Keep in mind when buying a Scott Dual Suspension

[Johan Bornman]

https://www.bikehub.co.za/forum_posts.asp?TID=46298&PN=1

 

Not a solution to this problem, but the more people who receive training, the deeper the skills pool becomes.

[Putty]

I could suggest a guy who i am almost certain will be able to fix it for you...

 

Is that why they call you no.one.knows?

[Gravity Sux]

Agree. My LBS is able to perform minor service in the shock. Where it has to go back to the supplier is when they open up the high pressure section which reqires special gear to recharge.  Don't know whether this is common to all rear shocks but I would guess to is common to most DT Swiss shocks.  From what I recall the minor service allows dust seals to be changed. From what I understand the capability of DT Swiss to service these shocks was only set up in Feb this year.  Before that they would have sent it overseas. I guess my point is that the capability to support high tech components is improving.  As long as things keep moving forward service should improve. It is far easier to get forks serviced nowdays than a few years ago. I expect the same to happen with rear shocks. In the mean time my experience with service is that it is acceptible.

[Daxiet]

 

 

 

 

Still don't think it is a big enough issue to affect a buy decision.  My Nube was serviced by DT Swiss so if Scott do it as well that makes 2.  As I said I have done many hours over the past year and have seldom been unable to ride because of some maintenance issue. Even the fork which is serviced by my local bike shop takes more than a day to service.  To solve the problem of riding when my bike was in for service I bought my wife a nice hard tail which I borrow.

 

When it comes to buying a bike you should be concerned about but if you are worried about a 'key man' issue then you should also be worried about spares that are not available at certain times of the year (I could not get Truvative blades at one stage last year.  This was more of an issue than I have ever had with shocks).  If you are doing a major race just make sure your bike is up to scratch well before the event.

 

Personally I would not go for the MC or the stump jumper or any other bike configured like that because the rear wheel throws mud all over the rear shock and that can't be good for it.  I would rather the shock be placed where it stays relatively clean.

 

My point was simply it is something to consider, not a deal breaker.

 

I have put many hours on the shock and by no means am I complaining about the shock reliabilty, ability, etc. My point was quite simply it is crazy to have one person who can work on my shock in the country. The fact that DT Swiss now have shown face in SA is great, while I suspect my shock was also built by them, gives me some hope that there is perhaps someone else who can come to my shocks aid if need be.

 

On the spares point raised, it just further highlights the poor practice followed by some of SA's importers/distributors. If you are going to bring a product in, then ensure you can sustain/support the product. Hence I hope others will highlight similar issues so that when I next shop I get a bike that can be safely maintained in SA.

 

The turn around time is not something that I am any longer concerned about based on the feedback from Brandon.

 

On the MC crit, the shock is exposed to more mud than on the Spark, but it has never been a problem, it handled 2008's mud bath Hill 2 Hill with flying colours and many more muddy conditions since. No complaints about the bike/design. That said the MC is more an All mountain (think the rear travel is much more than the spark) design, where as the Spark is XC and more expensive. At the time of purchase the MC40 was the best DS buy in that price bracket.

Daxiet2009-03-31 13:32:19

[Gansbay]

I have done over 1400km on my Scott MC - great bike.  I was under the impression the warranty was 4 years if serviced regularly.  I also blew the first shock within a few months, but since the service it has performed really well (better than the new! shock)  I feel it is important to service it at least once a year and both the old Cape Town operations and now Pro Bike in PE do a great job.  Straight forward service about 350 and the turn around is about 3 days from Cape Town.

 

I also have heard that DT Swiss produces the shock for Scott hence their ability to service it. 

 

Once it did lose some air - while away in the Northern Cape (Extreme cold??).  What I tried was to deflate the shock in full travel mode and lube the shaft with wet weather lube - pumped it a few times - repressurised it and it was OK for the rest of the trip (got the tip from TFT in the UK)

 

Anyway - as it is a pull shock the shaft is protected for most of the ride, so mud is not really an issue and it seems to handle wet conditions fairly well. 

 

 

[Daxiet]

Good to hear from another MC rider, on the side you mentioned lubing the shaft, does you shock every squeak? Mine does and if I lube the shaft, it goes away, but after a lot of dust and or water it comes back with squeaks of joy.

[Gansbay]

No - only the rebound has a weird sound - very different from the front fork.  If I hear a squeak, it is normally a bearing and I pop it out immediately and replace it - otherwise you can damage those little lightweight shafts that Scott uses.