Squeaky RockShox on new bike

Droolio

Posting on behalf of my brother and hoping for some seconds opinions on this...

He recently bought a brand new Cannondale Trail SL 29 2 2015 from Pauls Cycles (UK) which had a set of RockShox Recon Gold RL 29 forks which squeak like a damn trumpet during normal use. demo vid:

Thinking this is NOT normal - 2 LBSs and rider friend agrees - he sent them back to Pauls (cost 20 quid insured courier), who sent them to SRAM for warranty repair.

Returned, the noise wasn't fixed, and in subsequent emails to/fro Pauls & SRAM, SRAM say the noise is 'normal' and claim the 'fork is being forced through the lockout' which it definitely isn't.

What's more, the label on the lowers say the model is "TK Gold / 29" but they're definitely RL's, which makes us think they were refurbished before sale. (Pauls claim this is normal coz Cannondale use 'OEM parts' and they 'have 100s of these bikes in stock and all of them are marked the same'. Hmm)

Pauls seem helpful (yet won't actually replace the forks) and say SRAM will take a look at them again, but we can't convince either that these forks are a lemon.

Any suggestions?

The Rookie

Am I missing something, he turned the lockout on and then started riding, so there will be significant damping and some inevitable noise with bigger hits such as in the video?

kickaxe

Just a possibility, as you said they could be refurbished due to the discrepancies:

https://www.sram.com/rockshox/authentication-notice

rockmonkeysc

You just locked them before riding. That's a normal noise from a fork getting blown through its lockout.
The lock doesn't actually lock the fork, it closes the low speed compression damper to stop it bobbing while still allowing movement.
Canondale do have OEM forks which are a mix of various bits from different models. Also manufacturers sometimes run out of parts and fit upgraded bits which are in stock so it could be an RL.
Canondale wouldn't use reconditioned forks, it would cost more that they pay for a new set of forks (probably less than £50)

supersonic

Looks like the TK to me, there is a Motion Control decal on RL versions. You can check by removing the cartridge, a MoCo has lots of holes in it, the TK does not.

There are also two ways the cartridge is sprung - on some forks the cable tension pulls the lockout on, on other forks it releases the lockout. Yours looks like the latter (and opposite the way they did it for years). I don't think there is enough cable tension so the damper is not fully 'open'. That squeaking noise I have heard before with these dampers when inbetween. Try adding more cable tension - mine has over 90 degrees difference between the two positions.

Droolio

Many thanks for the replies, guys.

@TheRookie, RockmonkeySC - Absolutely spot on, that was indeed the issue. PopLoc pressed IN = locked. How embarrassing. In defence of my bro, one of our LBSs told him the complete opposite!

There *was* a minor fault with rebound that the SRAM tech did fix - in his words, it was "quite stiff, a 'black flag' style adjuster has been fitted as these are considerably more user friendly (original adjuster returned)." Added to the confusion, the tech set it back to 100psi, too much for my brother's weight. Forgetting to set the sag again (LBS did it when he first got the bike), he thought the PopLoc IN position had more give that OUT.

@supersonic - Thanks for that info. They *are* supposed to be RL according to the bike specs, but I gather they use the same TK parts and just add the remote lockout. Whether or not it has Motion Control, he'll find out soon when he gets it properly adjusted...

Cheers guys!

supersonic

If it supposed to be the RL I'd bring Paul's cycles up on it - the Motion Control damper is a nice step up from the TK damper - be very off of Cannodale to call it an RL if it is a TK.