[ALEXIS_DH]

i recently bought a Totem 2-step...
it has been a great fork, from a pure perfomance pov... but am growing wary of its unreliability....
on day 2, the 2-step started acting funky, and the fork sunk, losing 15mm of travel... 2 weeks, later it went back to full travel, only to sink back at 160mm at the end of the day..... i read on the internet 2-steps are tricky, and need to be bleed like every hour to work ok...

so far, it has 4 downhill days, and then 60 miles of city riding... grand total, no more than 140 miles of use...
during this time, the bike has been serviced once by lbs (i usually service my bikes every other use).

now, today, i take it for service... and the lbs mechanic noticed there is some play in the lowers.. i was like "WTF, this **** is almost new!". granted, 3 out of this 4 dh days were in muddy conditions...
my old trusty domain, with its steel stanchions, has seen its fair share of mud for almost a whole season, and yet, it does not have any play at all...
judging by the play, the bushings seem to be at 50% of their life...

are totems this delicate?? did i get hosed with a deffective unit? are boxxers any better? **** man, i cant believe a freaking $1000 piece of mountain bike engineering could be so delicate, to almost the point of worthlessness....

should i have listened to granny and bought a fox 40, or a boxxer team instead???

**** you cockshox! is this **** normal??? high end forks are so expensive, and yet so crappy?

 

[Wa-Aw]

The play isn't normal. I've had my 2-step for more than a year and it's solid.

But the rest of that crap...Yeah it can do weird things. Mine performs pretty well except for the fact that it's 160mm fork.

 

[HardtailHack]

My 2010 DH Totems were lacking grease from factory, also the bushes were both dog eared which had to be fixed with 2000 grit wet/dry paper, mine started to come good after a year of use.

I told myself when I bought a RockShox fork ten years ago I'd never buy another but I'm still amazed they can't put a ****ing bush in properly,
No wonder they went bankrupt.

 

[frorider]

,
No wonder they went bankrupt.

SRAM went bankrupt. must be true...i read it on ridemonkey.

 

[HardtailHack]

SRAM went bankrupt. must be true...i read it on ridemonkey.

Go back to Pinkbike, Rockshox previous to their life with Sram went bankrupt about as often as GT.

Sram took over RS in 2002.

 

[Mo(n)arch]

Well, I had a Totem on my Session 88 Fr (2009) and the fork never worked properly.I greased everything, changed the oil and rode it for a year pretty hard, but I couldn't make her feel good.
The strange thing about my Totem was, that she never leaked oil
But that was about the only good thing'bout this fork.
Since 2010 I run a 888evo.Life's good now.

 

[frango]

ALEXIS_DH, this question might seem silly... but is it 2010 or 2011?
Coz, I have had Totem Solo Air 2008 and it had problems with bushings. It wasn't perfect even when I had them replaced.
But, my Totem SA 2010 is very good, indeed. No problems with bushings nor leaking. It was even a bit to tight at the beginning, but it broke through after week or 2 of riding.

 

[blackohio]

My Lyric on my remedy was nothing but trouble. I wont own another RS product.

 

[Wa-Aw]

My Lyric on my remedy was nothing but trouble. I wont own another RS product.

I keep telling that to myself too.

I'm sure there are plenty of working RS products out there but their ratio is just unacceptable. Sure they may have good customer service in the US but anywhere else where their CS isn't stellar is just not going to work out well for RS owners.

About 2/3 of all of my friends with boxxers have problems. Most of them don't know it but I'd rather not ruin their day. I don't even want to mention the other models.

It's just pathetic really. C'mon SRAM.

And NO, no other fork manufacturer produces crap as consistently as rock shox does. It's not something that happens to the others too.

Rant over!

 

[IH8Rice]

Well, I had a Totem on my Session 88 Fr (2009) and the fork never worked properly.I greased everything, changed the oil and rode it for a year pretty hard, but I couldn't make her feel good.
The strange thing about my Totem was, that she never leaked oil
But that was about the only good thing'bout this fork.

my buddy had nothing but issues with his Totem that came on his Session too. leaking oil, lots of play and the steerer tube coming loose.

