Specialized Epic Shock Failure

"syy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've had a Specialized Epic for one year - I like the
bike, most of my riding is in So Cal canyons: sand, soft
dirt, hard dirt, rocks. Unfortunately, I've been through
two failed rear shocks already - they began to sag rather
than stay locked out - basically, a leaky seal. Fox has
supplied new replacements, but I'm wondering about the
root cause. fine sand damaging the seals? anyone else have
this problem? anyone know of a solution?

How much do you weigh? Are you like some huge fat [censored]?

"syy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've had a Specialized Epic for one year - I like the
bike, most of my riding is in So Cal canyons: sand, soft
dirt, hard dirt, rocks. Unfortunately, I've been through
two failed rear shocks already - they began to sag rather
than stay locked out - basically, a leaky seal. Fox has
supplied new replacements, but I'm wondering about the
root cause. fine sand damaging the seals? anyone else have
this problem? anyone know of a solution?

Awesome. That's the first I've heard of a Brain failure. First-year-design-
syndrome strikes again?

Sorry you have probs, but I've been kinda waiting for
this. What'd Fox have to say? Did they give whole new
shocks or just new parts? Did you have to pay for
rebuilds? Just curious.

Chris

Quoted message said:

I've had a Specialized Epic for one year - I like the
bike, most of my riding is in So Cal canyons: sand, soft
dirt, hard dirt, rocks. Unfortunately, I've been through
two failed rear shocks already - they began to sag rather
than stay locked out - basically, a leaky seal. Fox has
supplied new replacements, but I'm wondering about the
root cause. fine sand damaging the seals? anyone else have
this problem? anyone know of a solution?

My'n is year old too, no problems so far. Ride it all year
long, low temperatures like -14, mud, water, snow, so a
lot of sneaky dirt, still works fine, and I hope it will
stay that way.

Did you get some explanation about the failure from Fox? I
doubt that is seal only, that's easily replaceable, as well
as I doubt that is First-year-design-syndrome also,
sometimes things just fail, you can't do nothing about that,
strike of bad luck.

D'amir

"Chris" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"syy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've had a Specialized Epic for one year - I like the
bike, most of my riding is in So Cal canyons: sand, soft
dirt, hard dirt, rocks. Unfortunately, I've been through
two failed rear shocks already - they began to sag
rather than stay locked out - basically, a leaky seal.
Fox has supplied new replacements, but I'm wondering
about the root cause. fine sand damaging the seals?
anyone else have this problem? anyone know of a
solution?

Awesome. That's the first I've heard of a Brain failure.
First-year-design-syndrome strikes again?

Sorry you have probs, but I've been kinda waiting for
this. What'd Fox have to say? Did they give whole new
shocks or just new parts? Did you have to pay for
rebuilds? Just curious.

Chris

So far, the bike is under warranty from the shop - Fox has
sent whole new shocks - no rebuilds, and not just parts. But
after the warranty period, it's really going to be up to the
shop to push on Fox if I have another failure (and I'm going
to be exercising the hell out of
it).

As to the other post - I weigh 135, and I had 140psi in
the shock - I like the stiffer ride. The only input from
Fox so far is that too much pressure in the shock could
cause a failure - but it's rated for 200psi. Again, my
only working theory is that since the shock is in a
position to get really dirty, and since I ride in often
dusty conditions, maybe this has caused the seals to fail.
Anyone have a similar experience? Anyone ever use a boot
on the rear shock?

Steve

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

So far, the bike is under warranty from the shop - Fox has
sent whole new shocks - no rebuilds, and not just parts.
But after the warranty period, it's really going to be up
to the shop to push on Fox if I have another failure (and
I'm going to be exercising the hell out of
it).

As to the other post - I weigh 135, and I had 140psi in
the shock - I like the stiffer ride. The only input from
Fox so far is that too much pressure in the shock could
cause a failure - but it's rated for 200psi. Again, my
only working theory is that since the shock is in a
position to get really dirty, and since I ride in often
dusty conditions, maybe this has caused the seals to fail.
Anyone have a similar experience? Anyone ever use a boot
on the rear shock?

