RockShox DART3

F. Radon #12

Hi guys.

I'm having alot of trouble with my suspension fork. It's kind of jammed and is as hard as if it was locked. If i lock it for a few minutes and then unlocks it, it's soft again but only for a few seconds... :?
Can anyone tell whats wrong from that information? and can i fix it myself??

Thank you in advance

supersonic

Sounds like a faulty damper, or it needs servicing. Tech manuals available from SRAM.

cavegiant

The dart3 is a very poor fork.
It is not worth spending money on to fix.

If you cannot fix for free, save up for something new.

kona_matt

i had exactly the same problem with the dart 3 that came with my kona, in fact, mine jammed completely. was still under warranty (2 year warranty on Rockshox) so it went back to the shop i bought the bike from who repaired it for free. faulty internal cartridge. then, 6 miles into my first ride post repair, same thing happened. back to the shop again who repaired it again for free but I had lost all confidence in the fork so upgraded to a recon air that was on offer, i'd rather not be stuck at the top of a hill in wales or the lakes with a rigid fork. the dart now sits in a box in the garage in case of emergency or cheap single speed build.

the guy at the shop said that it was a problem they're seen quite a few times with dart cartridges. he thought the repair first time round would be ok as it was a new batch of improved cartridges but obviously not. i agree with cavegiant, definately wouldn't bother paying for a repair, upgrade if you can or if still under warranty get it repaired for free and see what happens.

cavegiant

The Tora doesn't cost much more but is a different league of fork.

Alot of the Manitou offerings are great too, the new drake has potential to steal the 'value' crown off the Tora.