Suspension servicing backlog

[steve_sordy]

I have just removed the Rockshox shock from my bike to send it off to my favourite people, only to find they are not taking any service bookings until the 11th Nov. That's three weeks! Then they service it and return it, that's another half a week, more if a weekend gets in the way!!

I had a scout around the internet and they are all singing the same song, three weeks. Nobody has put prices up, they are just happy to be busy. Then I noticed that the Sram Tech Centre does not serve members of the public - only the trade. So I rang my friendly LBS and asked them for a turnaround time from Sram and they said 8 days! And that is the turnaround time.

Tip No 1: Plan ahead
Tip No 2: Consider using your LBS to get it done faster.

 

[Darren]

I had my forks sent back to rockshox recently by my lbs for a warranty issue.
Dropped them off 3 weeks ago on a Friday, got a call on the Monday to say SRAM would take 10 days before they could look at them. A week later the shop called to say they are back with new lowers and fully serviced.
The new lowers had no decals but a generic sheet of decals came back with them.

It looks like they are trying to manage expectations by quoting longer than it actually takes.

 

[steve_sordy]

Tip No 3: Consider doing it yourself ?

I don't mind doing an air can service, but I don't fancy all the rest of it.
I fear that it would be a case of "monkey see, monkey do" and that I'd just go through the motions and end up with a shock that was worse than when I started.

 

[Gary]

I think you'd be surprised Steve.
Take a look at SRAM tech docs for servicing your shock.
Once you've had a read through the service instructions decide if you think it's something you could manage. (I'm fairly confident you could. it's really not rocket science) But what you then need to decide is whether you're happy with the outlay for the tools required.
You'll have many of them already but depending on what shock you have there are some more specific tools you'll need.

 

[James_C]

Plenty of youtube videos. what could go wrong

I've done the lowers which was easy. The air and damper side doesn't look hard either. We'll see shortly I guess. all the different oils etc you need is a bit of a ball ache. dont forget the crush washers as well.

 

[steve_sordy]

Thanks for the supportive note @Gary
When I was in my 20's and early 30's, I had no spare money, none. The mortgage, non-working wife and 2 kids saw to that. This was the 70's to early 80's and the mortgage rate went from 8% to 14% in a short period, plus rampant inflation. So I fixed everything myself. Big ends gone on the car, clutch, brakes...? No problem. Washing machine suspension ripped off the drum? No problem. Electrics, plumbing, blocked drains? No problem. I could not afford it to be a problem. Similar to many people I'm sure.
But as I got a bit older, the mortgage got less, wife went back to work, I did a bit better at work and suddenly I could afford to pay somebody else to do all that stuff. It became a habit (a luxury, I know). A long illness didn't help. But when I took up biking, in my enthusiasm I wanted to do all the work myself, just because I could! I also wanted to know how to fix stuff in case I got stranded. But I have a blind spot on bike suspension. I was OK adding/removing tokens and along the way discovered how easy it is to do an air can service. But I have not attempted anything else. I lack the motivation to be honest. If someone was to show me, step by step, I'd be fine for ever - I know I would. Another factor is that my back is still aching from washing and lubing the bike and then removing the shock. To be brutally honest with myself, even if someone was to show me how to do a full service on a fork or shock, I doubt that I would do another one.

 

[R120]

Word of warning - my usual guy was booked up last year, so I used LBS to service both ends with SRAM, was told 10 day turnaround, ended up being 6 weeks! I dont trust their workshop timings. Still LBS gave me a free set of tires for the hassle, even though it wasn't really their fault.

 

[steve_sordy]

Word of warning - my usual guy was booked up last year, so I used LBS to service both ends with SRAM, was told 10 day turnaround, ended up being 6 weeks! I dont trust their workshop timings. Still LBS gave me a free set of tires for the hassle, even though it wasn't really their fault.

Oh dear! I hope that last year is not repeated this year!

 

[Levo-Lon]

Shock on my Specialized Epic ,"brain shock,"has lost its rebound completely, its booked in with Plush .
I can't service the damper as it requires specific tools.
Very few will touch the brain shock including TF tuned who I'd have though would.

Forks and basic shock services are easy ,but when you might need nitrogen charge and vacuum equipment it is beyond the DIY er .

£139 for my shock to be rebuilt so not too bad considering it's a top race xc bike.
It's easier than doing it myself.

I used to like servicing my motorcycles suspension but not this brain shock thing ?

 

[Akiwi]

I just had my bike in for a service and they said I needed a fork and shock service. I asked how long it would take. The answer was "Long". WHen I asked how long is long, they said "Very long". On further investigation, I found currently sending stuf to Fox takes up to 6 weeks. If you add a few days to a week of time for the bike shop to do their bit then you are easily over 2 months!!!
I told the shop not to send them off, and found a place locally that does shock service for cheaper and they said faster (We will see there)
The bike shop told me that my warranty will be no longer valid if I do that!
WHen I took them into the service center, I asked him about the warranty. His reply was that that is a load of bollocks. He is a certified service center, and there would be no problems with warranty. He said currently there is a lot of backlog and it would take a maximum of 3 weeks. :-( Definitely sounds better than 8 weeks, but still long.

