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Nitrogen shock refill


duckcoza

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Does anyone offer a refill service ? Or is the needle adapter available to purchase ? The rest of the shock rebuild looks reasonably straight forward .

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Depending on what shock you have in Cape Town, if you have a fox, you can contact Omnico directly, if a Rockshox not sure whether you can deal directly with Cape Cycle Systems who are the agents, might have to go through a Lbs.

 

Alternatively I can recommend Robbie Powell from RBC (Robbie's Bicycle Concept), they are situated in Port Elizabeth and Robbie is currently the agent for DT Swiss shocks but he's a boffin with just about any shock.

 

Almost forget another local guy, a fellow hubber Droo from Stoke Suspension, not sure where exactly he's based, but you search for him on the forum to get in touch.

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nitrogen backs the ifp to create oil pressure 

 

you can fill the aircan with nitrogen aswell if you like 

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ok, but why?

 

benefits over the normal filthy stuff we breathe

Its dry without water vapour.Constant temp and pressure

Like in your car tyres

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nitrogen backs the ifp to create oil pressure 

 

you can fill the aircan with nitrogen aswell if you like 

 

 

Its dry without water vapour.Constant temp and pressure

Like in your car tyres

 

so keeping in mind that regular air is 78% nitrogen (as in >3/4), these are some serious marginal gains people are looking for. and offroad too... colour me impressed!!

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Nitrogen is an inert gas and with pressurised gas gauges you can control the flow. So it is relatively safe to use.  I use fresh air - as does RockShox, Marzocchi and the rest.

 

Though breathing it can be lethal....  :nuke:

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so keeping in mind that regular air is 78% nitrogen (as in >3/4), these are some serious marginal gains people are looking for. and offroad too... colour me impressed!!

mainly used to back ifp  and at 350psi to 500psi 

 

I believe fox wouldn't do it if it wasn't worth it 

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Stoke will be your best bet

 

But - if you don't work your shock too much air can work.  Feel you shock after a ride and see how hot it gets - if it is near boiling use nitrogen! If you can hear the shim/ports then you probably have cavitation and correct pressure/nitrogen might be needed - stoke

 

I have attached a schraeder valve to the port so to use my shock pump to pump it to 350psi.

 

Key factors

 

- there must be no air in the oil side IFP chamber, remove as much air from the oil before you pour it in.

- the floating piston has a specific depth - this is tricky to maintain with the schraeder valve, but not impossible

 

Pros - you have more fun servicing your shock :)

- you can do some adjustments to the shimming, albeit limited

 

Cons - air can servicing becomes a pain

- setting that IFP height can be a pain.

 

Mostly the cons outweigh the pros - so STOKE might be needed for some stoke on the ride.  But I am a sucker for punishment and like fiddling and knowing how everything works - so will continue with air for now

Edited by Goosebay
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mainly used to back ifp  and at 350psi to 500psi 

 

I believe fox wouldn't do it if it wasn't worth it 

More likely that they want to keep the procedure too complicated for people like the the OP and myself.  I have serviced plenty - and I mean plenty - of shock dampers and I have never found any evidence of moisture damage behind an IFP. 

Here is what I have noticed over the years that I have been servicing suspensions.  You had to be important - like close to the president - to get any service info out of the manufacturers.  You were told to send it to an approved service centre. In South Africa that was the local importer. Often not convenient. Then naughty cyclists started to share information like exploded diagrams and seal details over the internet.  Even going as far as making up and selling kits! 

With the writing on the wall more and more manufacturers started publishing the info and making parts available.  Getting back to the OP's question - yes there are a number of outlets that have the equipment and can nitrogen fill your damper as per the above posts.  As you mentioned a needle I am assuming that it is Fox that you are working on.  You can also make up your own needle adapter but it is a bit of a mission for a once off so I would rather just get Droo to sort it for you.  If you want to make your own here is what you need. 

A reusable vets syringe. Remove the threaded needle connector. 

A few 19 gauge 1.5" vet needles. You need a few as there is a learning curve.

A presta to schreader valve adapter.  Re tap the presta side to take the needle connector.

A 4 mm hex key and a shock pump.  Also 7 mm o'ring cord cut 3 mm thick. (You have to buy this by the m).

Combine the above with the hands of a surgeon, patience and you are in business. 

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