Suspension servicin...
 

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[Closed] Suspension servicing- HOW MUCH!

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 FOG
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I have just been quoted around £170 for having my Rebas and a Fox RP2 serviced which lead to a heart flutter. How much can you realistically do yourself if you are a reasonably competent mechanic but not a brain surgeon?


 
Posted : 30/04/2011 7:37 pm
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I personally wouldn't do a rear shock myself, but RS forks are some of the easiest forks to service, as all the step by step instructions are on the SRAM website.


 
Posted : 30/04/2011 7:38 pm
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Yeah, Rebas are pretty straightforward.. look for the tech manuals on the SRAM website..


 
Posted : 30/04/2011 7:40 pm
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Look at j tech, their prices are much lower than many others and the guy James who does it is great.


 
Posted : 30/04/2011 7:43 pm
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Mojo charge about £75 each i think, for front and back?


 
Posted : 30/04/2011 7:52 pm
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Easy to do and once done you are far more likely to drop lowers and lubricate the foams every so often. Research it, loads of videos available and instructions to print off. Buy 5/10/15wtfork oil from motorbike shop and fox pillow pack of fluid from ebay or cycle surgery (£1). £30 of oil with last about 6 fork strip downs. £170 is way too much.
LoCo on here sounds very good though - if you want to send away.


 
Posted : 30/04/2011 7:57 pm
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Think I paid about £90 from Mojo to have my DHX 3.0 serviced, with new bushes etc. Came back like a new shock, which improved my riding after speaking to the Mojo bod about my overenthusiastic preload and rebound use. Recommended, definitely worth the money fr rear shock.

I did replace the oil seals on my Fox forks which improved their behaviour. Found the instructions on the web and took a couple of hours. Easy enough job.


 
Posted : 30/04/2011 7:58 pm
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lot if it is just toreplace oile and service etc IMHO
standard chards is about £20 to bleed brakes though so given that seems appropriate
A local guy services forks for £20 + parts but manuals are all on line and it is not at all hard if you can get the instructions
I do al lmine every Easter and in winter takes most of th day for 4 sets of forks at pootle in the sun speed.


 
Posted : 30/04/2011 8:06 pm
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you been on the bevvy junkyard??! 😛


 
Posted : 30/04/2011 8:18 pm
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I'll ave what Junkyard's been drinking. 😉


 
Posted : 30/04/2011 8:22 pm
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i've always done forks myself and just not bothered servicing shocks 🙂 seems to work for me - certainly no way i'd pay that much.


 
Posted : 30/04/2011 8:24 pm
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learn to do it your self, save your self a fortune... you'll be amazed how easy it is once you've done it... and at the end of the day if all goes wrong (which it want) you can alway send them of to get them done


 
Posted : 30/04/2011 8:31 pm
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Sat in front of the laptop watching Doctor Who whilst doing a full strip and rebuild of a set a Lyriks for a friend.Not rocket science but then I've been a shop mechanic for 7 years 😕 .A leisurely hour and a bit and £35 of new seals and oils so £75/80 is about right for retail.
Most rear shocks need to be nitrogen charged and some more specialist tools so not really a DIY job.
Exactly how much were you expecting/willing to pay? Are you a)just tight fisted or b)unrealistic in your expectations?


 
Posted : 30/04/2011 8:31 pm
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I've always serviced my Fox Float rearshock as I found a really good little video on the Fox site that showed how easy it is to do. I've just looked now and I can't find it - perhaps it made it too easy - no money for Mojo!

I'll contemplate my forks after reading this thread. Anyone got particular video recommendations?


 
Posted : 30/04/2011 8:32 pm
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Try this for the rear shock:

http://video.mpora.com/watch/KRTj23Tn7/


 
Posted : 30/04/2011 8:36 pm
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The only thing you can't really do at home is the damper service on the rear shock. Mainly because it involves recharging the damping chamber with nitrogen.


