Ask the experts

[volklpowdermaniac]

N+1 sir

If you can swing it financially and space wise you really ought to keep the epic evo and grab one of smokans lightly used stumpy/ stumpy evos.

That’s the plan - we’ll sort of : epic evo s works to stumpy s works non evo, perfect component to status 160. Just want something a little longer and modern for my light trail bike. But I do LOVE the EE. It’s insanely fun

[volklpowdermaniac]

While we’re here - easiest way to disassemble thru frame routing to have any prayer or using it without bleed on new frame and with minimal fussing of gears? Let’s just assume I have zero of the Shimano small parts that came with the brakes. I assume my best bet is to disassemble everything at the bars, pull the der and rear brake, dropper , remove front wheel, and then remove the cockpit in one swoop?

[North]

More Lyrik puzzling:

I've been chasing a good setup on this fork since day one on my '21 Norco Sight. It's always felt uncomposed going through chunk at speed or on big hits. Generally the feel has been harsh (I know I know overused).

Finally realized in late August that I was getting no damping. Did a damper rebuild and the fork felt amazing. Finally was able to run settings near recommended and fly into chunk etc. The amazingness lasted ~5 rides and its been progressively reverting to suck mode ever since. I still have some damping effect at the far end of the range but it's very minimal.

What's going on here? Anyone ever had a similar problem? At this point I'm thinking send to Rockshox and hope for some warranty-able issue, but also tempted to cut bait and buy something else.

[Boissal]

Bleed kits: are all syringes compatible with DOT fluid??
I have (had) an Hayes bleed kit I really like. Was doing some work on the bike last weekend, cleaned the syringes with isopropanol and left them to dry on the fence (only spot that was in the sun at the time). Came back 45 minutes later, syringes gone. I assume some neighborhood Karen thought a junky had carefully laid out his heroin kit on a fence for retrieval later. 25 mL syringes cause that's how much drug them junkies do these days. Fittings were fortunately left behind.
I have access to plenty of syringes at work, medical grade. OK with DOT? Would rather know before I melt one down and have to dispose of the mess...

[Dee Hubbs]

I have access to plenty of syringes at work, medical grade. OK with DOT? Would rather know before I melt one down and have to dispose of the mess...

The DOT fluid will be fine in a typical medical grade syringe. It may slowly break down the rubber seal, but thats after long exposure.

[Boissal]

The DOT fluid will be fine in a typical medical grade syringe. It may slowly break down the rubber seal, but thats after long exposure.

Thanks. Was looking at buying some of the fancier syringes but it's hard to beat free stuff...
I usually rinse everything with IPA after I'm done so there shouldn't be too much exposure to the fluid, unless the seals are porous and soak it up.

[skaredshtles]

Thanks. Was looking at buying some of the fancier syringes but it's hard to beat free stuff...
I usually rinse everything with IPA after I'm done so there shouldn't be too much exposure to the fluid, unless the seals are porous and soak it up.

Dude. You can't waste an IPA like that.

[XXX-er]

I can get syringes from the local pharmacist for < 2$ you probably want the large for brake bleed

and a medium for injecting a delamed ski with slowset 2part right into the screw hole after which I tossed it out

the syriges that come in bleed kits have a threaded end but you can get around that
<

[D(C)]

More Lyrik puzzling:

I've been chasing a good setup on this fork since day one on my '21 Norco Sight. It's always felt uncomposed going through chunk at speed or on big hits. Generally the feel has been harsh (I know I know overused).

Finally realized in late August that I was getting no damping. Did a damper rebuild and the fork felt amazing. Finally was able to run settings near recommended and fly into chunk etc. The amazingness lasted ~5 rides and its been progressively reverting to suck mode ever since. I still have some damping effect at the far end of the range but it's very minimal.

What's going on here? Anyone ever had a similar problem? At this point I'm thinking send to Rockshox and hope for some warranty-able issue, but also tempted to cut bait and buy something else.

Did you service the damper yourself or send it in? Could the rubber bladder on the damper be ruptured?

[North]

Did you service the damper yourself or send it in? Could the rubber bladder on the damper be ruptured?

Serviced it myself. Bladder was intact when I had it apart and everything looked normal, aside from a complete lack of bath oil on the damper side.

[jacob_dbu]

Need some advice...put a big scratch in my shock stanchion when the bike fell over smh. I smoothed it out, nail polish and sanded with 3000 grit...it's pretty smooth but not all the way. But I'm leaving for a 10 day trip with my bike in a week. Do I try and source a damper shaft and replace? Pickup a coil? Ride as is and top off the air every other day? WWYD?

[toast2266]

Need some advice...put a big scratch in my shock stanchion when the bike fell over smh. I smoothed it out, nail polish and sanded with 3000 grit...it's pretty smooth but not all the way. But I'm leaving for a 10 day trip with my bike in a week. Do I try and source a damper shaft and replace? Pickup a coil? Ride as is and top off the air every other day? WWYD?

