Raleigh Suspension

HugoMacDonnell

Hello.
I recently bought a Raleigh Helion 2.0 27.5".
When I ride the suspension appears to be 'locked out'
How ever if the wheel is completely immobile (front brake on, against a wall) the suspension travels perfectly.
Any help would be great.
Thanks,
Hugo.

Will provide pictures if needed.

JBA

If the suspension works when you push down on it then it should work when you are riding the bike normally.
(Not sure what the wall has to do with it though.)

Put a zip tie around one of the stanchions, not too tight but tight enough that it can't slip under its own weight. Slide it down against the fork leg and then go for a ride. When you stop check to see if the zip tie has been moved up the stanchion.

cooldad

Unless it flexes a lot.

It's a very basic fork, with no details on the site, so probably a very bottom end Suntour, or more likely some Chinese generic thing.

I doubt it will ever actually do a proper job.

HugoMacDonnell

The zip tie does not move. What I meant by the wall was that if I'm riding or pushing the bike and try to push down on the suspension it doesn't move at all. However if the front break is on it pushes down perfectly. https://m.imgur.com/a/qaAl5

cooldad

The problem is they are sorry to say, cheap and nasty forks. Probably elastomer (although might be steel springs) and I bet if you open them up they are full of rusty, muddy water.

There doesn't seem to be a preload adjustment, so there's nothing else you can do.

HugoMacDonnell

Yeah im sorry but some thing isnt adding up.
The exact same thing is happening to my cousin's bike and it is not a 'nasty, cheap' bike.
https://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/canno ... 18-p328704

Im not asking for sarcastic remarks from people with nothing better to do.
I just wanted a decent opinion before i have to cycle 43 miles to the shop i got it.

cooldad

What did I say that was sarcastic?

Yours has a very basic fork, that's just fact.

I have no idea what's wrong with your cousin's bike. Revs are decent forks. When were they last serviced.

Or are you guys playing with jetwashers?

JBA

I haven't read any sarcastic comments.

The Cannondale's fork has a compression adjustment knob on top of the right leg. If it is turned all the way clockwise the fork is locked out.
It is also an air fork and the air pressure in it will affect the suspension. If the pressure is too high for the rider's weight then the fork can act as if it is locked out even if the lock out knob is open.

The (Zoom) fork on your Raleigh is a million miles away from the Revelation in terms of design and functionality. It is a very basic suspension fork and the spring or elastomer in it will need a lot of force to compress it. Riding on a smooth road probably won't have any noticeable effect.
I would suggest your fork is working as it is designed to. i.e. Not really do much at all.

Your cousin needs to either set his fork up correctly or get it serviced if it isn't compressing.

The Rookie

I’ve just rebuilt some Revs, the previous owner had never serviced them, the oil seal at the base of the damper leg had failed and the lowers were full of oil so they only had about 50mm of travel before the base of the upper met the oil and stopped play.

larkim

+1 for none of the comments here being sarcastic. Despite the bike being retailed at £320, the fork on that (probably the single most important component when buying at that price point) is "no-name" and with only 60mm of travel. That makes it the lowest of the low in terms of what you can buy, and unlikely to be serviceable or to offer anything like the sort of suspension that will add anything to your experience - it's the sort of fork that you'd get on a £100 bike at Toys-r-us.

If the fork moves up and down when the bike is parked up (I'm thinking with you off the bike, front brake grabbed and you simply pressing down on the handlebars), then it does "work". Next step is to get on the bike, adopt a riding position (i.e. feet on pedals, bum off seat, weight forwards a bit so that the arms are putting pressure on the bars, brakes on, supporting yourself against a wall at the side for example) and the fork should definitely depress compared to a completely unloaded position. You can do the zip tie thing to see where it moves to.

My bet is that when you climb on like that the fork depresses the max 60mm, which is why you're not getting any more travel out of it. And what you'd be experiencing there is just the fact that its a rubbish fork - I'd bet you'd find exactly the same on every other bike with that model of fork on it. Now, it is possible that there is something "wrong" with it, and if that's the case then return it to where you got it and show them. But in all honesty, had you bought a bike in the same price range from somewhere like Decathlon chance are you'd have walked away with a bike which had a fork which, whilst not "good", was substantially better than what you've bought.

I appreciate it's not fun being told that what you've spent hard earned cash on is not very good, but that's what Cooldad was pointing out - and as someone who (for himself) refuses to pay more than £400 for a bike, I can vouch for the fact that it is difficult to spend money at that price point and get something which isn't really low end (though it is possible, its just that the models to choose from are limited, and swamped by a load of rubbish bikes at the same price point which you should avoid like the plague!)

Hope some of this helps!

rockmonkeysc

The fork on your Raleigh really is not very good. It doesn't have a damper at all, just a very crude spring.
I'm afraid it'll never really work properly. It'll take some big old bumps to get that thing moving. The crude seals and bushes mean it has to overcome a lot of friction before it'll move.
My wife's bike had the same fork, I replaced it very quickly with a much better rigid fork.