 
Posted : 30/04/2011 8:37 pm
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An aircan service and a proper service are not the same thing you know Random.You get a little bit more than unscrewing the can and putting a bit of float fluid in for your £90 from Mojo 😉


 
Posted : 30/04/2011 8:39 pm
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Try this for the rear shock:

http://video.mpora.com/watch/KRTj23Tn7/

That's just an air sleeve maintenance (I.E. the air seals) not a full service. A full service involves draining the oil, then refilling with oil, purging the air, and then nitro charging the shock.

TBH, servicing yourself is cheaper, but the problems occur when all of a sudden there's something broken in the fork or shock.


 
Posted : 30/04/2011 10:16 pm
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I've got 2 sets of Rebas that need doing:

2 sets of dust seals: £14 each
new bottle of 5wt: £10 (15wt I've already got)

Air piston o-rings: ??? I know I need them, but don't know what size they are until I dismantle a set, measure them, order them, and wait.. I could order the "air piston service kit" from Rock Shox for £20 quid.. But that's 5 ****ing nitrile o-rings for twenty ****ing quid!!! So lets for the sake of ebay call the 2 quid per fork.

So now I'm down 3 hours total (2 for labour, one for ebay), a few days wait for bits, and £21 per fork, and I've still not replaced all the damper o-rings that would be done on a retail service.

I'd still do forks myself, but what you get the retail price I think is very fair. Rear shocks are a no-brainer though. They're too intricate and fiddly and need too many special tools for me to consider doing anything more than an air can service.


 
Posted : 30/04/2011 10:55 pm
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Where do you get the dust seals for that price?


 
Posted : 01/05/2011 6:46 am
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I've also been looking round for somewhere to get my forks and shock serviced in the last day or two. There was some great [url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/evans-cycles-suspension-service ]feedback[/url] on Evans a couple of years ago on here. Has anyone used them recently? Any idea if the same guy is still doing the servicing for them (Robin Walker)? For me the price of £120 (£75 fork, £45 shock), with no P&P (and no packaging/courier hassles) looks really tempting.


 
Posted : 01/05/2011 11:48 am
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You can get rockshox air sping and damper O rings for £8 off e bay, have serviced my reba's with them and 2 month's on everything's OK...


 
Posted : 01/05/2011 12:12 pm
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bikewhisperer

Are the seals shot? If not why replace them. A service is simply changing the oil. Anything else is repair of broken / faulty / damaged components.


 
Posted : 01/05/2011 1:11 pm
 FOG
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Decided to have a go at the Rebas myself but the service section on the Sram website seems to be down so could anybody tell me weights and amounts of oil necessary?


 
Posted : 02/05/2011 11:09 am
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5 at 115 mils for damper and 15 at 15 mils for bottom of legs and 6 mils for top of air spring.. it differs for older models


 
Posted : 02/05/2011 11:17 am
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Servicing rockshox forks really is quite easy. I usually measure the height of the existing oil and refill it to the same level. Put 15ml in the bottom of the lowers and a tiny amount in the air chambers.

I find it really annoying Fox rears can't be serviced at home.

Rockshox provide instructions on doing their rear shocks

I'm thinking about getting one for that reason. I'm fine if they don't work quite as well, i mean its just a hobby, i'm not competing at world cup level or anything!


 
Posted : 02/05/2011 11:20 am
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Unless you've got a Spesh Epic you don't need to be a brain surgeon.


 
Posted : 02/05/2011 11:37 am
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(Cheeky bump)

Anyone got recent-ish experience of suspension services through Evans as requested above?


 
Posted : 03/05/2011 8:52 am
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a riding buddy had a hugely negative experience with Evans servicing his Lefty, which came back locked out (too much oil?). Turned out our local Evans posted it to a different Evans to get their monkey to do it, so they had to send it back there to find out what had been done wrong and get it sorted.

I'd rather have the hassle of postage and use a specialist like Loco, Mojo or TFT than trust someone at Evans to get it right.