Why would you need a damper shaft or to top up air from a scratch in the stanchion?

A scratch in the stanchion will potentially damage your dust wipers and, depending where the scratch is, your bushings. And it'll allow a little dirt to get into the lowers, which could, over time, damage your damper shaft or air shaft (depending on which side the scratch is on).

If it's pretty smooth, just run it. You're not gonna notice a difference and it's realistically not going to cause any internal damage for a long, long time. Maybe never.

[Tailwind]

10 day trips don’t come around often for most people… I’d make sure your bike is working well for the trip.

One option worth considering, buy a used shock (air or coil) and flip it after the trip if it doesn’t seem like a worthwhile upgrade. You might not even loose much money. Watch the spring rates on coils and lookup what you’d need.

Regarding replacing the shaft… I would personally do that… then hate that decision when I was short on time to do it or something goes wrong. I’ve had this multiple times where you’re trying to repair your bike, something goes wrong and suddenly you are scrambling to even have something rideable for your trip.

Need some advice...put a big scratch in my shock stanchion when the bike fell over smh. I smoothed it out, nail polish and sanded with 3000 grit...it's pretty smooth but not all the way. But I'm leaving for a 10 day trip with my bike in a week. Do I try and source a damper shaft and replace? Pickup a coil? Ride as is and top off the air every other day? WWYD?

[climberevan]

A light scratch on a fork is NBD because the air chamber is independent of the stanchions. Air shocks work differently: the air chamber seals against the shaft, so a scratch there could cause it to lose air. Does it?

If you go on a few rides and the shock works normally and holds air, you're likely good to go. Replacement then depends on your budget and whether you think it's going to get worse (somehow). If it doesn't hold air, you have your answer.

[Roxtar]

I usually rinse everything with IPA after I'm done so there shouldn't be too much exposure to the fluid, unless the seals are porous and soak it up.

Dude. You can't waste an IPA like that.

Bad idea but for a different reason. That swill will ruin seals worse than DOT fluid (and probably be more bitter).

[jacob_dbu]

A light scratch on a fork is NBD because the air chamber is independent of the stanchions. Air shocks work differently: the air chamber seals against the shaft, so a scratch there could cause it to lose air. Does it?

If you go on a few rides and the shock works normally and holds air, you're likely good to go. Replacement then depends on your budget and whether you think it's going to get worse (somehow). If it doesn't hold air, you have your answer.

Yeah it loses like 5psi per ride...just wondering if I'll damage it by riding as is for another 10 days or if I risk blowing it up on the trip.

[Roxtar]

Yeah it loses like 5psi per ride...just wondering if I'll damage it by riding as is for another 10 days or if I risk blowing it up on the trip.

Like others have said, a scatch on the stanchions will not cause a loss of air.
You have another problem.

[toast2266]

Yeah it loses like 5psi per ride...just wondering if I'll damage it by riding as is for another 10 days or if I risk blowing it up on the trip.

Wait, is this on a fork or a rear shock?

Stanchion = fork. Shaft = rear shock.

A scratch on a fork stanchion isn't going to cause you to lose air, but it sounds like this is a scratch on the rear shock shaft. If that's the case and it's losing 5psi / ride, and you've get a week to get it sorted, then your option is pretty much to find a different shock to put on the bike. You can send it back to the manufacturer to get a new shaft installed, but that's not happening in a week.

[J. Barron DeJong]

Also, are you sure the shock/fork is losing air, and it’s not just the pressure dropping from attaching the shock pump?

[skaredshtles]

Also, are you sure the shock/fork is losing air, and it’s not just the pressure dropping from attaching the shock pump?

This ^^

[XXX-er]

Pretty much from new my roxshox super deluxe would lose air every night, not all of the air but just enough so the travel tell-tale would be off the shaft and I would be bottoming out so I pump it up every day before riding

The service center said there was nothing wrong with the shock but after they did the service replaced some seals or whatever the leaking stopped

[Boissal]

Dude. You can't waste an IPA like that.

I rinse the syringes straight into my gullet. The leftover DOT fluid really mellows the hoppiness of most IPAS.

Bad idea but for a different reason. That swill will ruin seals worse than DOT fluid (and probably be more bitter).

Isopropanol? I have yet to find any syringe plunger seal that does not tolerate being rinsed with alcohol.

[carlh]

Medical syringes seem fine with dot fluid but Shimano mineral oil swells then pretty quickly.

[Roxtar]

I rinse the syringes straight into my gullet. The leftover DOT fluid really mellows the hoppiness of most IPAS.

Isopropanol? I have yet to find any syringe plunger seal that does not tolerate being rinsed with alcohol.

Was an (apparently poor) joke regarding the horribleness of IPAs.

[skaredshtles]

Was an (apparently poor) joke regarding the horribleness of IPAs.