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Trance X 1 issues
Hey All,
Well i finally picked up my new ride last week and over the 5 days i have had it i have managed to do two tracks down in Dwellie and the KC loop, I have to say Giant have done a great job on this bike with the change to make it a 29r, even with the following little issues. I haven't had a huge amount of experience or trials on different bikes but for jumping on for a ride it has felt very controllable.
I have a few little queries though...
1st
After giving it a bit of a clean up etc tonight i have noticed that the CTD on the shocks are not really working. I have checked the pressure on both shocks and they are the same as what we set them at when i picked it up. I am new to a dual suspension bike and these shocks so don't want to start playing with them too much until i kinda know what I'm doing.
2nd
While doing a little roll around the back yard whilst bouncing on the bike a little, under compression the rear feels as if it is 'clicking / clunking' while pivoting. I have checked all the links and they are all tight, not super tight though.
Anyone have an idea of what i need to check?
Cheers
-TJ
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1st - You'll have to be a bit more specific as to what isn't really working? I've got the Fox CTD setup, but not on a Trance, and I've found it very good.
2nd - Stand next to the bike with your foot on the rear tyre/wheel to hold it down, then lift and compress saddle. Should help to identify where there is play. Could be in the rear links or the shock bushing, or even the hub, but doesn't that Trance have Giant's new dropper post - that would be my prime suspect...
The top bush on the fox shock usually has excessive clearance.
How do you find pedal clearance on the Trance? Traditionally they are low and you have to stop pedalling through rocky areas.
Thanks for the feed back guys.
As for the CTD, sorry for not being to specific
The rear seams to work fine, as in there is more sag for each setting.
The front is where i have the issue, All 3 settings have the same pressure feel to them when i push down on the front, i remember when i first picked it up the front would only suppress 10 - 20mm tops on climb.
Trying to lift the saddle didn't point anything out, everything feels firm (very minor movement in the dropper post). Its probably more of a feeling through the crank arms for the clunking on compression, can still hear a slight noise though.
Quote "The top bush on the fox shock usually has excessive clearance"
But the 2013 Giants are using the new Fox "5 piece flanged bushing" instead of a traditional DU bush, and this should be tight-as.
1st - Ok, understand what the problem is now.
Sag will not change with the different settings, as sag is a function of the air pressure. The CTD settings change compression damping which is the resistance felt in use.
Having said that, you should certainly be able to notice the difference in the three settings on your fork when doing a simple 'squash' test, and the climb mode should be almost locked out. So, a trip back to teh LBS may be in order.
2nd - If you felt any looseness or movement at all doing the simple saddle lift test, then this will be magnified many times when your full weight is on the bike. While doing the test again, put your free hand around each suspect component in turn - saddle post, shock bushing, suspension linkages, rear hub, and you should be able to feel which one has play.
Mine felt that there was little difference between Trail and Descend. Eventually figured out that to set it up you need to put into Descend and set sag for about 25% to 30% of available travel (so if you have 100mm of travel, the fork should be compressed about 25mm to 30mm) when you are seated on the bike standing still.
I set it up on Trail mode first and it felt to soft and bottomed out, leaving little difference between Trail and Descend. That said, you seem to be saying that all 3 settings are the same. You should definitely feel a difference with the Climb setting - it should be pretty stiff. If not, check with the shop as you may have a faulty valve.
Did the shop set it up for you before you left for your weight etc, or did they just guess what you need? I always prefer to set it up at home and take the time to get it right. Even then, it often involves setting, test ride, adjusting a few times etc before it is dialled in. Once it is, make a note of the pressures to make checking it easier.
A good starting point one store gave me was the rear shock should be your weight in Kg is the same as the PSI. The front is the same plus about 30 PSI. It's just a guide but I found it pretty accurate.
The rear should be your weight in pounds, not kilograms, unless you want a ridiculous amount of sag. The front will be somewhere near your weight in kilograms.
