Let's play "What Did I Break?" (fork related)

[crashnburn'd]

So I have a 2005 Boxxer Ride that is acting wierd....

Aside from just not feeling like it used to here's whats going on:

It's topping out (not sure if that's the correct term) occasionally. When the fork is compressed quite a bit, it'll bang when it rebounds. It doesn't do it all the time and I can't get it to do it bouncing in the parking lot. Rebound adjustment still works and I have it set as slow as it goes.

A 5 or 6 times something made a sound that sounded like broken spokes clinking together. When I checked my wheel, there was nothing even loose, so I'm guessing that it was something in the fork. This seemed to happen when I was going through rocks, so the fork was getting compressed quickly.

Got any ideas about what could be going on?

[Darkside]

I'm going to guess that if your fork has the Solo Air damping/assist, that you have too much air in it. If not, there's probably a topout spring in the fork that isn't stiff enough for the serious beating you're dishing out.

You can either let the air out, or try and get a stiffer topout spring, depending on which you have, or as a last resort, you can put a higher viscosity oil in the rebound side.

[Oarhead]

I have no idea what broke inside either of those forks but I would HIGHLY recommend gettting them checked out at the LBS.

Why?

A broken jaw, 5 broken teeth a shattered cheek, nose and eye socket - all at once. My buddy did this when his forks snapped on him. The culprit was a little clip washer that warped enough to let the shit fall apart.

DOn't get facial reconstruction, do get it checked out, it is cheaper.

[crashnburn'd]

So whatever was breaking is fully broken.... I am now the proud owner of a 2005 Rock Shox Freeride Pogostick.

[Dromond]

So whatever was breaking is fully broken.... I am now the proud owner of a 2005 Rock Shox Freeride Pogostick.

I believe that the Boxxer ride has a hydracoil oil rebound damper just like all boxxers before it. If your fork is a pogo stick, one of the parts of the damper assembly is likely busted. Take it apart and compare it to the diagrams. It's an oily mess, but it will save you a bunch of money and you'll learn how your fork works and how to tune it a bit better. You can get all the instructions for disassembly off of their website and you can order a new Rebound assembly through a shop for about $35+

You may also need to use heavier oil in the rebound leg if you have never been able to get it as slow as you like it. I like my boxxer very slow, and the reccomended 5wt is not cutting it. Neither is 10wt. I'm going to 15wt at the next oil change.

[Darkside]

I believe that the Boxxer ride has a hydracoil oil rebound damper just like all boxxers before it. If your fork is a pogo stick, one of the parts of the damper assembly is likely busted. Take it apart and compare it to the diagrams. It's an oily mess, but it will save you a bunch of money and you'll learn how your fork works and how to tune it a bit better. You can get all the instructions for disassembly off of their website and you can order a new Rebound assembly through a shop for about $35+

You may also need to use heavier oil in the rebound leg if you have never been able to get it as slow as you like it. I like my boxxer very slow, and the reccomended 5wt is not cutting it. Neither is 10wt. I'm going to 15wt at the next oil change.

I think the better suggestion for both of you would be to get rid of the POS RockShox and get something that actually feels good and works properly.

[Dromond]

I think the better suggestion for both of you would be to get rid of the POS RockShox and get something that actually feels good and works properly.

Yeah because any good fork negates the need to tune it to your weight and riding style.....

Also, the Boxxer has pretty much the best stiffness/weight ratio of any fork out there that isn't a fox DH40, and is much cheaper. It also doesn't make your bike ride like a Harley, like a 888.

[crashnburn'd]

I really haven't decided what I'm going to do. A friend is giving me a loner boxxer and probably a guy at the lbs is going to fix it, but beyond that I don't know. I bought the bike with the intent that I was going to be using it maybe 30-40% for downhill, but it's pretty much turned out to be 100%. The fork is really the only weak link, not because it sucks, but because it's not really a dh fork.

I thought about putting some sort of after market damper in it, but I'm not sure. I know Stratos (but not for 2005's that I know of) and Mojo ($$$ because of weak dollar) make them, but I'm not sure what kind of money I want to put into it anyway. If a cheap 888 comes my way I may go that route, I really don't know.

[Dromond]

I really haven't decided what I'm going to do. A friend is giving me a loner boxxer and probably a guy at the lbs is going to fix it, but beyond that I don't know. I bought the bike with the intent that I was going to be using it maybe 30-40% for downhill, but it's pretty much turned out to be 100%. The fork is really the only weak link, not because it sucks, but because it's not really a dh fork.

I thought about putting some sort of after market damper in it, but I'm not sure. I know Stratos (but not for 2005's that I know of) and Mojo ($$$ because of weak dollar) make them, but I'm not sure what kind of money I want to put into it anyway. If a cheap 888 comes my way I may go that route, I really don't know.

You can get the team spec Boxxer internals for not a lot of money. That's a compressions and rebound damper. I had a 2003 Boxxer Race (the cheap version with no compression damper and a crappy rebound damper.) It was more affordable that a mojo cart and gave me a good excuse to tune my fork properly.