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So I have a 2019 lyrik rc2, charger 2 just before the ultimate came out. They have always felt great but lately feel like there is a noticeable amount of stiction off the top. Like you can almost feel it coming unstuck if that makes sense? There is this feeling when riding that some thing is loose. Like the stanchions are moving back and forth in the lowers. It is sort of the same feeling as when your headset is loose but it’s definitely not that!
I’m sure it can’t be either of those but it’s pretty unnerving!
They were serviced in January and have not done masses of riding since
Anyone got any clue?
Have a look at your brake pads they can move slightly in the calliper. Feels like headset is loose
I'd drop the lowers off and take a look at the bushes.
I wouldn’t have thought brake pads, it was happening before I put my new brakes on. Were talking mega rattly when hammering through rough stuff as well as a loose feeling when not under compression. Never done any of my own suspension work so maybe will have a word with lbs about it
Floating rotors?
worn wheel bearings resulting in play in the wheel?
Axle not correctly tightened or fitted?
Fork bushes worn resulting in play and binding between stanchions and lowers?
Yeah but only in the last week! Put on when I put my new brakes on. Happened with old brakes and regular rotors too. So when standing and lightly compressing the fork it’s almost notchy, it’s so hard to explain!
take the lowers off and see if you can see any problems.
I had a similar sounding problem when the foam rings that usually sit just under the dust wiper seals had broken up and got wedged between the bushings and the stanchions.
Never done any of my own suspension work so maybe will have a word with lbs about it
Dropping the lowers really is very easy to do.
I'd suggest not riding them till you work out why.
How old are they, when was the last service (in hours riding not the last date). If they are anywhere near service time then just send them to TF with a description of the issue.
Loads of vids and blogs about how to take lowers off. A few beginners tips though:
- allow 90 mins if you’ve not done it before, this allows you to take your time, scratch your head if you need to before moving to next step, and have at least one cup of tea
- it’s easier with a bike stand
- you need a rubber mallet to separate the uppers from the lowers
- just take your time with each step, if you’re not sure stop and reread instructions
- you will get oil everywhere it’s inevitable
- particularly make sure you do NOT overtighten bolts when refitting them, this is one of the most common newbie mistakes
- make sure you have some fork oil and a syringe to hand before you start
Good luck if you have a go. Servicing your own lowers is really satisfying I find.
I'm all for self servicing but first time on a relatively new fork that exhibits issues is perhaps not the best place to start.
Wheel bearings just replaced during lock down and I’ve checked torque on axle at least 10 times! Will get the lowers off and take a look. I’m not worried about doing it just never have had a need yet. Very friendly with lbs so they have always taken care of it
Fork is around 15 months old and I’ve only done around 50 hours riding since service
they'll be due a lower leg service then after 50 hrs use. take the opportunity to do that whilst you have a look inside
This is most likely the air spring needs a service, pop the circlip off and clean and grease the 2 O rings and air shaft with slick honey/ sram butter.
I wonder if it’s something to do with the airspring not equalising the positive and negative chambers properly. That could lead to the forks overextending a bit at the top and feeling odd.
If it were me I’d drop the lowers and pop out the airshaft and check the grease situation in there. I’d then clean the inside of the stanchions and reassemble with slick honey grease, either clean or replace the foam rings and pop it all back together with greased seals and lube in the lower legs.
If you’ve never done this before but are up for trying it I’d get a service kit from tf tuned or j tech tuning and follow the Rockshox guide. The only tools you need are circlips pliers, Allen keys (preferably with a torque wrench), and either a 24mm socket or cassette tool to remove the airspring top cap (depending on the fork - I suspect yours will be the cassette tool).
Otherwise I’d just send them to tf tuned or j tech or your lbs (I’d they do fork servicing) for them to do it.
The foam rings dry out over time, not much you can do about that. The 50hours to me is advisory, if mine start feeling sticky/dry I'll pull the lowers off and also give the air spring a service at the same time, also checking the damper to make sure it hasn't leaked.
Time for a fork lower service methinks. Note that Rockshox have changed the grease in the air spring from RSP/RS Honey to dynamic seal grease and a few ml of oil. IMO, the air spring seems to have less stiction between services.
I had exactly this issue on the same model of forks. I did a couple of lower leg services, but it still remained. When I dropped the lowers again I tested each shaft independently and found the notchy-ness was from the air spring.
I greased and lubed the different elements of the air spring and it got better, but came back again after a while. I didn't disassemble the air spring completely (didn't have any threadlock to reassemble) so I think the friction is coming from the airspring seal that slides along the airspring shaft (the only one I didn't disassemble).
Next time I strip down I'll disassemble completely (also to fit the new debonair bits) which should hopefully sort it.
I had the same thing with the airspring - mine kept becoming notchy - in the end I added a little fork oil in there, rather than grease and that made a big difference.
Ok thanks all, will do a lower leg service along with the 2021 c1 airshaft upgrade.
If anyone could check my maths on what I’ve ordered!
-Push ultra low friction seal kit (c/w crush washers etc)
-Tf lower lube kit
-c1 airspring upgrade kit
-fork seal tool
Have I forgotten anything? As far as I could tell the push seal kit does the same as the lower leg service kit? Will clean the airshaft while I’m at it as well
THEAD RESURRECTION!!
So my Lyriks are doing this annoying knocking clunking thing now. I pulled them apart. Damper seems fine, doesn't seem to be any problems with bushings, headset tight. I think it's coming from the air spring.
Anyone else managed to fix it? It's a 2018 fork with C1 airspring. Only thing I can think of is the shaft is worn or something. Maybe a whole new air spring would fix it?
In case anyones wondering, I think the seal head has some play against the circlip, as mentioned here..
https://www.mtbr.com/threads/rockshox-zeb-bushing-play-knock-and-creak.1151187/
So in the end forks ended up going back for warranty for replacement. The bushings in the lower leg we’re worn so RockShox replaced the forks. However now they are out of warranty the csu is creaking 😂🙈