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I'm Mr. Angry of S. Wales today.
Sent my 16 month old Rockshox Superdeluxe shock off to TFT for a service. It's been fine until recently, then about 4-5 weeks ago my bike decided to have a rattle, an annoying **** of a rattle. I changed the bearings, the freebody, the mech and lord knows what else. The only thing left was the shock, it's impossible to recreate this rattle on the stand so it was only through a process of elimination I got to it.
I removed the air can, clean as a whistle inside, always has been. Not a mark on the body, the air can or the shaft, that I could see anyway. One potential issue - the o-ring that holds the bottom out washer is worn/stretched/buggered somehow so the washer can slide around, it makes a bit of a tinging noise, not really the noise I'm looking for, but anyway, to replace it I'd have to delve further into the shock than I dare to tread so I sent it off to TFT.
They've called me today, it's apparently on it's last legs. The shaft is worn, the air can is worn, the main piston is 'rubbish' and the cause of the rattle. The guy said it's very clean inside, which it is and has always been, I complete an air-can service about every 30 hours or so.
His attitude was very "this is normal" asked if I "liked to ride a bit". Well, yeah I like to ride, but I'm a middle aged plodder, not Brandon Fairclough. Did I want to buy a new shock... no, not really.
I couldn't really get him to give an opinion on how or why it's worn so much, it's not dirt ingress, and even if I'd never opened the thing, you'd expect it to survive 16 months of reasonably light use, especially as it spent 3-4 months of them doing little more than riding near my house following my 6 year old.
I don't suppose there's any point complaining to RS, aren't TFT their Disty in the UK?
Misaligned frame? Bendy frame? Long shock yoke?
Could it be related to your bike? Perhaps it puts excessive side loads onto the shock leading to wear.
Could it be related to your bike? Perhaps it puts excessive side loads onto the shock leading to wear.
I shouldn't think so.
It's a Bird so burly as. Also, my Mate's version fitted to his Bronson is exactly the same.
aren’t TFT their Disty in the UK?
It's ZyroFisher.
Have you requested warranty repair/replacement?
“It’s a Bird so burly as”
I’d speak to Bird then - they’re v helpful people!
That's a shame - the main reason I have run Rockshox for the past decade or so is their superior reliability compared to Fox (that and you can't buy Fox anywhere for a reasonable price, which makes their inferior reliability even less acceptable). I've had one problem on an RS product and that was a first generation Pike blowing a seal after 4 years.
The Bird doesn't have a shock yoke does it? They seem to kill all shocks but this may just be bad luck.
It’s a Bird so burly as
That certainly doesn't mean it's straight though!
Had a couple of misaligned Rockshox rears. Offer the shock to the top linkage and it was off to the left. Turn the bottom of the shock 180° and it was then off to the right.
I concluded that the bottom eyelet bore wasn't perpendicular to the shock.
the main reason I have run Rockshox for the past decade or so is their superior reliability compared to Fox
Forks - agreed
Shocks - seems the other way around, with numerous wear issues like the OP's
It’s ZyroFisher.
Have you requested warranty repair/replacement?
No, I have to admit I thought TFT were to RS what Silverfish are and Mojo were.
I think I'll wait for the little report you get back with them and speak to Bird, they've always been great. I don't really fancy spending £500 on a new shock, or £700 on one that might not shit itself in 18 months.
One potential issue – the o-ring that holds the bottom out washer is worn/stretched/buggered somehow so the washer can slide around, it makes a bit of a tinging noise, not really the noise I’m looking for, but anyway, to replace it I’d have to delve further into the shock than I dare to tread so I sent it off to TFT.
Actually its the washer that holds the bottom out o-ring, but either way its a sign it needs a service when that rattles.
Not that that matters here, just fill in the form you'll find here - bird.bike/about-bird/warranty and we'll arrange the shipping to Rockshox for you.
Thanks Ben!
Deluxe on my new Trek Rail 9.9 lasted one ride before it started losing air badly and the compression adjust lever did nothing.
Had 2 YT bikes delivered with faulty RS shocks.
