urbanknight

I don't recall how often I had to pump the rear Fox shock on my Alpinestars back in the day, but I pumped up the Noleen shock on the K2 Razorback frame I bought last week. The second day, it seemed fine. The third day was also fine. At 1 week, it's almost completely out of air and only rebounds about half way (with no load on it). Is that acceptable? I'm asking because I plan on swapping the components from my hardtail in a week or so.

ghettocruiser

I check the pressure on my F100 once a year, maybe.

cjump

yea... that is a little bit excessive to have the shock to leak that much air in a week.

TwinCam

sometimes things are randomly out of air. gremlins. pump it back up and try to see if the leek is consistent.

urbanknight

Bummer. I pumped it back up again, but if it is leaking that much, would you still ride it or am I going to be stopping every 30 min on a ride to fix the pressure?

In the meantime, I'll plan on rebuilding it some time soon.

frankenmike 

For now, plan on topping it off before every ride.

urbanknight

Thanks. I just looked at the service manual. Seeing that I don't have most of the tools needed to do it myself, I think I'll just ride the hardtail while I send the shock in to be rebuilt.

frankenmike 

Huh. What kind of shock is that? If you just need a shock pump, I've got a couple spares- you can have one if you want to cover the shipping.

urbanknight

It's a Noleen Mega Air. I think I'll take you up on that offer. I was going to buy a pump shock this weekend.

That shouldn't be the problem though, right? I pumped the shock up with my floor pump. After pumping, the shock seemed to be fine, and it was only days later that it was not.

Svr

A little bit of soapy water will tell you if it's leaking out of the valve core or somewhere else. The valve core is an easy fix.

urbanknight

As in take the shock off, pump it up, and submerge it? I'll give just about anything a try over the weekend, then I'm sending it to Noleen on Monday.

frankenmike 

Pump it up, spray soapy water on it with a spray bottle. Watch for bubbles. If they come from the valve- either tighten or replace with a valve from a schrader tube. If you see no bubbles, proceed as planned(send to noleen).

urbanknight

Thanks!

telebianchi

This probably won't make a difference if there is a leak, but to what PSI do you pump it? I put my Risse shock at 210 psi --- no way that's gonna happen with my floor tire pump. Or do you have a better floor pump than mine (a $29 Performance brand) that can handle that type of PSI?

I'm just wondering if maybe it's not really pumped up all the way when you think it is.

DX-MAN

I've run a Manitou QRL and a Swinger 3; both needed a top-off about monthly. The QRL lasted two years; the Swinger, 8 months. Both, though, gave up the ghost and were discarded.

I will run coils until I can no longer ride; I'm guessing about the year 2051 or so.....

urbanknight

Well, the pump head doesn't get a solid connection, but it reads at least 130 before the head shoots off. I will pump it up to 150-160 when I get a shock pump. The shock is indeed hard to compress after that though, and offers little resistance after a week, so it is losing air for sure.


Someone is selling a coil shock for my frame. I might pick that up and keep it as a spare, or even try it and see if I don't like it better.

TwinCam

im not sure, but id imagine that a floor pump would have the volume to take on a significant amount of a shock's air when you attach it and they equalize. this would make it seem like the shock loses air every time you go to "look" at the pressure.

urbanknight

Oh, I'm not attaching the pump when I "look" at the pressure. I just put the frame on the floor and push down on the seat tube. The first few days, it rebounds all the way. After about a week, it doesn't even rebound. The valve cap doesn't even come off during that week.

But you're absolutely right that a floor pump hose would take up a good portion of the shock's capacity. It only takes less than two pumps to fill the shock.

bikingsoul

Did the bike set for a long time before you bought it? Some times the seals harden from sitting. This used to happen with my floor air pump. I would just squire some light oil on the shaft and work it back and forth and it would seal again. You mite try that on your shock to see if it works. It cant hurt..........

urbanknight

Again, thanks. I took the shock off, and there seems to be a little oil leaking out of the large seal. I think it was sitting for a while, and I don't think the 9 year old shock has ever been rebuilt or serviced.