Rockshox 35 stiction

[Drsooty]

What are you riding at the moment?

Fork stiction is not necessarily a safety concern unless you're really pushing your bike to the limits where fork performance is critical. Usually, the sticition I experienced on that crap 35 Gold RL only occurs in the beginning of travel (where the "air" spring resistance is fairly low), so I think you'll be fine riding it until you lose sleep in March (lol!). Congrats btw. =)

Luddites are gonna say don't do the mullet (void warranty, mess up design intent, blah, blah) but I say you do what works for you. i have altered this bike's front so much to my liking that it ended up being my favorite bike (sold my fancy carbon). FYI, it's got a 1.5 degree angleset, 160mm Yari (and soon to be 170mm Lyrik internals because I can) 29er fork but still rocking 27.5 wheels.

View attachment 52053

Looks a nice bike that!

My fork will only move 2-3cm under force. But if it is only a comfort issue for now I can grin and bear it. I will report for warranty repair though and send back in March.

These last couple of weekends I've been going out in the AM, coming back for lunch, then out in the PM for more fun. I feel like a kid again (I'm 38!).

I'm on the Decathlon Stilus. It has strange geometry anyway so I believe the mullet setup really suits it. I may take the plunge at some point. But probably should start saving for other things, baby stuff lol.

Thanks for the congrats.

 

[Drsooty]

I rode mine with stiction for 9 months before I sent them back - as microfiz stated it's not a safety issue rather a comfort one. The forks will still absorb bigger hits, it's the small bump compliance that is affected most and setting the sag right can be a pain.
Mine went off and I was told 10 days to fix from receipt - they were back on my bike within 2 weeks - I took them into the shop without my bike so as to not have to wait for the shop to strip down and store my bike.

Cheers, that is good to hear. I think mine must have been stictioning for 1 month.

2 weeks for repair would not be too bad. They have asked me to send a video of the issue first. So that is my task for tonight.

I'm not sure if it is impacting my riding too much. I don't mind the discomfort cross country but I have been struggling a bit in the deep muddy downhill trails. But to be fair, I might just be running out of skill. Ha!

 

[microfiz]

Looks a nice bike that!

My fork will only move 2-3cm under force. But if it is only a comfort issue for now I can grin and bear it. I will report for warranty repair though and send back in March.

These last couple of weekends I've been going out in the AM, coming back for lunch, then out in the PM for more fun. I feel like a kid again (I'm 38!).

I'm on the Decathlon Stilus. It has strange geometry anyway so I believe the mullet setup really suits it. I may take the plunge at some point. But probably should start saving for other things, baby stuff lol.

Thanks for the congrats.

I had to google your bike... wow... that's a pretty good deal! Nice geo, good motor, good drivetrain and brakes out of the box, and that price! Dude, don't even bother with that fork. Have it fixed/replaced, sell it and upgrade. It is the worst fork RS ever made. I bet your bike feels like it just isn't responsive and dead as a brick on the trail, where you can't even pop off features or lift your front end because your fork keeps packing from stiction? Well, all that will be a distant memory with a Pike/Lyrik/Fox upgrade. Just do it man! =)

 

[Mikerb]

If your fork only has 2/3 cms of travel then your problem is not stiction. Stiction is reluctance of the fork to respond to small bumps at the beginning of its stroke due to too much friction.
It is more likely your fork is not equalized. I suggest you de pressurize it and then re pressurize making sure you equalize pos and neg air chambers by cycling the fork through c 30% of its travel every 15 psi. Do that with low speed compression fully open. I also suggest you set rebound at full fast ( and probably leave it like that once pressurized).

 

[Drsooty]

I had to google your bike... wow... that's a pretty good deal! Nice geo, good motor, good drivetrain and brakes out of the box, and that price! Dude, don't even bother with that fork. Have it fixed/replaced, sell it and upgrade. It is the worst fork RS ever made. I bet your bike feels like it just isn't responsive and dead as a brick on the trail, where you can't even pop off features or lift your front end because your fork keeps packing from stiction? Well, all that will be a distant memory with a Pike/Lyrik/Fox upgrade. Just do it man! =)

Yes, it was a really good deal. Helped me make the jump to emtb back in June. I am loving it. I moved to a very hilly area just under 2 years ago, lots of moorland and woods. But so many hills. The emtb is in its element!

Exactly that, it is not very responsive anymore at all. I am tempted to go for a new 29 fork. I was looking at the pike! But would need to see a good discount to tip me over the edge.