Steve

Fine dust is the enemy of these shocks more so than mud so
that is a possibility. How many miles have you put on one
before it failed or before it's first service of the seals?
--
_________________________
Chris Phillipo - Cape Breton, Nova Scotia ramsays-ramsays-Open ↗
online.com

Quoted message said:

position to get really dirty, and since I ride in often
dusty conditions, maybe this has caused the seals to fail.
Anyone have a similar experience? Anyone ever use a boot
on the rear shock?

I don't se how boot can be bad. I have it on my Epic,
unfortunately it's not Spec's Epic boot, but definitely
protects the dirt to accumulate on suspension, therefore
suspension work in a cleaner environment. Even so, some
dirt can find a way through sometimes, so regular cleaning
is advised.

D'amir

Quoted message said:

I don't se how boot can be bad. I have it on my Epic,
unfortunately it's not Spec's Epic boot, but definitely
protects the dirt to accumulate on suspension, therefore
suspension work in a cleaner environment. Even so, some
dirt can find a way through sometimes, so regular cleaning
is advised.

D'amir

Thanks for that info - I didn't know that there was a
boot designed for the Epic...but I found it on the
Specialized website:

specialized.comSBCEqProduct.jspOpen ↗
SessionIdroot=phdorg3wik.j27007

I'll give this a try...maybe that will help. Another
question - On my bike, the "brain" cylinder can pivot a
bit. Specialized said that this was normal, and the bike
shop used a cable tie to keep if from pivoting. Does your
shock do the same thing and has this been a problem? Thanks
again, Steve

Quoted message said:

I'll give this a try...maybe that will help. Another
question - On my bike, the "brain" cylinder can pivot a
bit. Specialized said that this was normal, and the bike
shop used a cable tie to keep if from pivoting. Does your
shock do the same thing and has this been a problem?
Thanks again, Steve

Just Brain or whole Float? My Float has a bit of ..... well
float, brain itself does not move. But nothing is lose or
faulty and all works fine.

D'

syy said:

Quoted message said:

I don't se how boot can be bad. I have it on my Epic,
unfortunately it's not Spec's Epic boot, but definitely
protects the dirt to accumulate on suspension, therefore
suspension work in a cleaner environment. Even so, some
dirt can find a way through sometimes, so regular
cleaning is advised.

D'amir

Thanks for that info - I didn't know that there was a boot
designed for the Epic...but I found it on the Specialized
website:

specialized.comSBCEqProduct.jspOpen ↗
SessionIdroot=phdorg3wik.j27007

Quoted message said:

I'll give this a try...maybe that will help. Another
question - On my bike, the "brain" cylinder can pivot a
bit. Specialized said that this was normal, and the bike
shop used a cable tie to keep if from pivoting. Does your
shock do the same thing and has this been a problem?
Thanks again, Steve

My brain rattles just a little and when I asked I got the
same response. Instead of zip-ties we glued a little pad
made from an inner tube to the frame where they touch to
deaden the sound but still let it rattle in case that's part
of how it works.

Matt

Quoted message said:

My brain rattles just a little and when I asked I got the
same response. Instead of zip-ties we glued a little pad
made from an inner tube to the frame where they touch to
deaden the sound but still let it rattle in case that's
part of how it works.

Matt

Thanks for the feedback - sounds like a great idea, I'll
give it a try. I'm also going to have my frame measured to
make sure it's true
- if something's really out of whack, it might cause the
brain/rear shock to fail. Steve

"syy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've had a Specialized Epic for one year - I like the
bike, most of my riding is in So Cal canyons: sand, soft
dirt, hard dirt, rocks. Unfortunately, I've been through
two failed rear shocks already - they began to sag rather
than stay locked out - basically, a leaky seal.

Sounds like ya had a Brain fart, Steve.

Dave