Rear shock problems

[Stupeo]

I have a fairly cheap Carrera Banshee full suspension bike that I from Halfords in Jan 2010.

I used the bike loads last year and didn't have a problem. Probably covered over 1000 miles without an issue.

However, I haven't had the bike out since Feb this year and got it out last week to go for a quick ride (hoping to complete Manchester to Blackpool next weekend) and noticed the rear shock is bottom'ing out after about 10mm travel.

I have pumped it up to the max PSI and it's the same. Hardly any sag but you can see it used to travel about 40mm. What can be causing this?

It's been stored inside since new. The rear shock is a suntour raidon - my local shop Leisure Lakes said they can't service it.

Can i give it a service myself? Is it easy to do. I could just buy another shock off ebay..

[P-Jay]

By "bottoming out" do you mean it's locking near the top of it's travel and not traveling further, or it's suddenly dropping to the bottom (full) travel suddenly? Sometimes if it's locking up you can temp fix it by letting out all of the air, or most of it and cycling it through the travel to free eveything up.

Servicing might be tricky, I know very recently Suntour have started to sell their stuff aftermarket, you're best bet would be to find out who's the UK distributor and see if they can do it, but it's a very cheap shock and the hourly labour charge will be the same wheather they're working on a Suntour or a Canecreek so it might be cheaper to just replace, then you need to work out the sizing because it's more than just the eye-to-eye length.

[Stupeo]

P-Jay said:

By "bottoming out" do you mean it's locking near the top of it's travel and not traveling further, or it's suddenly dropping to the bottom (full) travel suddenly? Sometimes if it's locking up you can temp fix it by letting out all of the air, or most of it and cycling it through the travel to free eveything up.

Servicing might be tricky, I know very recently Suntour have started to sell their stuff aftermarket, you're best bet would be to find out who's the UK distributor and see if they can do it, but it's a very cheap shock and the hourly labour charge will be the same wheather they're working on a Suntour or a Canecreek so it might be cheaper to just replace, then you need to work out the sizing because it's more than just the eye-to-eye length.

Thanks.

Basically, it's stopping about 10mm from its usual resting point at the top. I know it can go lower as you can see the marks where it used to go. When I jump off a kerb for example you can feel it bang as though it has no air in it at all.

I didn't try letting all the air out but I'll try this tonight.

If this doesn't work is it difficult to service myself?

[P-Jay]

To be frank I assumed they'd offer little help to the home mechanic, but I forget they're actually quite big players outside the UK.

The site seems to offer lots of help and downloadable service guides etc.

Nearest service centre seems to be France, but well worth having a go yourself if you can get hold of the seals etc.

[Stupeo]

P-Jay said:

To be frank I assumed they'd offer little help to the home mechanic, but I forget they're actually quite big players outside the UK.

The site seems to offer lots of help and downloadable service guides etc.

Nearest service centre seems to be France, but well worth having a go yourself if you can get hold of the seals etc.

OK cheers.

I might just replace it. You said that measuring isn't just eye to eye - what do I need to measure exactly?

[shalmaneser]

Stupeo said:

OK cheers.

I might just replace it. You said that measuring isn't just eye to eye - what do I need to measure exactly?

Distance from the centre of the hole at one end to the centre of the hole on the other end.

The shock is Nitrogen charged and is not user serviceable, unless you have high pressure nitrogen equipment at your disposal.

[P-Jay]

You also need your stroke.

Measure distance between the middle of the eyelets. thats your shock length.
Measure the piston length, the distance the shock moves. thats your shock stroke.

[Stupeo]

P-Jay said:

You also need your stroke.

Measure distance between the middle of the eyelets. thats your shock length.
Measure the piston length, the distance the shock moves. thats your shock stroke.

Okay, thanks.

Any particular brand I should avoid (apart from Suntour!!)?

Is this any good for example: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?Mod...

Thanks.

[P-Jay]

Stupeo said:

Okay, thanks.

Any particular brand I should avoid (apart from Suntour!!)?

Is this any good for example: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?Mod...

Thanks.

That should fit the bill nicely, please don't take offence but it's not going to be worth sticking a high-end Fox/RS unit on it, but these are good.

[Stupeo]

P-Jay said:

That should fit the bill nicely, please don't take offence but it's not going to be worth sticking a high-end Fox/RS unit on it, but these are good.

No offence taken - I appreciate the advice. I just want a cheap air shock.

If I can get back into my MTB'ing, I'll possibly purchase a better spec bike later on this year.

[Pablo16v]

It might also be worth checking the bushes and bearings that make up the rear suspension as these can seize through lack of grease and use. When this happens it can sometimes feel like the shock is not going through its travel properly.

[Stupeo]

Pablo16v said:

It might also be worth checking the bushes and bearings that make up the rear suspension as these can seize through lack of grease and use. When this happens it can sometimes feel like the shock is not going through its travel properly.

Noted. I'll take a look tonight.