play in my Suntour XCM forks

gandi67

My wife's bike (Carrera Vulcan) is 6 weeks old and has developed forward and backward movement in the forks (Suntour XCM). This is between the legs and the stanchions. Halfords said it has probably been designed that way as the other showroom bikes with the same forks seem to do the same. I appreciate that they are a budget fork, but still wouldn't expect play on them. Does anybody have the same problem. Suntour's website does't have a tech contact page. Thanks :?

supersonic

How much play? Some forks have a perceptible amount when fully extended, but if its more than that then I would have them replaced.

gandi67

On the 100mm of stanchion visible on full extent there is probably 5mm of combined front and back travel

supersonic

Far too much I would say. I would imagine that is very noticable when riding too, and will only get worse. Don't let them fob you off!

gandi67

Think i'll take to my other Lbs and get a second opinion, Thanks

supersonic

Be good to get some back up, though of course your warranty is with Halfords. Is a good bike this one, not heard of many probs with it at all.

ddoogie

5mm of play?! I'd demand a refund immediately.

gandi67

Be interesting what Lbs has to say, long established shop with good mechanics, if it costs me to get a report it will be worth it to have some leverage with Halfords.

MentalRaver

hahaha another halfords problem. People know their bad but still go there.

Like MaccyD's- know its rubbish, but the advertising is soooo good

supersonic

To be fair, most budget bikes are fitted with Suntour, not just Carrera. For the money they are great bikes, but do agree you need to find a decent store.

BoredHousewife

just to answer supersonics question about the carrera vulcan, my girlfriend bought one last week for £233.50 and for that price the bike is amazing, obviously the forks aren't great but the whole bike costs less than a used set of decent forks so you can't expect too much. I'd say its a good platform to upgrade as she progresses. Frame seems good and the bike rides well, and its a beautiful colour too (her reason for buying that one).

gandi67

Thanks guys, lbs thinks that is normal for a sub £150 fork and is not a major problem. Thinking of upgrading my Tora's so probably stick those on my wife's treader.

supersonic

Have to disagree, its not normal at all. Toras and Marzocchi MX Pros are sub 150 forks! maybe sub 50 quid forks (which this suntour is) but it should not be that bad. Any knocking or clunking throughout the travel is unacceptable.

NathanR

I've got the same problem with my XCM's but there's no gaurantee so can't get them replaced. An experienced tech I spoke to says that the bushes have gone and you can't get replacements. Any way of fixing the problem without buying new forks?

dsmiff

My Son's bike, a Kraken with the suntour XCR fork has developed the same issue and also needs a new bottom braket.

However it has done over 500 "hard" off road miles in less than a year, I put that down to normal wear and tear?

But 6 weeks - now that is a different story!!!

The recon's on my GT are still like new over 1000 miles, guess that's what you pay for.

supersonic

Bushes and mechanics that can replace them are hard to come by.

Wear and tear is such an open term. I would expect a fork bushing and BB to last at least 1500 - 2000 miles of average riding without failure. That is reasonable, especially for a generally non servicable unit. Servicable units can be different.

GT Avalanche

i have a GT Avalanche 3.0 2008 model i have the exact same problem with my XCM 100mm forks front to back movement which has now developed into side to side movement i have taken them apart to see what is going on and noticed that there are 2 black rubbers and i think it is these that are worn out is there any way of getting these replace as i really do not what to spend money on a set of folks which would cost me more than the bike did new.

Dirtydog11

That's Suntour, they've used crap seals for years.


Do your bike a favour, get rid at the first opportunity and fit something half decent from another manufacturer.


For the sake of parity, yes Suntour do make some OKish forks (allegedly) but the seals on the budget models are crap which leads to premature bushing failure and it's been that way with Suntour for years!.

They will eventually rust from the inside out.

unixnerd

However it has done over 500 "hard" off road miles in less than a year, I put that down to normal wear and tear?

I run XCRs and sometimes do over 100 miles a week off road, I have almost no play in them and I've stripped them for a service twice.

They will eventually rust from the inside out.

A good trick for a magnesium alloy......

Let's be honest, Suntour isn't high end kit but what for what it costs (my XCRs were 40 quid shipped) it does a reasonable job and isn't heavy. You'd need to pay nearer 200 for anything appreciably better and most folk would never notice the difference.

Dirtydog11

There's no trick, it's the steel stanchions that rust.

I remember regularly having to turn my old bike upside down (Saracen Enzyme) in order to compress the forks to get the orange coloured (rusty) water out.

I stopped using them because of concerns over their structural integrity, they where non - servicable XC s.

The XCRs aren't bad when they're new plus they have the added bonus of being servicable, however once the paint/anodising wears off the stantions they will rust and the pitting will rub the seals and bushings down which in turn will lead to water getting into the lowers thus accelerating the whole process.

I've got first hand experience of them as they came fitted to a friends Orbea which I used to service. From new they lasted probably 6 months before the rust started to appear, once they get to that point it's game over.

Toras and Recons are available for a lot less than £200.00 and either would be a major improvement over a basic Suntour.