About 2/3 of all of my friends with boxxers have problems. Most of them don't know it but I'd rather not ruin their day. I don't even want to mention the other models.

It's just pathetic really. C'mon SRAM.

And NO, no other fork manufacturer produces crap as consistently as rock shox does. It's not something that happens to the others too.

Rant over!

but Boxxers are race forks

even the internet's worst fork company,Marzocchi, hasnt had as many flubs as RS has had.

 

[w00dy]

i recently bought a Totem 2-step...

There's your problem right there.
You live in upside down land. You should have bought a Pets-2 Metot.

 

[John P.]

Weird. I've been riding a Totem on the front of my Bullit since '08 (?), and it's been awesome. I've done very little maintenance, and it's always been super reliable and plush.

I think you'll find that a much more efficient means of solving your problem than hopping on RM to rant is to have your shop contact the local distributor about this (or call the main RS customer service line). In general, they absolutely bend over backwards to get your problem fixed.

 

[insanitylevel9]

There's your problem right there.
You live in upside down land. You should have bought a Pets-2 Metot.

rep added

 

[ridiculous]

I keep telling that to myself too.

I'm sure there are plenty of working RS products out there but their ratio is just unacceptable. Sure they may have good customer service in the US but anywhere else where their CS isn't stellar is just not going to work out well for RS owners.

About 2/3 of all of my friends with boxxers have problems. Most of them don't know it but I'd rather not ruin their day. I don't even want to mention the other models.

It's just pathetic really. C'mon SRAM.

And NO, no other fork manufacturer produces crap as consistently as rock shox does. It's not something that happens to the others too.

Rant over!

Yup. To the OP sorry to hear about your troubles but its rock shox and therefore mediocre at best.

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

geez, they suck.
i bought new the fork from the US... my local distro probably wont touch it...

now, am thinking about buying a complete santa cruz driver 8 to replace my scott voltage fr, which comes with a boxxer team up front, and a vivid shock.... the problem is this could theoretically bring me back to square one, since id replacing rockshox for rockshox...

are boxxers and vivid shocks crappy as well?

my trusty lbs sells scott.. but scotts are pricey, the titted-out gambler goes, with fox shocks, for $7200, and the most basic one (rockshox rebound only adjust on shocks) goes for $3700.... the $3700 would not be much an improvement over my current bike, an the $7200 is way too expensive.

specialized also sells in peru, but the cheaper demo has very basic suspension, and the good one goes for $6500 (again too expensive).... there is also an intense, cannondale, kona, trek dealer...
not many euro brands have local distros.

any bike that comes with GOOD and RELIABLE parts, say boxxer team, fox 40, decent rear suspension, that does not retail for a kidney?

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

anybody knows how can i contact sram/rockshox directly in the US???
am pretty sure my local distro wont give me the time of the day... (i had to wait weeks for a spring i wanted to pay for, which they never ordered), and once i had a problem with a simple seal in a domain.... and they gave me the runaround about the warranty....

 

[cableguy]

anybody knows how can i contact sram/rockshox directly in the US???
am pretty sure my local distro wont give me the time of the day... (i had to wait weeks for a spring i wanted to pay for, which they never ordered), and once i had a problem with a simple seal in a domain.... and they gave me the runaround about the warranty....

With SRAM in the US you have to go through your LBS

PS You can contact them for more info, but most kind of warranty issues like getting new damper, your LBS has to get it from them.

 

[dbozman]

OP: The bad two-step cartridge is a known problem. SRAM has typically "upgraded" those to a solo-air. You lose the adjust (not a huge loss in my book), but gain simplicity and a fork that works.

I have to say, I've used a boatload of RS forks and never had any complaints. I've had a couple Pikes, a couple Lyrics, a Totem, etc. Easy to rebuild, solid, all mine have been dependable. Have to say, though, the sweetest single-crown I've ridden recently was the 2010 Marz. 55 RC3Ti. Love the feel of that thing.