As said above, never had a problem with a fork.
RS shocks have a 2 year warranty so you should be fine, I’m reading this as have just brought a brand new super deluxe coil, hoping it won’t have these issues !
Had a similar wear issue with my rear shock on my Mk1 Aeris.
Was outside warranty. Slick & Slide said if it was another make of shock they could have replaced the worn shaft but RS don't sell them as a part.
Ended up getting a CC DB IL air, as parts for it are easily available (apparently).
Si
I'm actually in the process of migrating back to Fox for suspension duties because of this.
It used to be that RS were a good percentage cheaper, and you could get all the spares you needed at an equally smaller percentage compared to Fox.
But now, they're basically the same price, and they restrict the supply of replacement parts to just a couple of years, limiting the life span of already expensive gear and those parts are generally only available in expensive kits with other parts you don't need.
For example, you cant get replacement charger bladders and so have to replace the entire charger unit. Nearly 200 quid for the sake of a £15 bit of rubber, which are now so scarce they sell for 40 - 60 quid.
So, there are no real benefits to stay with RS.
Having now replaced my Pike and Lyrik with a 36, I'm confident in saying that the quality of Fox manufacture is another level up, and certainly the 36 is a better fork.
If you do send it back for warranty, put your feet up. Mine took 9 weeks!
But now, they’re basically the same price
Erm, no they're not.
Or are you in the US?
Mostly the RRP is about 100 quid plus or minus differenc3 between a 36 and a lyrik ultimate last time I looked.
I'm a bit worried now...just got a second hand Super Deluxe, which I haven't tried yet. I was assured the shock works perfectly, but will see...but I wouldn't buy that shock if I'd have known RS shocks have issues like this.
I've worn through 2 monarch shafts and air cans on my Capra,creating whitened bands of wear around where the inner air quad ring sits at sag.The second shock fucntions still but would get written off again if sent off for a service. I do ride frequently,but have never had such wear issues with other shocks in past.
Mostly the RRP is about 100 quid plus or minus differenc3 between a 36 and a lyrik ultimate
But RS forks get discounted much lower and much more often, and that's clearly part of their business model.
Dunno about the shocks, wouldn't buy an RS shock aftermarket anyway.
No, me neither!
If you have a proof of purchase less than 2 years old any shop with a ZyroFisher account can send it to Sram Tech Centre for a warranty inspection. Expect to have to pay for the shop time to process it if you did not purchase it from them.
RockShox are no longer good for long term serviceability. Reduced parts in service kits and many parts are not sold as spares (shock shafts, lower leg bushes, charger 2 bladders etc). Split a charger 2/2.1 bladder out of warranty, RS just say to buy a new damper, same for a compression adjuster leak. Charger 1 service kit included the bladder and parts like the compression needle o ring as well as seal head etc.
Fox have a much greater availability of small parts and older parts.
Rockshox shocks with damaged shafts are unfortunately common. They are fitted to a lot of bikes OEM which will bias the amount of damaged ones I see, but its so annoying for a RS shock to be scrap due to a damaged shaft. Fox ones are not even that expensive, about £12 for the last Float one I checked.
I was warned not to buy an RS Monarch RCT3 by riders I know (most had more basic versions) and on here. I ignored it because it was brand new, dirt cheap and SRAM support is usually pretty good. It was ****ed within 6 months of use and the warranty replacement went the same way.
RS forks tend to pretty good bar a few issues with certain dampers and models but I've heard nothing but bad things about their shocks! The suspension tuners I spoke to were well aware of the problems with Monarch shocks, which seemed on the face of it to be nearly as bad as Reverbs.
Wouldn't touch RS shocks with a barge pole now. I replaced mine with a Manitou Mcleod (simple and easy to service design) and it's still going strong a year on. The only minor downside is you have to reset the air can, to re-balance the sealed negative air chamber, every so often with these shocks.
Surprised their newer shocks still have issues because they were supposed to be new designs (some magazine did a full teardown and comparison) with increased bushing overlap and better sealing.