Mecnic

Well I would have your lbs contact the importer. I think it's dragon sports in cape town, they should be able to help

There should be a black part that fits in to the blue lever its almost like a plastic allen key which reaches down into the lock out cartridge,

That's not my experience but perhaps you've seen something that I haven't. The U-Turn mechanism is a robust nylon scew that works inside another nylon part and there is no play in there nor does any play seem to develop. When I was down at cape cycles they showed me how to assemble the air u turn mechanism in a revelation, He recommended filling the nylon threaded part with a good quality thick grease as at the extreme travel setting a small clunk could develop due to that little bit of play in the threads the grease just fills it up and help its not a loud clunk just enough t be annoying. It could be many thing, rebound not working proper but it most probally something to do with the U turn mechanism it couldn't hurt to check it out and give it a good clean and grease, according to the tech manual available on the rock shox website. The oil that came out the bottom chamber is oil from the + that just by passed the oring on the piston head as long as your not losing air it shouldn't be a problem.

The clunk could becoming from the actual u turn mechanism

My Custom STP, (13 inch frame, you have no idea how hard it was to get the small one) Bought the frame, and built her up to my specs

Even the die hard mountain bikers started somewhere.

A proper mountain bike race can never be to technical, Learn to ride it or ride road, I was in a bike shop a few days ago and a good road cyclist asked if the weekend mtb race was technical, the answer was no, to which he replied then I'll ride it, thats the wrong attitude. Saying a mountain bike race is to technical is like me saying road race are to far, technical makes a race and seperates average riders from great riders. In all fairness technical is all part of the challenge, I'm not saying make it suicidal but it must by no means be easy. There are non technical races to do, so stop complaining.

It does happen as soon as the fluid heats up high enough the seals expand regardless of the number of kms done It takes just 1 long decent with the brakes being dragged or used alot to heat them up substatially, Brakes can be boiled on 1 downhill run lasting 5 min so it is possible for it to have happened in the 600km. When I visited cape Cycles they specifically mentioned this issue to me it the one issue with juicys but fortunately its not expensive to fix

It could be that your lever need a service kit, What happens is the fluid boils and the rubber seals expand as a result of the heat, these kit are in expensive under 100 rand per lever try it. The levers not returning are aa definite symptom of the above problem.

While were on the topic I also got a bike for my 16th, that was 6 years ago though. Was a Giant Boulder, Chromo frame heavy as all hell but I loved it, was my 1st proper mtb What is the kid going to ride when he's older? I don't want to be him when the cold reality of "your not rich your parents are hits him" My dad has helped me alot with thing I couldn't afford and he is putting me through university, but I appreciate it alot as I also have had a job since I was 16 and bought all my own expensive cycling toys after that But you can't blame him for it its not the kids fault, don't get me wrong I'm blaming no one here just adding my opinion to it all.

Hmm why not? https://www.bikehub.co.za/forum_posts.asp?TID=84368&KW=dot&PID=1167910#1167910 https://www.bikehub.co.za/forum_posts.asp?TID=83950&KW=dot&PID=1163516#1163516 Like I said I do not know what Shimano uses Brakes use either Dot 4 or Mineral Oil, Shimano most definately uses mineral oil

Unfortunately the tool measures the depth As I cant seem to find a list of how deep the piston must sit as its different on every different stroke length and eye to eye measurment of rear shox manitou makes. however rock shox does list the piston depths for there vivid range in the service manual.

The tool in question looks like this, yes all of the above will work, I would however recommend a vernier as a stick or wire may be a little crude. The problem comes in when you have to get hold of the actual depth in mm which isn't listed anywhere I can find it and unless you know someone who has the tool and can measure it for you. (for example my Swinger coil 6 way needs to be exactly 41.1mm deep which I found out during a visit to them) It does however differ from eye to eye measurement aswell as how long the stroke is. Please bear in mind that I never said it was impossible just mentioning and discussing problems which a less experienced person may incur which could result in further damage such as a broken SPV piston due to incorrect depth and pressures or even worse. I further did mention that ity was on Manitou as Rock shox does list the depth in the service manual.

On the topic of manitou rear shoxs specifically the spv system requiers, as far as I know, that the floating piston needs to be inserted a certain depth in the piggy back and this is done with a special depth gauge that is realy the only hard part as if it wrong it won't work that well. On the topic of forks they are easy and fun to service, advice for 1st time take pictures as you disassemble incase your confused on how it goes back together.

Feed back: I just put in 2 hours of street with the fork and it works beautifully. The nut at the botom of the cartridge where the actual cartridge and the foot nut meet. If it still unclear PM me The gas didn't escape to violently covering the area with a rag was sufficent to catch any oil that may come out. you must releast the pressure or you will have oil angrily spraying out if you drill to high. the punching part is simply to hold the floating piston in place

I had a blown Sr Suntour Rebound Cartridge laying around and found this uselful information. Please note this is, as far as I know, for Rebound cartridges (with the adjuster knob on top) only. Not lock out cartridges as I don't have a lock out cartridge to try it with. I've done the modification and will post feed back after a ride or 2. I hope this is useful information and I couldn't just keep it to myself Tools <?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Drill 1.5mm drill bit Punch Hammer Fork oil 1. Drill a 1.5 mm hole 21mm from the bottom of the hexagon nut. The cartridge will lose pressure. 2. Push the shaft inside the cartridge up to its end ; Floating piston will be positioned at the end of the tube. 3. Punch at 22mm from the bottom of the hexagon nut with a punch and hammer. pay attention to not damage or bend the tube. This is to keep the floating piston in place. 4. Drill a 1.5mm hole at 35mm from the bottom (above the compensator piston), 5. Make a 1.5mm hole at 12mm from the top of the tube. depth of drilling max 4mm. 6. Make sure the cartridge is empty and then re-assemble the cartridge in the fork.Fill back up with oil. +- 160 ml 7.5 works the best, enough oil to cover the cartridge itself not the shaft .

Contact Cycles Africa they are the local agents and are in the cape

Ask you local bike shop to order you a lever service\ lever rebuild kit and have them install it for you. While they're at it might aswell have the shop bleed it for you

I have ridden and worked on the Elixer CR very nice breaks great control excellent feel and enough power. The bakes are easy to work on and spares are available to service and repair any damage easily. I had to replace the piston seal assembly as the client had boiled his brakes after dragging it down a very long hill and all the orings expanded intenally as a result of the heat, but this is not a common problem so don't worry. In a whole Elixers ( Any Model) are great brakes

Thats a flower nut, just swing by the LBS and get them to put one in. My advice would be to have the shop install it for you as you must remove the crown race this is on what the bearing run as well. Which at the bottom of the steeres tube of the old fork and if not removed and installed properly could be damaged and then you would need a new one

External bearing cranks are always a better option in my opinion, but I wouldn't go for the ceramic bb as I'm unshure of how long the actual bearing life is compared to the standard ones. As far as I know the arizone cranks are available in SA unshure of price though

Thanks Scoe, Free wheel speed???? there are so many factors (the brake could be dragging ect) I'd say more important is wheel stiffness, weight, strength ect not how fast it free wheels.

The tora has up to 140 think it goes from 100mm but I could be wrong on that, Its adjustable, Check it out onj www.sram.com, click on the rock shox link

Elaborate a litle more on what cross trails are