Specialized Epic Shock Failure

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?

"syy" wrote in message
om...
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 *******?

"syy" wrote in message
om...
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

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" wrote in message ...
"syy" wrote in message
om...
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

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

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:

http://www.specialized.com/SBCEqProd... rg3wik.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

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 wrote:
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:


http://www.specialized.com/SBCEqProd... rg3wik.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

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

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