 

[James_C]

I just had my bike in for a service and they said I needed a fork and shock service. I asked how long it would take. The answer was "Long". WHen I asked how long is long, they said "Very long". On further investigation, I found currently sending stuf to Fox takes up to 6 weeks. If you add a few days to a week of time for the bike shop to do their bit then you are easily over 2 months!!!
I told the shop not to send them off, and found a place locally that does shock service for cheaper and they said faster (We will see there)
The bike shop told me that my warranty will be no longer valid if I do that!
WHen I took them into the service center, I asked him about the warranty. His reply was that that is a load of bollocks. He is a certified service center, and there would be no problems with warranty. He said currently there is a lot of backlog and it would take a maximum of 3 weeks. :-( Definitely sounds better than 8 weeks, but still long.

cant you just join the queue, then drop the shocks off the day before he is able to do them?

 

[steve_sordy]

cant you just join the queue, then drop the shocks off the day before he is able to do them?

You see that is the sort of thing you would expect from a customer focused LBS. He was quoting three weeks before he could even promise to look at it (whatever it was, I can no longer remember). I said that he must have an awful lot of bikes stacked up in his shop, and could I book it in and just bring it in in several weeks time. That seemed very sensible to me, for both of us. I had been using this particular LBS for years and years, had even bought four bikes from them. But when I suggested it to the guy, he got really huffy "You can't expect special treatment you know!" I think I must have caught him on a bad day, because he is normally a nice guy, maybe his boss had been giving him some grief, who knows?

So I left him to it and went to a different LBS in a nearby town and was told I could have it back "in a couple of days". Been going there ever since.

 

[Akiwi]

cant you just join the queue, then drop the shocks off the day before he is able to do them?

I suggested that, but he said no as he does the services sporadically, as it is not his main job.

 

[RustyMTB]

Would second those suggesting DIY. A front fork service is definitely not difficult to do with basic tools. I mean look at this shitty workshop. Golden for the next fifty hours of shredding.

 

[Giff]

Just as a matter of interest on a Specialist Fork service website.

Full Fox Fork service £110
eBike Fork service. £125

Is that because of the extra weight....of eBiker's wallets!

 

[Giff]

Dinner was late, so only going to get the fork done this evening. Air shaft back in all lubed up, foam rings soaking ready to go back together. Hardest bit, digging the old crush washer out of the foot nut.

View attachment 55771

ps. Getting value out of the £29 eBay work stand.

200hr service complete
View attachment 55778

Strong stuff that Leffe!

 

[RustyMTB]

Service kits I.e. o rings, washers, seals etc. typically £30-£40 retail, presumably less for trade. Oil can be had for a tenner a litre at retail by looking around & if you already have a few tools then that's it, so £100-£130 for a service is arguably sharpish but not gouging imo. It comes down to how you value your time. I'm in the cohort that gets a kick out of fixing stuff, ymmv.

 

[Akiwi]

I'm definitely going to start doing my own services.
The reason I decided not to is that I was just having problems with my rear suspension which has the Nitrogen filled piggyback, which I was told was something I couldn't do myself.
Also I have the advantage that the Guarantee is still valid for both pieces still. (At least till November this year)

 

[Norange]

TF Tuned do a book in service, their lead time is about 3 weeks as of yesterday. Pretty sure that wouldn't invalidate your warranty. Had exemplary service from them before.

 

[Akiwi]

TF Tuned do a book in service, their lead time is about 3 weeks as of yesterday. Pretty sure that wouldn't invalidate your warranty. Had exemplary service from them before.

I am in Germany. Near Munich, so that is not an option. Not even in Europe!!!

 

[Rahr85]

The other bonus is, if you do it yourself, you know it's been done right.

This part i vehemently disagree with. I wouldn't trust myself to service it and put it back together properly.

so i'll just suck it up and pay a trained professional.

 

[Norange]

I am in Germany. Near Munich, so that is not an option. Not even in Europe!!!

Fair point. It's still in Europe though

 

[Akiwi]

Fair point. It's still in Europe though

Sorry . EU.
It complicates things immensely and adds unnecessary risks and costs.
I got badly bitten when I ordered something from UK recently where I ended up having to pay 50% more with Toll/customs.
And the order took over a month to get here. (rant) ?

 

[James_C]

Another workaround to keep you running is to buy a spare suspension set. Sounds extreme but both my shock and fork failed at different times and had to be warrantied during covid shop closures and wanted to stay using the bike, so I didn't have much choice. Nearly new lyrik and deluxe were found from people who had upgraded, and are my spares now for use in case of failure/servicing. Cost £400 total.

The servicing I've found simple though, and you get to see the inside condition etc. I quite enjoy working on the bike too.

 

[Akiwi]

Another workaround to keep you running is to buy a spare suspension set. Sounds extreme but both my shock and fork failed at different times and had to be warrantied during covid shop closures and wanted to stay using the bike, so I didn't have much choice. Nearly new lyrik and deluxe were found from people who had upgraded, and are my spares now for use in case of failure/servicing. Cost £400 total.

The servicing I've found simple though, and you get to see the inside condition etc. I quite enjoy working on the bike too.

That sounds expensive.
Actually I have a second eBike that I can use.

 

[Mcharza]

That sounds expensive.
Actually I have a second eBike that I can use.

And that's not expensive?