Front suspension lockout not working Giant XTC Advanced 29er

User avatar
Ross
Posts: 5742
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 8:53 pm

Front suspension lockout not working Giant XTC Advanced 29er

Postby Ross » Sun Feb 04, 2018 9:32 pm

Front suspension lockout isn't working on my ~2014 Giant XTC Advanced 29er. The handle/cable thing (technical term :wink: ) on the handlebars that operates it goes in and out when you press it but the suspension won't lock out. I have had the handle/cable thing apart but can't see anything obviously broken or worn. Suspension was locked out before I pulled the cable thing apart, now it is unlocked (so has suspension travel). Forks are RockShox Recon Gold TK Air, w/15QR.

Does anyone know how to fix this?

mikgit
Posts: 884
Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2012 8:26 pm
Location: Launceston

Re: Front suspension lockout not working Giant XTC Advanced 29er

Postby mikgit » Mon Feb 05, 2018 10:16 am

Probably either the cable has stretched and lost tension, or something is amiss inside the fork.
I've had to issues with separate forks (of which neither are saying whats wrong with yours). On my fox fork, the cable stretched and i have to continually use the barrel adjuster on the remote (thats the handle bar thingo) to pull the tension right so it actually will turn the adjuster on the fork enough to lock it.
he other is a marzocchi fork, this did my head in for ages as I'd set it up (so may times) and it would work perfectly ... for about 5 seconds... turns out the part where the caable attached to the fork could move (so you could have at various angles for setup) but you set it up perfectly (very fiddly), then go ride, turn the bars the cable would flex, rotate the attachment, slacken the cable, remote no longer worked. Zip tie cable to brake cable, problem solved-ish.

Just saying look at it from all angles to see whats going on, they can be fiddly to set up if pulled apart, hopefully just cable incorrectyl seup/tensioned and not broken internals.
Fat Chance Yo Eddy 2.2, Intense Sniper XC Pro, Look 675, Cervelo R3, GT Xizang, GT Zaskar, Yeti ARC, DiamondBack Apex

User avatar
Ross
Posts: 5742
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 8:53 pm

Re: Front suspension lockout not working Giant XTC Advanced 29er

Postby Ross » Mon Feb 05, 2018 1:21 pm

Ended up taking the bike to LBS that specialises in MTBs and of course as soon as we pulled the bike off the car roof onto the ground the lockout was working normally again. :oops:

The LBS guy reckons the handle thing is a bad design and reccommended getting some gizmo thing (another technical term! :P ) that works on the crown of the fork and therefore doesn't have a cable. Sounds difficult to me to change the lockout while riding and could lead to putting my hand in the front wheel and/or crashing. :o

He mentioned the fork seals could do with replacement so I left the bike with him and said do them and check the lockout - 2 -3 weeks before he can do it

User avatar
trailgumby
Posts: 15469
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 5:30 pm
Location: Northern Beaches, Sydney
Contact:

Re: Front suspension lockout not working Giant XTC Advanced 29er

Postby trailgumby » Mon Feb 05, 2018 6:02 pm

Remote lockouts are worth having. I'd like one on my hardtail (soon to be SS). I have one on my Scalpel 29er. It sees a bit of use. I'd prefer to be able to do both front and rear with the same switch instead of reaching down with my face near the stem. Mine is hydraulic rather than cable operated.

User avatar
Duck!
Expert
Posts: 9850
Joined: Tue May 21, 2013 8:21 pm
Location: On The Tools

Re: Front suspension lockout not working Giant XTC Advanced 29er

Postby Duck! » Tue Feb 06, 2018 10:40 am

I have found that the dampers in some Rock Shox models - particularly Tora, Recon & Reba series - can go a bit funny if the fork is stored in a horizontal or inverted position. The oil bath migrates into the compression damper cartridge, resulting in an air pocket trapped where the oil should be when the bike is returned to its upright position, causing loss of lockout function. Cycling the fork through a few compressions gets the air & oil back where they need to be.

Alternatively, the compression damper cartridge may be damaged, leaving the lockout valve stuck in either open or closed position, or partially open.

Final possibility is a blown seal at the bottom of the stanchion, allowing oil to drain into the lower leg. This will also result in loss of rebound damping.
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

mikgit
Posts: 884
Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2012 8:26 pm
Location: Launceston

Re: Front suspension lockout not working Giant XTC Advanced 29er

Postby mikgit » Tue Feb 06, 2018 10:24 pm

Ross wrote:Ended up taking the bike to LBS that specialises in MTBs and of course as soon as we pulled the bike off the car roof onto the ground the lockout was working normally again. :oops:

The LBS guy reckons the handle thing is a bad design and reccommended getting some gizmo thing (another technical term! :P ) that works on the crown of the fork and therefore doesn't have a cable. Sounds difficult to me to change the lockout while riding and could lead to putting my hand in the front wheel and/or crashing. :o