With the noise or clicking that you can hear. Are you sure it's not the internal cables running through the frame? I had a similar noise with mine and worked out that the internal cables were the culprit.
Just a thought?
Jase.
Makes sense now I reread my post
Well I have taken the bike back to the LBS for a check up.
I felt like a d*^k cause the clicking was not happening when I tried to explain / show them what was happening. I'll have a look at the cabling when i get my bike back.
But as for the fork the CTD cartridge inside the shock arm is bust... apparently some of the fox forks use plastic bushed in them.
So my shock will be sent to the fox factory over east to be repaired, at least im getting the better bushes put in though. The same ones that are in the FIT model's apparently.
The guy at the LBS was told by the service person from fox that they are having thousands Aus wide recalled for the same issue. So if anyone has a new model fox fork that isn't a FIT model beware this may happen to you.
-TJ.
Good update TJ, and thats real interesting about the forks! My experience with Fox is they don't tend to broadcast it when there's a design issue with one of their products, but if you go to them with a problem they'll efficiently resolve it, but carefully not admitting there was a problem in the first place - probably a liability issue being an American company.
But are you sure it was related to bushings - I'm surprised if these would affect damping, isn't it more likely something related to the valves/ports that control the oil flow?
I had 6 months of pain trying to sort out the somewhat random click in my new Trance rear end (under load). After a while I worked out that it only occurred after a significant 10 min warm up.
Much disassembling and reassembling in various LBS (including twice by the OBS) led nowhere.
Then Rick at Churchills took 30 secs of listening to me ride around in the carpark (warmed up) to determine that the rear skewer wasn't tight enough....
Problem solved. Doh.
Hey TJ, any update on your forks?
Seems there is indeed an issue with the new CTD forks, and news of it is starting to filter thru to the forums, see this thread on MTBR for example http://forums.mtbr.com/shocks-suspension/2013-fo...
I'm now getting worried mine will suffer the same fate - so I'd be interested to hear how your issue was resolved by Fox?
Hi Mamil,
I haven't dealt with fox directly, I let the LBS do it all for me.
The latest I heard when calling the LBS Yesterday was that my fork is waiting for the next shipment of cartridges (due Today) and that mine was also confirmed that it will be fixed in this batch. So with a bit of luck I'll have my rig back next week some time.
Even though it has been a couple of week without the bike I'm glad I made the call to get it fixed as the issue was not really known about. God knows how long I would have had to wait if i was sending it away now. Thought it would have been a little quicker turn around but o well.
-TJ
I have dealt with fox. this was my story.
Bike was originally purchased in October 2010 so it was a brand spanking new Anthem X3. I came with a 32 F100RL fork.
some time half way in 2011 i did a service & changed oil.
We were riding at the Scott 24 in 2011. I'd been playing around with my team mates forks. they all seemed so plush compared to mine. Sure they were better spec forks......but just sooooo nice. Anyway every year we go to the Fox Tent & get he guys to set up our sag for us.....since its a freebee & I feel those guys do know their stuff for around Mt Stromlo and its just great chatting.
when it was my turn I pointed out my fork that the compression didn't seem so nice compared to my mates ones.
The guy tried it out.....agreed straight away.....something wrong here......
I'll have to rebuild it for you. I've got time right now.
It took him about 40 min to rebuild them. All the seals not just the normal ones. I was sweating it out... thinking this will be daylight rape. I was ready to take one up the back side for the Team.....LOL.
When he was finished he came out with a smile. Covered under warranty. I was dumbfounded. He said something about oil getting past the seals into to top chamber & loosing some travel as an end result.
The forks were sensational. I was as happy as larry. Even tough I read now, that this was a common problem with my forks I'm still impressed.
sure if I'd arrived maybe an hr later & they would have been too busy, perhaps they wouldn't have done it for me there & then. But they did. I was extremely thankful. And to this day I'm not sure If my servicing had anything to do with it or not. They said nothing. They just fixed it.