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I recently purchased a pair of Rockshox Rebas second hand. They were advertised as being in excellent condition, have "very little use", super smooth, and have just had a lowers service just before being listed for sale.
I purchased the Forks. They looked new on the outside and have their full 120mm travel. However when I pushed down on them they felt stiff on the initial compression. They don't sag much/don't use any travel when I sit on them, if set at the correct air pressure for my weight. Once they do compress a bit then they move through the rest of the travel as would expect for given air pressure, it's just the initial movement is stiff. Anyone know what causes this ?
I did 3 rides on them, noticed that they felt quite harsh, and on the 3rd ride, the Seal at the top of the Lower Leg (I don't know the proper name of it?) came off as seen in the picture:
The foam ring (if that's what it is called ? ) - which is just visible underneath where the seal has come off - looked *very* dry and full of dust. Surely if these had been serviced, as claimed in the advertisement, they wouldn't be like that ?
What do you think the best action is to take on these forks ? Try to send them back ? Due to not being in condition advertised ?
Or would taking them in for a lowers service most likely get rid of all these problem ?
This was the Ebay advertisment:
were they bought from TJ and his oil change service centre ? 😀
seriously though , seals should not come out like that even when buggered - somethings gone wrong there , i suspect you have air where you should not have air.
That's what I thought, I read up on this quite considerably this morning and read that it is related to negative air pressure. Anyway I've asked to send them back.
I only purchased these for my secondary bike, so only just got round to riding them this week as my main bike is pending a job on it's Bottom Bracket.
I cannot believe I've got myself in a situation where both bikes have both failed at the same time.
I contacted the seller about the fault basically saying the same thing as the OP
His reply was:
"The forks are not defective I think you have been messing around with them & you have been using them off road for several weeks I will not accept a return Many thanks Daniel"
Does anyone else think these forks were sold to me defective if this has happened on basically their first week of use ?
Since I've recieved the forks they have not been messed with. Just fitted to the bike and that's it.
Ebay says that they can step in to try to solve the dispute if it is not solved in 8 days. I am not sure what exactly what they will do.
Not sure if this will help but worked for me:
A quickway of releasing pressure in the lowers is to insert a cable tie to break the fork seal I believe
and see here https://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13067420
My guess would be that a seal in the airshaft has failed, leaking air into the lower assembly. I've had this before with a set of 2011ish U-Turn Revs, which was ultimately fixed by replacing the seals.
It may also be due to a small scratch in the airshaft itself, which would be a more costly fix. I think that the best course of action is to return and request a refund. The lack of oil in the foams suggests that the fork hasn't been correctly serviced, or possibly has never received a lower leg service.
As for the initially harsh feeling, this can simply be due to the negative chamber not being pressurised. This isn't always a disaster as the negative spring charges as the fork cycles through it's travel. The usual fix is to release all the air from the spring, pressurise to half your weight, cycle the fork a few times and then add more air and cycle etc.
In the picture with the popped wiper there seems to be a matte/discolorated area on the stanchion; is that worn anodising, or is it grease/oil?
Think it's just grease/oil, the stations themselves looked in good condition.
The seller is refusing to accept return, I'll try and get ebay to step in in 8 days, if they don't do anything then think I'll have to take them in for a service and hope they aren't plagued with reoccurring problems.
First simple check is to attach pump. Pump up to say 100psi and cycle the forks a few times. Leave pump attached for a bit and repeat. Is there a noticeable drop in pressure.
Really common issue with reba's... All mine have done it as above its neg chamber leaking into lowers.
Did have a freshly serviced set with a seal pop off due to overfilling the lower leg with oil but most the time its air leakage unfortunaly.
Hopefully it's just a leaking o ring but again as above, a small scratch on the inside of the stanchion would also do it.
I would push the seller for a compromise and get him/her to pay for a new seal kit (easy to install and loads of videos / guides on the Web) - or return. Hard to convince seller though you have not messed with them or ridden them lots. But going by experience, ebay usually end up siding with the buyer if you raise a dispute.
Good luck anyway
had this happen to me. old rebas, old seals. they'd stiffened up.
replaced the wiper seals with new ones and they were fine.
they're pretty easy to do a lower regrease and freshen up on.
First simple check is to attach pump. Pump up to say 100psi and cycle the forks a few times. Leave pump attached for a bit and repeat. Is there a noticeable drop in pressure.Really common issue with reba’s… All mine have done it as above its neg chamber leaking into lowers.
Did have a freshly serviced set with a seal pop off due to overfilling the lower leg with oil but most the time its air leakage unfortunaly.
I've tried this and there was no notable loss of air.
However, the forks are loosing air over time.
Inflated to 90psi, did a ride, checked them the next day with shock pump, now 70psi
I don't know whether to tackle the long drawn out process of trying to get my money back, or just take it for a lowers service and hope that's the end of the problems.