He mentioned the fork seals could do with replacement so I left the bike with him and said do them and check the lockout - 2 -3 weeks before he can do it
Have two bikes with remote lockouts and 2 bikes with the lockout as a lever on the fork...the remotes are very handy (especially the one n the full suspension bike as it controls both front and rear), but I find the leanng down to flip the switch on the forks no issue, easier than reaching for a drink bottle and about eleventy billion times safer than trying to use a dropper post with a seat lever haha
Fat Chance Yo Eddy 2.2, Intense Sniper XC Pro, Look 675, Cervelo R3, GT Xizang, GT Zaskar, Yeti ARC, DiamondBack Apex

User avatar
ValleyForge
Posts: 1831
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2009 5:37 pm
Location: Brisbane

Re: Front suspension lockout not working Giant XTC Advanced 29er

Postby ValleyForge » Tue Feb 06, 2018 10:32 pm

trailgumby wrote:I have one on my Scalpel 29er. It sees a bit of use. I'd prefer to be able to do both front and rear with the same switch instead of reaching down with my face near the stem..
Have recently gone from a front only remote to a dual remote. Took a fair bit of fiddling to get the cable pull just right but it is worth it.

When I ride at night with Ay-Ups, the bars have so many cables it looks like a black spaghetti collision.
Ha ha ha! Cookies on dowels.

User avatar
trailgumby
Posts: 15469
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 5:30 pm
Location: Northern Beaches, Sydney
Contact:

Re: Front suspension lockout not working Giant XTC Advanced 29er

Postby trailgumby » Wed Feb 07, 2018 11:45 am

ValleyForge wrote:When I ride at night with Ay-Ups, the bars have so many cables it looks like a black spaghetti collision.
:lol: :lol: Mine has a hydraulic dropper post hose as well.

But I am rebelling, though. Singlespeed. 8)

User avatar
bychosis
Posts: 7244
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2012 1:10 pm
Location: Lake Macquarie

Re: Front suspension lockout not working Giant XTC Advanced 29er

Postby bychosis » Wed Feb 07, 2018 12:38 pm

I haven't had any trouble with a fork mounted lockout. Just means I use it a little less. When you have cut your teeth on a bike without lockout (before it was 'invented'), you don't miss it as much. I probably have used it even less because I found I was forgetting to unlock before descents.
bychosis (bahy-koh-sis): A mental disorder of delusions indicating impaired contact with a reality of no bicycles.

User avatar
Ross
Posts: 5742
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 8:53 pm

Re: Front suspension lockout not working Giant XTC Advanced 29er

Postby Ross » Sun Feb 11, 2018 8:55 am

Duck! wrote:I have found that the dampers in some Rock Shox models - particularly Tora, Recon & Reba series - can go a bit funny if the fork is stored in a horizontal or inverted position. The oil bath migrates into the compression damper cartridge, resulting in an air pocket trapped where the oil should be when the bike is returned to its upright position, causing loss of lockout function. Cycling the fork through a few compressions gets the air & oil back where they need to be.

Alternatively, the compression damper cartridge may be damaged, leaving the lockout valve stuck in either open or closed position, or partially open.

Final possibility is a blown seal at the bottom of the stanchion, allowing oil to drain into the lower leg. This will also result in loss of rebound damping.
Interesting. My shocks are Recon I belive. The bike is usually stored in a conventional manner with the wheels on the ground but for transportation I usually lay the bike on it's side in the back of my car but it generally wouldn't be for longer than 1 hour.

I haven't done a lot of kms on the bike, <3600km according to Strava but I guess most of them have been off-road, not sure how long fork seals are expected to last?

User avatar
Duck!
Expert
Posts: 9850
Joined: Tue May 21, 2013 8:21 pm
Location: On The Tools

Re: Front suspension lockout not working Giant XTC Advanced 29er

Postby Duck! » Mon Feb 12, 2018 1:57 pm

I discovered the funky fork behaviour after travelling from Melbourne to Adelaide with my Recon-equipped bike in the back of the car. Since then I've just flicked the lock on for transport and never had the problem since.

Dust wipers (the external seals) are recommended to be replaced at 50 riding hour intervals, the internal seals on spring and damper should be done every 100 hours.
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

jackthelad
Posts: 395
Joined: Sat Nov 15, 2008 12:24 pm
Location: Perth, Western Australia

Re: Front suspension lockout not working Giant XTC Advanced 29er

Postby jackthelad » Wed Feb 14, 2018 2:35 pm

have you serviced your Suspension and changed the cable on the remote? its only a gear cable.
SantaCruz HighTower LT
SantaCruz Blur XC Carbon
Kona Kula Supreme(Retired/Spare)
Surly Karate Monkey
Ribble Rd Bike

User avatar
Ross
Posts: 5742
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 8:53 pm

Re: Front suspension lockout not working Giant XTC Advanced 29er

Postby Ross » Sun Feb 18, 2018 3:06 pm

Bike is still at the LBS. They called me late last week to say they were still waiting on the fork seals to show up. I told them there was no hurry as I'm not riding much at the moment due to injury and I have other (road) bikes to ride if I want.

As I mentioned in the previous post the fork lockout remote seemed to be working again as soon as I took the bike to the shop, making me look like an idiot! :oops:

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users