Full Suspension.. What to look for.

[Eugene]

I've never owned a full suspension bike before. I've been offered an older Axis frame for a good price and was thinking of building it up. 

What must I look out for? 

I would imagine the most important thing are the pivot points if they are worn. I would think bearings/bushings are easily replaced. 

It has no shock, so I would have to get that.

 

[Alouette3]

Pivot bearings, basically assume they need to be replaced. Full complement suspension bearings are very expensive, and only really available through bike shops by brands like Enduro. You can get generic bearings, from a bearing supplier, but they will be cage type. These do work but last half as long though are a quarter of the price which is ok if you replace yourself.

Shock bushings

Then also when was the shock last serviced fully. I've just been down this road, though thankfully Droo @ Stoke Suspension helped me out.

Full suspension is great, but requires a lot more looking after with maintenance.

[droo]

Pivots - bearings and axles. Bearings are easy to replace, axles are specific to the frame and need to be sourced through the agents. This often includes shock mount bolts.

 

Shock - you'll need to know the eye-to-eye and stroke needed. If shopping for a used shock, take it to someone who knows suspension before you put money down so you know what you're getting, and budget for a rebuild - around R 1 - R 1.5k. Getting parts can be tricky for certain brands (yes, Rockshox, I'm looking at you), and for anything over 5 years old. Also factor in mounting hardware at around R 500-odd an end.

 

Everything else is pretty much the same as a hardtail. BB, head tube and seat tube sizes, seat clamps, dropout spacings and axle diameters, etc etc. If you've built a bike before it'll be easy enough, if you haven't then find a mate who has and feed him beer.

 

 

 

[V18]

Lol. I know this gemmer guy in Soutrivier that I send and feed beer from time to time. He does good builds. 

[Trashy]

Quite honestly, I don't feel it's worth it.

Axis is a budget brand and building up a bike is the most expensive way to do it.

Perhaps if you have the majority of the parts on hand, or you are going to carry over parts from your current hardtail, then it may be worth it.

Finding a shock might still be tricky though.

[Eugene]

I don't have a picture of it, unfortunately. Its R500, with a really stuffed and not worth mentioning Suntour fork that will probably end up in the bin. 

2 hours ago, copperhead said:

Any chance you could post a picture of the frame and the price. I know you said good price but I am struggling to see it.

 

[Eugene]

2 hours ago, droo said:

Pivots - bearings and axles. Bearings are easy to replace, axles are specific to the frame and need to be sourced through the agents. This often includes shock mount bolts.

 

Shock - you'll need to know the eye-to-eye and stroke needed. If shopping for a used shock, take it to someone who knows suspension before you put money down so you know what you're getting, and budget for a rebuild - around R 1 - R 1.5k. Getting parts can be tricky for certain brands (yes, Rockshox, I'm looking at you), and for anything over 5 years old. Also factor in mounting hardware at around R 500-odd an end.

 

Everything else is pretty much the same as a hardtail. BB, head tube and seat tube sizes, seat clamps, dropout spacings and axle diameters, etc etc. If you've built a bike before it'll be easy enough, if you haven't then find a mate who has and feed him beer.

 

 

 

I've built plenty bikes in my time. I kinda wanted to treat this as a project of sorts. 

I was just worried the frame may be beyond its useful life. 

Also, I do have spares of all sorts lying around. 

[Eugene]

2 hours ago, Trashy said:

Quite honestly, I don't feel it's worth it.

Axis is a budget brand and building up a bike is the most expensive way to do it.

Perhaps if you have the majority of the parts on hand, or you are going to carry over parts from your current hardtail, then it may be worth it.

Finding a shock might still be tricky though.

Ja.. Was worried about a shock. 

My plan was to build up a cheap bike. I can't use much from my hard tail as it is a 650b. 

[DieselnDust]

don't bother with it. You re going to throw more money at it than its worth

[Mountain Bru]

How many bottle cage mounts does the frame have? ????

[DonatelloOnPinarello]

Axis is a really cheap low budget bike to begin with. I really don't think this is a worth while project.

It's a heavy old hunk of metal not designed for any hard riding. The welding is questionable at best. Just walk away 

[DieselnDust]

there's  a complete bike for sale in the classifieds 

[Trashy]

1 hour ago, Mountain Bru said:

How many bottle cage mounts does the frame have? ????

I've lost count

[Moult]

Walk away buds. Its really not worth the time, effort or money. Rather keep a close eye on the classifieds, you can pick up a really good deal on something that wont let you down. 

Good luck!

[RobertWhitehead]

My opinion: if you are looking to build it up and keep it for yourself to use for the odd coffee run or so then it doesn't really matter if it's an Axis. Then the money you end up spending also doesn't really matter. It then becomes more about the hunt to get the right parts and to do right by the frame ????. 

If I had the opportunity I would have taken it one step further and had the frame powder coated in some funky colors and have some decals made ????. But with that being said, I would only do that if it was a (n + 1) scenario and I already had a proper machine. If this was going to be the main bike then no, not worth it. 

 

On 7/21/2021 at 3:27 PM, DieselnDust said:

 

 

On 7/24/2021 at 10:35 PM, Styvie said:

???? ????

 

Edited September 8, 2021 by RobertWhitehead
Why is it attaching quotes from other threads, trying to remove them failed