You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Hi,
I’m after people’s thoughts on how to deal with my reverb (b1) stealth’s “saggy reverb” issue.
I’ve ran reverb’s almost since they first came out, and have somehow managed to avoid the dreaded saggy reverb problem that the internet tells me is a huge problem with them (until now). I’ve bled them several times myself over the years as and when they’ve needed it and had no problems, I’ve even had a crash where I pulled out the hose mid ride – one new barb and a bleed later all was good.
My post has been running great for almost a couple of years now, but it became “saggy” couple of weeks ago, a good 20 of squish. No problem I thought, I’ll give it a bleed. Got the proper oil and syringes etc so no problems. All was good and it was working great after the bleed. A week or two and three or so rides later and it’s started sagging again. I could easily bleed it again but I don’t see a point if that isn’t going to work, and if what it actually needs is a full strip to sort the IFP (I’m guessing it’s air that’s got past the IFP that’s causing the problem).
I’ve looked at the reverb manual and the 200 hour full service and whilst I’m happy enough doing a bleed I’m not confident on the full service - resetting the IFP height etc looks like a right ffaff for a first timer inside the post. Also, I haven’t got some of their tools such as soft jaws / shaft clamps, reverb IFP tool etc, plus there’s the cost of a service kit to factor in.
I’ve tried the "actuate the post whilst its upside down" trick, and it seems it’s beyond that as it’s not worked.
A full service at somewhere like Jtech or TFTuned appears to be around the £95 plus postage, and I can’t help thinking that's a good chunk of the way to a new decent dropper and lever (if I can get hold of one obviously, plus see 3 below). Plus its the old plunger style remote too so again seems a lot to spend.
So, what do the STW tech heads think?
1) Give the home service a whirl – what’s the worse that can happen? (knackered post obviously!);
2) Just pony up the cash and get it done properly;
3) Buy a new post if I can find one (not keen really tbh, apart from the cost it feels wasteful which I don’t like - if I did, who would buy/take a second hand post knowing it needs sorting at either considerable cost or work).
4) Is there anything else I can do to sort it short of the above? I really would rather not spend £100 on a service or more on a new post if I can help it..
Many thanks if you've read this far!
p.s. No, just setting it 20mm higher in the frame to account for the sag is not an option - I'm a short**** (hence the username) and it's a 100mm one so I need all the drop there is on it.
Had same internal discussion and instead just had mine serviced via eBay £44.99 and it is excellent 👍 chap (seller) is mountainbikebits item is Rockshox reverb post service. great feedback 100% positive would thoroughly recommend
Ah, thanks for that, sounds like a good option.
Much appreciated.
I know it's not the answer you want to hear, but my approach would be to flog it and replace with a Brand X (or fancier if you prefer. BX posts are totally fine though).
I had no end of problems with my Reverb(*s), eventually had enough and replaced one with a Fox Transfer (pricy but faultless) and a Bx (cheap and faultless).
Reverbs can eat a dick as far as I'm concerned, never putting another one on again.
(* including the umpteen part and full warranty replacements)
Went through this dilemma over 3 years ago and paid £80 for a service on a 125 drop, plunger lever, external Reverb which has the annoying hose loop from the post top. 18 months on it started sagging again. Bought an external Brand-X with a lovely lever and action, no saggy cable loop and a 150mm drop because of a reduced stack height and 2 years warranty. Much happier with the Brand-X performance price and reliability.
Servicing them yourself ain't rocket science and there's good videos on t'web. Its is a bit fiddley, but there's nothing that's make or break. If you get it wrong, empty it all out and start again. The hardest part is getting into them for the first time.
Tools are mostly bodgeable. I bought the IFP height tool, made some shaft clamps from an offcut of 3x2 and some innertube. I bought the oil height tool for the early non-stealth reverb, but then made one for the stealth variant out of a bit of skinny plastic tube and a syringe. Then you need a couple of big spanners.
Non stealth is a lot easier to do than stealth, TBH I reckon the desire for internal routing is a backwards step anyway.
If you've got an old metal IFP - get a new blue SKF one
I reckon I can do one in an hour or so now... Its not really any worse than doing a fork service or a brake bleed.
(be a bit careful when you disassemble - the squish is air trapped in the wrong place and it's quite easy to fire the inner shaft across the workshop and cover yourself in oil as you unscrew the seal head.)
I’ve just done three Reverbs this week for the first time. The first one I did following this excellent video:
I followed along and it took me about an hour. The second post was quicker and the third one I literally did in 10 minutes since I knew what I was doing. It’s not actually hard to do, there’s a method and I guess it’s a bit daunting. I think if people are confident doing lower leg fork servicing and mucking about with air springs, then with the right tools and following the video you’ll manage.
You will need the IFP height tool (I got mine from Amazon for £10), some sram butter or similar, a bottle of 2.5wt fluid and assorted wrenches. Soft jaws aren’t even essential, though I have them and they make life easier.
What I don’t know is how long a service fixes it for without new parts. Clearly if either the IFP or shafts are worn then the sag will happen again, presumably quicker than before. If I was going to do it again I’d probably get some new IFPs and O-rings to drop in. I don’t know if the £45 eBay service replaces those parts. I bet the JTech one etc does.
PS I just fixed the sag on a newer reverb with the vent valve. It took all of 10 seconds (plus removing the seat).
PPS my new Reverb made me realise that the cable-actuated post I’d been running just isn’t as nice as hydro.
PPPS bleeding the lever does nothing for the post sag. Don’t bother.
I'd do what jamesmio said, sell the reverb and buy a brand X
Thanks you all for the advice.. Not sure what to do. The £45 service sounds appeealing but I'm not sure if the issue will come back again anyway. Ditto the home service, especially after having to ptentially buy a service kit, possibly ans ifp and and ifp tool. Thanks again.
There was a video about a temporary fix some time ago. It was to put the bike upside down, press the button and fully compress the reverb, then let it fully extend. Repeat a few times while the bike is upside down.
It improved mine a fair bit. About 10mm of sag down to about 2mm.
Something about trapped air between the oil and IFP.