 

[Drsooty]

If your fork only has 2/3 cms of travel then your problem is not stiction. Stiction is reluctance of the fork to respond to small bumps at the beginning of its stroke due to too much friction.
It is more likely your fork is not equalized. I suggest you de pressurize it and then re pressurize making sure you equalize pos and neg air chambers by cycling the fork through c 30% of its travel every 15 psi. Do that with low speed compression fully open. I also suggest you set rebound at full fast ( and probably leave it like that once pressurized).

Cheers, will give that a go. I've just checked and it is now able to go nearly full travel if I hammer it! It makes a weird squelching compressed air noise when I do that. Yesterday 3cm was the max. I will try the technique you mention. Could save me alot of messing about if it works!

 

[microfiz]

Yes, it was a really good deal. Helped me make the jump to emtb back in June. I am loving it. I moved to a very hilly area just under 2 years ago, lots of moorland and woods. But so many hills. The emtb is in its element!

Exactly that, it is not very responsive anymore at all. I am tempted to go for a new 29 fork. I was looking at the pike! But would need to see a good discount to tip me over the edge.

Pike is good but flexy. Lyrik/36/Zeb/38 are better choices if you care about those things. =)

 

[Mikerb]

The squelching noise ( nice techy word!) is the sound of air passing from pos to neg chamber. It can only do that when the airspring is compressed beyond a small aperture in the lowers and that is at about 25%/30% of its full travel. Sometimes getting air to pass through there can be obstructed by a blob of grease if too much was used when assembled. It is also the case that forks left lying around for potentially months before use can allow that grease to thicken. If you are starting to get some additional movement it sounds like you have started to get that equalisation going. If you compress the fork to the point where you hear the noise, it can help to hold it there for a minute.

 

[Drsooty]

Pike is good but flexy. Lyrik/36/Zeb/38 are better choices if you care about those things. =)

Thanks for the info. They look good, and even more expensive too! This is fast becoming an expensive habit.

 

[Drsooty]

The squelching noise ( nice techy word!) is the sound of air passing from pos to neg chamber. It can only do that when the airspring is compressed beyond a small aperture in the lowers and that is at about 25%/30% of its full travel. Sometimes getting air to pass through there can be obstructed by a blob of grease if too much was used when assembled. It is also the case that forks left lying around for potentially months before use can allow that grease to thicken. If you are starting to get some additional movement it sounds like you have started to get that equalisation going. If you compress the fork to the point where you hear the noise, it can help to hold it there for a minute.

Hey, thanks for this, I seem to be getting more play out of them after doing this.

Although after seeing me lube the suspension then bounce around on the bike in the dining room, I think the missus might be getting a bit jealous/annoyed.

 

[rete]

The squelching noise ( nice techy word!) is the sound of air passing from pos to neg chamber. It can only do that when the airspring is compressed beyond a small aperture in the lowers and that is at about 25%/30% of its full travel. Sometimes getting air to pass through there can be obstructed by a blob of grease if too much was used when assembled. It is also the case that forks left lying around for potentially months before use can allow that grease to thicken. If you are starting to get some additional movement it sounds like you have started to get that equalisation going. If you compress the fork to the point where you hear the noise, it can help to hold it there for a minute.

It's not, the 35 Gold does not equalize using an air transfer dimple. This fork equalizes when the fork tops out, the topout bumper pushes upwards and opens a one-way checkvalve in the air piston. This is ancient Rockshox solo air design.

The squelching noise on this fork is oil gurgling through the motion control floodgate. You can reduce it by adding a shim cut from a credit card and spacing the floodgate downwards, this also helps with this fork's harsh high-speed compression spiking - but you lose lockout.

 

[urastus]

It's not, the 35 Gold does not equalize using an air transfer dimple. This fork equalizes when the fork tops out, the topout bumper pushes upwards and opens a one-way checkvalve in the air piston. This is ancient Rockshox solo air design.

The squelching noise on this fork is oil gurgling through the motion control floodgate. You can reduce it by adding a shim cut from a credit card and spacing the floodgate downwards, this also helps with this fork's harsh high-speed compression spiking - but you lose lockout.

When you say "lose lockout", do you mean you will no longer have the ability to lock out the fork (no travel)? If so, I imagine you would still have compression damping adjustment?

I don't have a picture in my head of the working of the fork, but I would like to know how to do what you've said (make and install a shim) - I never lock out the fork anyway. Do you have a link to a video for it?

For others who may want to see what rete has explained (no air transfer dimple), check out this video from about 2'10"

 

[urastus]

re the stiction issues that some are having; you might find this interesting