A number of years ago I wrote about what caused creaking in single crown CSU’s and then I described how to fix it. This is the video accompaniment to that written description.
Category: Repairs
Marzocchi Corsa Open Bath Conversion
Here I work on a 2009 Marzocchi Corsa. It was one made by SR Suntour that had the crimped shut gas pressurized damper. Over time the damper would ingest the lower leg oil and your available travel would decrease until the fork was completely hydrolocked.
Rockshox Monarch Knock
This knock can happen to any Rockshox Monarch. Let me show you what’s going on.
Steerer Tube Extender
This is a simple little part that I came up with for those people that ended up with a steerer tube slightly too short for whatever reason. Here it is.
The Seatpost Whisperer
I don’t care to post about things that people have seen before. I also don’t care to discuss something that’s already well understood. It’s been a few years now and I’ve seen the reliability issues regarding the Rockshox Reverb be misunderstood more times by more people than any other product so that’s why I’m going to talk about it.
There are several key quirks about the Rockshox Reverb that need to be addressed. Unfortunately using the readily available service kit doesn’t do much to solve the issues surrounding it. It should be said that this is a really cool design if you look at it objectively and the nagging issues it has are relatively easy to solve. So let’s clear things up.
Brakes Levers That Won’t Pop Back
Ever had a hydraulic brake lever that just won’t pop back? Mountain bike brake companies did something smart with their master cylinder pistons to avoid scoring the aluminum master cylinder bore. They made their pistons out of plastic. The one downside of the master cylinder piston being made from plastic is that plastic can absorb fluid and swell. Despite polymer suppliers claiming that their material is ‘dimensionally stable’, the real truth is that over time, it can absorb a little bit of fluid and grow slightly. So what does that cause? It means that one day there may come a point where you pull your brake lever in and it doesn’t come back out on it’s own because the now swollen master cylinder piston is stuck inside the master cylinder bore.
Solving That Brake Squeal
Sometimes that brake squeal is your fault. You were an idiot and you used some spray lube on your chain and the overspray touched your rotor. Or worse, maybe you religiously clean your bike with a silicone based bike polish and the overspray touched your rotors. If that’s the case then I’d suggest acknowledging that you may have OCD and go seek professional help. But that’s not what this article is about. There’s lot of information online about torching your pads and rotors to get rid of the bullshit you got on there. This article is about solving that brake squeal when it isn’t your fault.
Creaky Stanchions and Steerer Tubes
This is a problem that’s plagued the bicycle industry for years. Single crown forks that creak at the crown. Understandably, there’s a lot of stress in that area of any single crown fork. The longer the fork, the more stress. Oftentimes all it takes is a strong pull of the front brake and you can hear creaking and cracking noises that make it sound like the fork is about to break off the front end of the bike. Sometimes this noise can be heard on brand new bikes with brand new single crown forks. Sometimes it’s a very expensive and high end fork. Fox I’m looking at you. All it takes is a google search of creaky steerer tubes and you’ll get pages and pages of people complaining about their forks. Very often it’s Fox. Sometimes the creaking can be coming from the steerer tube, sometimes its the stanchions. Other lucky people can get a creak from a combination of both.