 

[Mo(n)arch]

Well Rock shox is a this time, well, a bit of a roulette game.
If you get a fork, that is fine, you will have to maintain frequently. Then you will have a good piece of suspension technology on your bike. If not, well, you expirienced it.
At the other side I rarely heard something bad about the rear shocks, especially the Vivid.
So it's up to you. If you wanna buy the Driver8, I would change the fork in the shop!

 

[Wa-Aw]

Weird. I've been riding a Totem on the front of my Bullit since '08 (?), and it's been awesome. I've done very little maintenance, and it's always been super reliable and plush.

I think you'll find that a much more efficient means of solving your problem than hopping on RM to rant is to have your shop contact the local distributor about this (or call the main RS customer service line). In general, they absolutely bend over backwards to get your problem fixed.

I don't live in north america. I call RS distributor, they add new oil and send it back to me broken. I warranty it and wait 4 months for it come back, 3 times. I had an 07 that lasted (back then it was quite impressive) 8 months working perfectly. Then the internals crapped out in every way.

The 2010 has been working well. Been through a damper and plenty of "fixes". But I'm tired of not riding my bike so I stopped sending it in and just tolerated its flaws.



To the OP. Warranty it, sell it and buy a Fox 180mm Talas if you need the travel adjust!

 

[John P.]

anybody knows how can i contact sram/rockshox directly in the US???

Seriously???
http://www.sram.com/contact

Sorry to hear some of your local distributors are shady; SRAM as a co. is world class. I had a '10 Boxxer WC that had a very slow oil leak and sent it in for repair. I got it back and it worked great until the same leak developed 6+ months later. When I called Sram to ask about getting it serviced again, they just sent me a brand new '11 Boxxer WC.

 

[FlipFantasia]

I've been using RS products for years, do the bare minimum maintenance and ride lots and hard, with zero issues....threads like these are funny, "I had problems, therefore all their stuff sucks! RAAAAAAGGGEEE!!!!"

 

[Wa-Aw]

Sorry to hear some of your local distributors are shady; SRAM as a co. is world class. I had a '10 Boxxer WC that had a very slow oil leak and sent it in for repair. I got it back and it worked great until the same leak developed 6+ months later. When I called Sram to ask about getting it serviced again, they just sent me a brand new '11 Boxxer WC.

If I got this kind of treatment I would consider them redeemed in my book. I have called SRAM Taiwan a few times, (no offense) they barely understood English on the phone and I had to email them. But they were good people, in fact they're the ones who ushered the warranty of my fork along. It would have probably been quite a bit longer other wise.

But being a world wide company I can't file any complaints, claims or requests to SRAM USA and avail of the stellar service. It just gets directed to Taiwan at first mention of me being in SEA. Which I totally understand. Reality of it is just a bit lame...

So I'm blaming their shady QC instead...

I've been using RS products for years, do the bare minimum maintenance and ride lots and hard, with zero issues....threads like these are funny, "I had problems, therefore all their stuff sucks! RAAAAAAGGGEEE!!!!"

Nah, I think it's the other way around this time. There are just way too many stories out there of bad QC by SRAM. All of my friends who have boxxers that at most use 7" of travel and about half have symptoms of low oil. Sure these can be fixed but it's a high end DH fork from a (i guess) reputable company, unacceptable. Zoch had their bad years (08-09) and fox had theirs in 05-06 but RS has just always been like this...

But good on their North am CS for keeping their reputation afloat in your parts.

 

[IH8Rice]

I had a '10 Boxxer WC that had a very slow oil leak and sent it in for repair. I got it back and it worked great until the same leak developed 6+ months later. When I called Sram to ask about getting it serviced again, they just sent me a brand new '11 Boxxer WC.

its amazing they could still stay in business with business practices like this

 

[John P.]

its amazing they could still stay in business with business practices like this

Apparently they know something that my former boss at RF did not.

 

[Wa-Aw]

Apparently they know something that my former boss at RF did not.

This is hilarious!

Rep given.

