ROCK SHOX DART 3 FORK

[139NI]

Hi all

I have a 2yr old ROCKSHOX DART 3 fork fitted.

Recently, I have noticed that the 'rebound damping' on the fork has not worked - the fork rebounds up very rapidly. This has occurred at the same time of discovering 'suspension oil' leaking out of somewhere [i have not identified where at this time] from the RIGHT HAND SIDE stanchion.

is the fork salvageable, or is it better to get another fork?
Has anyone had problems with a DART 3 fork?

 

[spence]

Sound like they need sending to Fishers via your LBS for a service. Probably just a seal gone, oil getting past and leaking therefore causing the damper to malfunction.

However a basic service is £60-£70 (although the service is very good) and CRC have New Dart 3's for £120. Your call.

 

[spence]

PS. Other service centres are available, ie TFT. Just have used Fishers recently as they and my LBS are very close to work and don't incur any shipping.

 

[139NI]

Thanks spence for that one, i thought it might be as such - its just the £60/£70 price for an item i bought for £90 if you know what i mean!!!

i was hoping someone might have something different to get round it.

would you know why a seal 'would just fail'? it isnt that i ride hard on it. i may buy a new fork like the ROCKSHOX TORA range - do you have any advice please?

i agree with you, CRC is excellent for low prices

i will consider you suggestions regarding a solution - thank you.

 

[139NI]

oh Spence, i forgot to ask. In your experience, do you know [or anyone else] know if ROCKSHOX have a problem with dampers failing ?- i recall having read somewhere that the DART series were rubbish as there gaskets etc fail often.

what one event or occurance is likely to have caused the failure of the damping?

is there a fork you may recommend in the £150 [maximum] range?

thanks again

w

 

[spence]

Seals going is, in my experience the most common fault with forks, not just Rockshox (others will say differently). There can be a number of reasons ranging from lack of maintenance (there will be a recommended service interval ie changing the seals, two years without one is pretty good going), incorrect oil/air volumes, poor design and bad luck. The seals are fairly thin O rings so can ware easily, pop, breakdown by the oil, small particle can eventually work past the lip seals etc. any number of reasons.

It is possible to service them yourself, TFT have most seal kits listed and there are service instructions from SRAM on their site and videos on youtube, search for the SRAMtech channel. Simple things like popping up the lip seals cleaning and re-oiling the foam rings all help with longevity.

Over the years fork manufactures quality has varied, early to mid 2000’s Fox were untouchable (first TALAS, Floats etc) and Rockshox poor although previous to that they were OK. Then Fox declined and Rockshox, with SRAM money improved vastly (with the first Revelation, Pike series). Now they seem on a par. Little or no experience of other manufactures I so can’t comment.

As for a recommendation, I’d stick with Rockshox at the budget end. Remember Dart is their bottom run fork so the Tora would be a step up (usually means lighter) but if you can go to Reba I would. The choice gets harder if you have more money £400-£600 to spend. I currently run U-turn Revelations and Pikes and am happy with them but still have some v-old Fox TALAS that seem to keep going, given a rebuild every couple of years.