Felt Compulsion 2 08 se

sesh88dh

I have had my Felt for about a year and thought i'd got a bargain from wiggle by snappin it up for about £880 reduced from £1500. I have rode it most weekens since then, but have had some pretty bad luck with it. I ride it fairly hard but I'd like to think I maintain it pretty well too. I sheared the bolt at the top of the shock mount which turned out to be a fault with the shock and the pike forks needed repair since oil was leaking from the lock out. That stung me about £200. The sram X-7 rear shifter started slipping and ended up needing replaced and now there is play developing in the pivot at the bottom bracket. The LBS reckons it might require new bearing kit at about £120 fitted!

Is anyone else having these kind of problems with this bike or is this pretty standard for most bikes?

nicklouse

sounds like poor maintenance and a warranty oil leek.

and bearings do wear out.

Raymondavalon

You got your bike at a giveaway price, that's a lot of bike for under £900 and yes it was and still is a bargain

Issues with the Compulsion 2SE? Not at all

Mine had the well known Motion Control Unit issue on the Pike 409 forks. It was caused by a seal being fitted inversely during assembly. It was repaired under warranty and this was handled by Wiggle where I bought it from.

I did notice that some of the bolts on the rear suspension worked loose after the first ride or two, but this is to be expected when bolts are tightened against new paint (20 years of motorcycle ownership taught me this lesson)
I bought a BBB torque wrench and check all of the suspension linkage bolts religiously before and after any ride.

The only wear and tear I've had is the GXP BB which I had to replace after 10 months of use - I do weigh over 200LBS and I think that could have been a contributing factor.

In 18 months it's been in for derailleur indexing 3 times, but then again this bike does get used.

The X7 shifters have a longish thumb lever and this leaves them a little exposed. They don't take to well to impact, so a crash can cause the issue you're having, plus you can buy X7 shifters cheaply from Ebay.

Yes bearings do wear out but the Compulsion 2 SE manual has a parts list and you'd probably save a bit of money purchasing the bearings from a bearing outlet directly and doing the work yourself if you have the skill set and correct tools to undertake this task. If not, then you are at the mercy of your LBS and will have to pay their quoted price

My suspension linkage bearings are sound, no sign of any play or any clunks from the Equilink rear end. Periodic maintenance is probably the preventative factor here

It's a good bike, invest in some tools and maintenance time and like any good bike it will serve you well for many years to come...

welshkev

i've had mine for about 14 months and have had no problems with it. the only things i've had done are fixing punctures, change the brake pads and i had to have a new mech hanger cos i snapped mine after a crash.

things that happen to any bike. i'd definately buy another felt, sounds like you must have just had a bad one.

welshkev

must be karma coming back to get me. sorry to drag up an old thread but the bearings in the rear end of my compulsion 2 are starting to creak and groan a bit. does anyone know what bearings i need to get so i can replace them myself? i haven't got the manual that came with the bike and i can't find it anywhere on the felt website.

thanks for your help.

Raymondavalon

Kev, which part of the rear end? There are linkages galore on the Equilink.
I do have a manual, if need be I'll get it scanned @ work and mail it over to you in PDF format.

welshkev

that'd be awsome if you could do that. i think it's the 2 bottom linkages under/behind the bottom of the equilink. there's a little bit of sidewards play there. but i'm pretty useless at bike mechanics so could be wrong :?

Raymondavalon

Go over every bolt / Allen cap with a torque wrench, things do come loose
My last clunker was caused by the retaining bold on the bottom of the Fox Float shock, where it bolts to the frame. Had me confused as hell, but I found the culprit in the end!

welshkev

yeah i've done that. the one bolt - the one i mentioned below the equalink was really loose, as in a could take it out by hand. i tightened it up and it seemed to fix things but then it started again. maybe i rode with it loose for too long and it wore the bearing?

welshkev

i e-mailed felt direct and got this response:

No problems, the parts you are looking for are:

There are 8 bearings in the rear triangle and rockers, international bearing number = 608 2RS

There are 4 needle bearings in the red Equilink, international bearing number = HK0812 2RS

hope this helps someone

richg1979

a ride budy has just sold his 2008 felt mint sauce (frame) that he also bought from wiggle.

the srm x-7 shifters are very poor, his packed up after about 3 months,

the play is most likely to be the needle bearings in the red equilink bar (very common), his lasted about 12 months then replaced them with solid brass bushes off bearing boys for a few £ and lasted up until he sold the frame

hes still using his pikes but i had to service them after about 6 months as all the moco oil droped into the lower leg and locked the forks up.

went through 3 rubbish truvativ bottom brackets in 12 months.

rear deore hub broke after 12 months.

front wheels bearings replaced after a few months, fitted with very cheap bearings.

but it was not a bad bike for the money, its a sub £900 FS bike fitted with sram x9/x7, pikes ect

any mtb used often will always need parts replacing quite frequently.