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

seriously.
that fork is, supposedly, a high end piece of engineering.

issues like what am talking about, should not even exist. i shouldnt need to spend time fixing stuff like this, talking to anyone, asking for favors, or doing **** other than just riding my bike.

and this is exactly what pisses me off.

the whole point of "high end" bikes is to make the ride more enjoyable and reliable. this is why we dont ride walmart bikes (they "suck", as in they break every other day and do not allow you to enjoy the trail)... thus we pay a lot of money for engineering and product development, in order to not worry about quality issues and enjoying the ride.

i am mad, because what we get after we do the paying part is largely, marketing and pseudo-engineering.... countless unproven variations on a simple basic design, where reliability is almost a matter of chance...
i seriously cannot see a company like this surviving for long in other markets, yet in mountain biking, there seem to be enough market for several manufacturers with crappy engineering/manufacturing....

having rockshox send you a new unit, and having a "reputation of good CS and warranties"... well, while good CS, thats a symptom of REALLY bad quality control and worse engineering...
seems an important part of bugdet goes into "redeeming gifts", rather than going into proper engineering and reliable quality control.
good engineering would mean, few people would have ever dealt with warranty issues... and it does not seem to be the case.

 

[slowitdown]

i am mad, because what we get after we do the paying part is largely, marketing and pseudo-engineering.... countless unproven variations on a simple basic design, where reliability is almost a matter of chance...
i seriously cannot see a company like this surviving for long in other markets, yet in mountain biking, there seem to be enough market for several manufacturers with crappy engineering/manufacturing....

having rockshox send you a new unit, and having a "reputation of good CS and warranties"... well, while good CS, thats a symptom of REALLY bad quality control and worse engineering...
seems an important part of bugdet goes into "redeeming gifts", rather than going into proper engineering and reliable quality control.
good engineering would mean, few people would have ever dealt with warranty issues... and it does not seem to be the case.

Welcome to the Crank Brothers/Microsoft model of business: all floss and gloss in the presentation, with the "consumer" doing the beta-testing.

SRAM improved RS, but that doesn't mean RS is infallible, nor that RS can't improve things. Last I checked RS was still plastic-happy in their fork internals.

 

[fluider]

Sorry if I repeat someone else, I didn't read all posts in detail.
I'm having the same problem with my 2009 Lyrik which I bought used (1 season) but had no play in first 3 rides. Then it developed play which I believe helps loose even the headset.

When I was upgrading the fork from 160 to 170mm last week I wanted to fix the issue but I had no luck. The problem can be most probably solved by pushing the upper bushings deeper into the lowers. The upper bushings are cut, they have a dilatation space, so they can change their internal diameter if pushed into smaller outer diameter. In case of my Lyrik, they were pushed as deep as possible, no dilatation space was left for adjustment. So I'm getting used to that ****y knocking.

I think some of the RS forks are designed were smartly, however their manufacturing quality is not high enough for that price they ask.

 

[phycoref]

Welcome to the Crank Brothers/Microsoft model of business: all floss and gloss in the presentation, with the "consumer" doing the beta-testing.

SRAM improved RS, but that doesn't mean RS is infallible, nor that RS can't improve things. Last I checked RS was still plastic-happy in their fork internals.

Please don't compare Crank Brothers to Microsoft, that is a huge slap in the face for Crank Brothers.... Microsoft is by far one of the worst companies in the world...

 

[slowitdown]

Please don't compare Crank Brothers to Microsoft, that is a huge slap in the face for Crank Brothers.... Microsoft is by far one of the worst companies in the world...

The lesser evil gambit!

Okay, I'll ignore those many pedal failures, pump failures, and seatpost failures! Good customer service though! And very stylish product packaging! Like Vista!

 

[phycoref]

Nothing is, was, and or ever will be as bad as vista... But not even crank brothers is as bad as Microsoft is all I am saying. Microsoft owns the lowest of the low you can ever go and I don't even think Crank Bros can make it to that...

 

[eatmyshorts]

failure is not an option - it comes bundled with Windows...