Help with new(er) Rockshox Reba Fork – Feels Broken

Equipment
1

Bought this bike in August and it’s been fun, however, the last couple of rides the front has felt unusually harsh. I noticed that it felt like I was hitting rim on 29x2.25 Racing Ray’s aired up to ~27 psi…Hmm, that’s odd.

Low and behold, the fork travel is only like 30mm @ 100 psi and I’m not actually hitting rim, I’m just getting almost no travel. I’ve gone as far as totally depressurizing the shock, airing back up to 125 psi (Rockshox recommended based on my weight), testing it, and then airing down to 100 psi, testing it, and then down to 70 psi, testing it. Same results regardless. In the video below you can see that the fork is only achieving around ~30mm or so travel with sag only in the 10% range. Also noticed the lockout doesn’t work, same travel with and without it engaged.

My rebound is right between fast and slow, and changing that seems to have zero impact on travel. I’ve submitted a video and ticket to SRAM/Rockshox and am waiting to hear back. Wondering if I’m in a warranty scenario here.

Video showing rebound/travel with fork aired to 100 psi: https://streamable.com/garj2q

Any thoughts?

2

  • Reset the red sag o-ring to the fork seal on the bottom, release all air from the spring, and then compress the fork fully until it stops (easier to do with no pressure in the fork). Make sure the o-ring is fully against the seal.

  • Inflate or manually pull the fork back to full extension, and then measure the distance between the o-ring and the fork seal. If you don’t get around 100mm (or whatever is the claimed fork travel), something is broken inside the fork, preventing full travel.

  • Could be a number of things, but this will at least tell you if you get full travel. Based on the vid, I expect you won’t get full travel, and something is wrong inside the damper side.

3

Thanks! I went through this procedure and got 25mm of “travel” after totally deflating the shock and then hand pulling it out. This is pretty much identical with the amount of travel I’m getting with the shock aired up.

FWIW, I only have around 6 hours of riding on this bike on very tame single track.

4

OK, sounds like a problem that a shop will need to address via teardown.

3 Likes
5

Warranty?

2 Likes
6

Sounds like you may have a problem with equalizing between the positive & negative air chamber on the spring side, perhaps the equalizing port has been blocked etc. I would get it in to my LBS and have them do a lower leg service, or do it yourself.
It is a pretty simple service requiring minimal tools, and lots of good “how to” videos out there.

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7

Thanks for the tips. I’m thinking maybe the lockout got “stuck” and is on, thus limiting the travel.