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shock advice needed urgently


sensai_miagi's picture

By sensai_miagi - Posted on 24 August 2008

hi all. i just got home from buying a brand new giant reign 1. i was pretty pumped considering it's my first dual susp. and the nicest bike i've owned thuis far. however the party was dampened a bit when i noticed a scratch/small gouge on my rear shock (photo attached...the scratch is the white mark and also a little more below that where the sticker is roughed up). i hadn't even ridden the bike yet! i am not sure if i should bother going through all the hassle of returning the bike/ taking it back for replacement. it largely depends on whether or not the scratch is on a moving/ sliding part. i was hoping someone here might know a bit more about shocks than i do and could tell me if the scratch is on sliding/ moving surface. i can't quite work it out myself because the obvious sliding part is only about 2 inches and the reign is suppossed to have 6 inches of travel. where is a whole 6 inches of travel contained on a fox RP2? okay, thanks for any advice.

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Stuart M's picture

If the scratch is only on the "black part" of the shock it is OK. It is the bronze / gold coloured part you really want to worry about, if its got no scratch there you're ok, if it does have one, get it back to them tomorrow morning.

Should you take it back if its only on the black part. Well thats up to you. New bike, shouldn't be scratched but within a week of riding it will be anyway. Either way I would definitely let them know about it and that your not happy.

As for the travel, that shouldn't be anything to worry about either. The shock doesn't move the whole 6 inches. The shock connects to "rocker arms" that pivot off the frame and are connected to the rear triangle. If you look at the distance between the pivot point on the frame and the pivot at the rear triangle and then compare this to the distance between the pivot point at the frame and where the rocker joins the shock, you'll see the latter is much shorter, probably about 1/3 as long. The amount of travel is all about that ratio. Sorry I can't really explain it any better than that. How about if the end of the short side moves one inch, then the end of the long side will move alot more at the same time, any clearer? Probably not, sorry

Noel's picture

But let shop know anyways.

The arrow bit is your 6 inches.

Grats on your new bike!

Andy Bloot's picture

Hey Mark.
Congats on the new bike - you didn't muck around.
As said, it's only an aesthetic thing. The shaft - gold part - is the bit to worry about.
The proximity of the cable to your shock body may be the cause. Lot of movement going on back there and it doesn't take much to wear away softer metals.
I would definately take it back to the shop who will be able to confirm what the cause is and provide a solution so it doesn't get worse.

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