Bike rockshox absorbers stuck down slightly

edward918

I removed the spring from my rockshox absorbers from the front fork on my mountain bike, in order to do so, I needed to remove the cap and then press down slightly, this would cause the shocks to compress and the spring to come up.

Now the shocks are compressed and they are stuck. I've tried to free them by pulling upwards whilst standing on the handlebars when the bike is upside down but they are still stuck.

How can I fix this?

Thanks,
Edward.

cooldad

And the forks are?

RS make a few different forks,

rockmonkeysc

Try setting the rebound damping to minimum.

edward918

I am unsure on the exact model of the shocks, I have taken a few pictures which will hopefully explain the problem better. The spring which is shown in the picture is meant to sit fully in the shocks, however it sticks out at the top, this is because of the shocks being compressed down, I have tried pulling on the fork but they will not budge. Would taking the seals (shown in the picture) help me free up the shocks so I can put the spring back in?

Thanks,
Edward.

Pictures:

cooldad

If you look at the big sticker on the legs it will tell you - looks like Dart to me. So either Dart 1, 2 or 3.

edward918

Apologies, they are Dart shocks, Dart One.

rockmonkeysc

Are they stuck solid or can you move them a bit?

edward918

They are stuck solid. Before when I used to remove the spring and the shocks would compress down, I was able to give them a quick tug upwards and the shocks would move all the way back up again so I could put the spring back in without it sticking out.

But now they seem to be stuck..

rockmonkeysc

I think they may be dead. Were they riding badly before (relative to how bad they were from new).
It sounds like something is bent.

cooldad

Dart 1 are heavy and undamped. Worth upgrading anyway.

supersonic

So with the spring out they still don't move?