Ghostgraphics

Just put those bearing numbers into google and you will find places that sell them, the first ones are about £2 each

welshkev

richg1979 wrote:

a ride budy has just sold his 2008 felt mint sauce (frame) that he also bought from wiggle.

the srm x-7 shifters are very poor, his packed up after about 3 months,

the play is most likely to be the needle bearings in the red equilink bar (very common), his lasted about 12 months then replaced them with solid brass bushes off bearing boys for a few £ and lasted up until he sold the frame

hes still using his pikes but i had to service them after about 6 months as all the moco oil droped into the lower leg and locked the forks up.

went through 3 rubbish truvativ bottom brackets in 12 months.

rear deore hub broke after 12 months.

front wheels bearings replaced after a few months, fitted with very cheap bearings.

but it was not a bad bike for the money, its a sub £900 FS bike fitted with sram x9/x7, pikes ect

any mtb used often will always need parts replacing quite frequently.

this is the first problem i've had with it and as i've had it for nearly 18 months i think that's pretty good i'd expect the bearings to wear. i did blow the seals on my pikes but that's cos i came off a 3-4 ft drop and and bottomed out cos i only had a medium spring in them and i'm 14 stone!!! changed it for a firm spring now all in all it was a bargain at just over £900 i'm well happy with it.

bearings are checked out on google, i'll be ordering them later

Raymondavalon

Those replacement bearings are cheap as chips. I see the triangle uses the same bearing as skateboard wheels.

They're not bad bikes. Any bike that gets used will require maintenance and parts do wear.
Had mine for 18 months and yes I did replace the Truativ GPX BB as mine developed a creak. The Equilink has been flawless as I keep an eye on mine and ensure it's always torqued correctly. The front wheel bearings are still in good nick and are as smooth as silk.
Other than that it's been ace and yes mine has covered some serious mileage.

I still put the longevity of any MTB (or most mechanical items) down to maintenance.
If people just ride their bikes, never bother to check them over properly and don't invest in the right tools to undertake the maintenance properly, you will have problems.

zstaines

Just wondering if any of you fellow SE compulsion owners regularly jump on this bike and what air pressure do you put in the shock? also have any of you gone for a firm spring, if so is it worth the investment. Btw im 13stone if you where wondering about my weight

Raymondavalon

I am a 200LBS+ Compulsion 2SE owner
The rear Float R shock takes 1 PSI per LB of weight, so 185-194 PSI in your rear shock
Upgrading the Pike 409 spring was the best thing I ever did on mine, upgrade spring was £40 from TF Tuned and a 10 minute job to fit with the fork on the bike. You will need a large 24mm socket though - how to guide available here
I also upgraded brakes to Avid Codes, 203mm/F 185mm/R a huge difference in stopping power

Mine get's a bit of air, not a lot as it's an AM and not quite a freeride bike. Keep an eye on those suspension linkages and it'll serve you very well

tanjaz

Hi I have just joined. I too have a compulsion 2 se. it may be the one that was mentioned above as i recently bought from a guy in cannock who had bought a santa cruz. Anyway i am loving it. the luinkage bolts/bearings need to be kept an eye on but other than that its awesome. I must admit i am not pushing half as hard as you guys as im just getting myself back into mtb after 15 years off lol. I bought it as a frame/shock and a few other bits so am in the process of upgrading it from the parts i stole off my cannondale f5 hardtail to build it initally.
I do keep developing a knock from the linkage tho which is tedious. i changed a couple of the bearings in the linkage the other day and on my local downhill run it was knocking quite badly. Cant see anything loose but must be something.

cheers jaz

welshkev

zstaines wrote:

Just wondering if any of you fellow SE compulsion owners regularly jump on this bike and what air pressure do you put in the shock? also have any of you gone for a firm spring, if so is it worth the investment. Btw im 13stone if you where wondering about my weight

i have changed to a firm spring but i'm still undecided whether it's better that the medium one. i liked the plushness of the medium when going down but it was a bit bouncy going up hills. the firm spring is really good when climbing but a bit harsher on the downhills. i think that it does give me more control over the bike though

oh yeah, i've since changed the original chainset for an SLX double and bash guard and it's awsome

jonke

You can't diss a bike for third party components attached. That''s not the manufacturers fault.

But I just snapped my third shock/swingarm bolt on my compulsion :-(

That was after it being returned to wiggle too. and I started double checking the torque before every ride.

i loved the bike but its properly unreliable and now i'm too paranoid to ride it.

welshkev

jonke wrote:

You can't diss a bike for third party components attached. That''s not the manufacturers fault.

But I just snapped my third shock/swingarm bolt on my compulsion :-(

That was after it being returned to wiggle too. and I started double checking the torque before every ride.

i loved the bike but its properly unreliable and now i'm too paranoid to ride it.

it sounds like maybe you've just had a bad one? how did you snap it? i regulary do 3 - 4 ft drops, jumps etc. i'm 14 stone so it takes some punishment