creak to mention a couple from the last few years that i have experienced

What are you after? I have some recently serviced 55 rc3 ti's in a 170mm 26" flavour

Have bought both new & used, would continue to do so.

Usual rules apply, don't look at older stuff that looks like it's had a hard life, do tend to stick to people I know as i'll have an idea how much it's been used & looked after 🙂

What are you after? I have some recently serviced 55 rc3 ti’s in a 170mm 26″ flavour

Looking for 150mm 27.5 forks - Pikes, 34s maybe Upgraded Yaris that sort of thing and 230x65 air rock rear.

I can see there are definitely options about, looked on eBay and here - but wanted to test the water a bit.

Thanks for all the advice.

All of our stuff has been second hand and as long as you're ok doing a bit of work yourself if it needs it, then it's a good way to get very good stuff cheaper than the cost of new. You have to be quick though, bargains don't hang around long.

Have a look on Pinkbike as well, have bought and sold forks and shocks from here and Pinkbike. Pinkbike allows you to drill down to what you are looking for. Always some good deals to be had.
Also had new ones from eBay usually from bike shop eBay accounts.

I've had 3 forks and a shock off pinkbike and all have been great.

Could have been pot luck but I only buy from somebody with a decent history and where there are good pictures. Anything still dirty, still on the bike or photo taken in the dark gets a pass.

I also ask the usual questions about when last it was serviced, any known issues etc. You can normally tell at this point if it is going to be a gamble. It is then deciding if the gamble is worth it or not.

been looking for a while for a set of forks, what does come on sale is overpriced and near new prices just now, its not worth the effort. Added in with the Usual pinkbike silence from sellers. So I've decided to see what the brexit lottery throws at me and I've bought a set from the Germans

I'm no expert at playing this game, but it seems to me there's a huge spectrum of people that buy and sell bike stuff. There seem to be people who buy and sell often, compulsively. If you find one of them you can get mint condition stuff for a hefty discount. Vs people who ride quite a lot and basically only exchange stuff when it wears out. E.g. I wouldn't buy any used forks from me 😀

Having said all that, I'm very impressed with the current (~2014 onwards) RS. They're all modular, parts are not that expensive and the critical bits (air spring, damping circuit) don't seem to wear out. Even if you get a bad 'un then new seals and a service will probably see them right.

Buying secondhand, if you have it, bide your time.  I managed to get a VGC set of 2020 Lyrik Ultimates with the updated 21 damper on ebay for £400 mid lockdown, I don't even think they reached my max bid and I was surprised when I got the win notification.  After a couple of rides I did get a bit of weeping from a bolt on the lowers which was sorted with a service (deffo budget for this, I'm fortunate I have a good place to get them done locally).  I've had several other sets of forks and frames / shock bought used and never had a problem, though I do look out for stuff that looks cosmetically sound.  I'd just study pics, buyers feedback etc to give some confidence.

I once sell a CC shock and the buyer came back to me a little while later claiming it was blown.  I asked for a service report and didn't hear anything back from the buyer so assumed a fast one was being pulled (I would've been open to discussion if I'd seen a report).