Rockshox Recon SL advice please

[blackburn]

Just had my first ride on my recently purchased new-old-stock 2009 Orange Evo 8. Rode it a mile and a half to our local woods and rode it up hill and down the newly constructed down-hill trail. When riding home I realised that the 100mm Rockshox Recon SL Air forks had collapsed completely and that the right side seal had popped out. Not best pleased, I rode it home like that.

At home, I pushed the seal carefully back into place and gently the forks came back to life. However, if I bounce on the forks a bit they'll fully collapse and the seal pops out again.

The info sticker on the fork leg suggests an air pressure of 135psi+ for a rider of my weight. My automotive pressure gauge only goes to 60psi and the forks are taking it off the scale. My tyre inflator gauge goes to 160psi but will not fit the air valve on the fork...

Can anyone suggest whether I have a serious fault with these forks, or do I just need a valve extension and to pump 'em up a bit?

I bought the bike mail-order from a dealer at the other end of the country, so thought I'd ask advice here first. Any help appreciated. Thanks.

[blackburn]

Thanks for replies folks. Called the dealer this morning who was apologetic about the situation. We decided that I should purchase a proper pump locally, check the pressure and take it from there: if all was fine, hit the trails. If all was not fine, he'd deal with sorting a warranty repair.

I have now purchased a Scott pump. The forks had around 80psi in them. I pushed them up to 140, which according to the sticker on the forks is about right for my weight. The forks still seem unhappy and very reluctant to 'spring back' after full compression.

I'll contact the dealer on Monday and set the ball rolling for a repair. I suppose I may incur a postage charge, but I can live with that.

[blackburn]

subsea99 said:

i have the reba sl s on my bike and you have to keep an eye on them pressure wise,just back from fort bill and did the new red run and they never missed a beat,i run 135psi top and 125 bottom.
you also have the adjustable rebound on the bottom which makes a big difference if not set correctly i have mine set around halfway.

hope that helps

Sorry, what do you mean by 135psi 'top' and 125 psi 'bottom'? I've only found one valve so far. Is there another?
I have adjusted the red rebound adjuster to 'halfway' for the time being but the blue adjuster on the top right only indicates 'lock out'. Is this also compression damping, and if so do I assume that the closer the datum is to 'locked' the slower the compression?

Sorry for the questions. Pukka forks are a new deal for me...

[blackburn]

Shalmaneser - thanks for the update. I'm going to go and fiddle with my rebound damping...

[blackburn]

Thanks for all the info and feedback. I'm thinking that my forks are actually ok, just needed pumping up, rebound adjusting etc. I'm off on holiday soon and won't have an opportunity to test the forks beforehand (stuck in work) - the moment I'm back I'll get busy with the bike and see how the forks perform.

[blackburn]

Quick update: back from holiday, forks are pumped up to 150psi (I weigh about 15st 11). Rode the bike uphill on the road, forks fully compressed themselves. Each time I pulled a little wheelie, they extended and then gently collapsed! Once I hit the woods, the story was much the same and I needed to keep 'lifting' the front wheel to let the forks recover.

Once I got home I checked the pressure - it was as before, 150psi.

I'm guessing that these forks should really perform a little better than this, so I'll contact the retailer tomorrow to get a warranty repair sorted out. Bit of a shame really, as the cheapy Marzocchi (sp?) forks on my old Kona have never given a moments trouble.

[blackburn]

mk1fan said:

Obvious question. These aren't Dual Air forks are they? With a negative and positive air spring.

Plus the pressure guides are simply that guides. Setting the correct Sag is much more important than the actual PSI compared to a chart.

The 'dual air' thing we've already covered. I'm getting around 100% sag at present...

[blackburn]

A brief update for anyone that's interested: The forks are back on the bike and working properly! I sent them to the warranty folk with a returns number from the supplying dealer. The warranty people managed to send them back to the dealer, even though it was obvious they were in a different part of the country to me, thus incurring a further postage cost to the dealer and a delay to myself. They haven't let me know what was wrong with the forks, but did include a Rock Shox sticker...

[blackburn]

Second update: Forks are shot again! - as bad as they were the first time around. Bit pee'd off now...

[blackburn]

The news this lunchtime: I've phoned the shop - the man I need to speak to isn't available until Thursday this week, so I need to call back then...

Unhappy with this I called Orange themselves where a helpful young man said he'd contact the Rock Shox people (Fisher Outdoor Leisure). He called back saying that Fishers' are due to call me. I sit here, awaiting their call...