 
Posted : 03/05/2011 9:04 am
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Wouldn't touch Evans servicing with a barge pole.

Send it to a fork specialist - Loco, Mojo, TF, J-Tech, etc.


 
Posted : 03/05/2011 9:37 am
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Another hassle free option would be On Your Bike at London Bridge - any experiences?


 
Posted : 03/05/2011 10:39 am
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Pedals in edinburgh are good and very reasonably priced. fixed my 32s up same day too. win!

http://www.pedals-edinburgh.com/


 
Posted : 03/05/2011 10:43 am
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TBH at that price for forks and shocks it seems ok. They have to pay wages, tools, materials, building overheads, insurance, training etc etc. And most importantly they need to make a profit otherwise there is little motivation to provide a service..


 
Posted : 03/05/2011 10:45 am
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Otherwise, Loco Tuning is worth a look: http://www.locotuning.co.uk/

Last time I used him he was cheaper than TFT and Mojo and he does a cracking job - not heard a bad word about him.


 
Posted : 03/05/2011 10:51 am
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There is a thread on mtbr with all the RS O ring sizes, I bought them for 2 forks from simply bearings and it came to £20 or so. There is one metric size they don't stock for Dual air side so still need to hunt that down but had everything needed for my u-turns. Oil from chain reaction or a motorcycle shop and you are sorted. Not sure about the need to replace crush washers etc but I certainly don't need to replace the alu top caps which come as part of the extortionate RS kits.

Anyone used Enduro seals? Are they better than RS originals?


 
Posted : 03/05/2011 11:29 am
 D0NK
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anyone know where I can get a list of o-ring sizes?
revelations in particular


 
Posted : 03/05/2011 1:23 pm
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10mm
12.5mm
15mm
20mm
25mm
30mm
32mm
36mm


 
Posted : 03/05/2011 1:31 pm
 D0NK
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EDIT: can't decide if you are serious Big John, if serious how many of each please, if that's just a list of generic o-ring sizes then maybe I should have worded my request better.

Does anyone have a list of the o-rings (size and number needed) used in rockshox revelations dual air '08 model.


 
Posted : 03/05/2011 1:53 pm
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just do a google search for the mtbr forum thread, it comes up easily and goes into plenty detail. I bought from simply bearings who had all but one size in stock.


 
Posted : 03/05/2011 2:26 pm
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Search on ebay for "Reba seals", they are the same as the Revealation ones. Someones sourced them all and sells them with crush washers for 8 pounds.


 
Posted : 03/05/2011 2:31 pm
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unless you have u-turn forks in which case that ebay chap's o-ring set will only do your moco leg


 
Posted : 03/05/2011 2:44 pm
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I got my seals off ebay for £8, came with the washers and good instructions, I was a bit nervous about doing them, took my time and no problems, should say my forks are dual air revelations.


 
Posted : 03/05/2011 10:34 pm
 D0NK
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cheers fellas


 
Posted : 04/05/2011 7:54 am
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bigjim what extra o-ring's would be required to do the U-turn leg?


 
Posted : 04/05/2011 8:36 am
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@timmys,

Yes its still me (Robin Walker) and my 2nd technician that carry out all the suspension servicing at Evans. We have our purpose built workshop located above the Kendal branch of Evans. Every fork and shock service from all of our other stores comes to us. No work is carried out by store staff or anyone at our head office. We are currently taking bookings for Thursday 2nd June and carry out most work within 24hrs. We are open Mon-Fri 9am-5pm and can be contacted on 015397 32262. Its advisable to call and book in advance. Many thanks, Robin


 
Posted : 30/05/2011 1:38 pm
 FOG
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After all this I finally serviced my forks myself which was pretty straightforward as everybody had said. I even removed the spacer so my Rebas are now 120mm, a result I feel.


 
Posted : 30/05/2011 4:00 pm

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