Anyone know about bike shocks? (nothing specifically "eco" other than cycling)

[shovel]

I have an old Motobecane 700DS Y-frame - it suits me well. It's very "dated" by today's standards... but I see no point in ditching it for a new $$$$ bike as long as it continues to suit me.

But a few days ago the rear shock absorber leaked out all of its magic goo and now the tail end is pure bouncy.

I've never bought a replacement bike shock before, so I googled it up and all I can seem to find is $20 junk that I'm pretty sure isn't actually a damper at all, and $300+ magic that I can neither justify financially nor logically.

Is there anything in between? I mean, a sweet set of four new Bilstein shocks for my car costs around $300, why can't I get one tiny, decent quality shock for my bike under a hundred bucks?

OEM shock is 6.5" eye to eye, 1.5" stroke and 570lb spring..

[razor02097]

Did you have a budget in mind? You can get something like a RockShox Monarch air shock for $170ish. There are cheaper dampers all over Amazon and ebay in the $30-40 range.

The thing about the car shocks is they aren't coil over suspension. Typically a good coil over kit for a car will set you back 2 grand or more.

[Accented]

Have you tried your LBS (local bike shop, I'm used to cycling forums)? Often these shocks are rebuild-able, hence the cost, even if it cannot be rebuilt, they may have a good take-off from another customer's upgrade.

Since this site is all about economy, a rear shock is a huge energy waster, if you are not riding off-road you could convert to a rigid rear end. A piece of tubing with 6.5" holes would accomplish this very inexpensively, adding a heim joint would allow ride height adjustment, but would be more costly and take fabrication. This will at least get you back on the road while your search for a new shock continues.

[razor02097]

Originally Posted by Accented

Have you tried your LBS (local bike shop, I'm used to cycling forums)? Often these shocks are rebuild-able, hence the cost, even if it cannot be rebuilt, they may have a good take-off from another customer's upgrade.

Since this site is all about economy, a rear shock is a huge energy waster, if you are not riding off-road you could convert to a rigid rear end. A piece of tubing with 6.5" holes would accomplish this very inexpensively, adding a heim joint would allow ride height adjustment, but would be more costly and take fabrication. This will at least get you back on the road while your search for a new shock continues.

All the reason to invest in a better shock. If the OP is noticing the bike bouncing around I doubt the OP wants all the shocks being transferred to the spine instead.

[shovel]

Originally Posted by razor02097

Did you have a budget in mind? You can get something like a RockShox Monarch air shock for $170ish. There are cheaper dampers all over Amazon and ebay in the $30-40 range.

$170ish is still a pretty big pile of money to me.. remember I'm driving a bicycle that retailed under $1k new and is 10+ years old now. I saw a few on ebay but if my loathing for ebay wasn't enough, they also looked like they weren't actually dampers, just a "guide" for the coil spring. Basically the same thing as having a broken damper like I have now. I didn't see any on Amazon in the more than $20, less than $300 price range. In my mind, something like $40 sounds pretty good. Did you see anything neat on Amazon?

Originally Posted by Accented

Have you tried your LBS (local bike shop, I'm used to cycling forums)?

I got used to cycling forums a while back, and to LBS's. as much as I like local businesses and I understand everyone deserves to be paid for what they do, I just can't afford either of those things. Whenever I would ask a question on a bike forum, the answer was always "WELL THAT'S EASY, JUST PULL OUT 4000 DOLLARS AND GIVE IT TO YOUR LBS, DUH!" ... sure, and when I run out of bread I can just eat cake too.

There's a huge valley between department store sh%t bikes and serious bikes, and that valley is full of thorns and a-holes. Either you're a billionaire who can afford to feed carbon fiber and unicorn bones to your boutique bike or you're nobody.

I'm not saying any of that stuff to whine at you about your reply, it's a fair reply - just explaining why I don't bother with LBS's or bike forums anymore. There's just no room in either of those places for people who want to spend medium dollars.

[Accented]

Originally Posted by shovel

I'm not saying any of that stuff to whine at you about your reply, it's a fair reply - just explaining why I don't bother with LBS's or bike forums anymore. There's just no room in either of those places for people who want to spend medium dollars.

I apparently wasn't clear, the trip to the LBS was to see if they had cheap used parts after someone else spent the big bucks to upgrade. I understand having bad luck with LBS, I have been blessed with a great shop that has taken very good care of me for the last 30+ years.

The bounce you are currently experiencing is because the spring is not being dampened. If you mainly ride on the road converting to a fixed (rigid) rear end would be a cheap easy fix. Since it is a full suspension bike I assume you have 1.75" or wider tires, by adjusting air pressure you can regain some of the lost comfort the suspension gave you and gain greater peddling efficiency. You would have time to look for a better shock bargain, and better enjoy your bike.

Don't knock carbon fiber, and unicorn horn bikes... they are a hoot to ride It's all a matter of priorities, my bike is worth as much as my 2 cars combined, my choice and hopefully it doesn't sound like I'm bragging.

Dan

[razor02097]

Originally Posted by shovel

$170ish is still a pretty big pile of money to me.. remember I'm driving a bicycle that retailed under $1k new and is 10+ years old now. I saw a few on ebay but if my loathing for ebay wasn't enough, they also looked like they weren't actually dampers, just a "guide" for the coil spring. Basically the same thing as having a broken damper like I have now. I didn't see any on Amazon in the more than $20, less than $300 price range. In my mind, something like $40 sounds pretty good. Did you see anything neat on Amazon?

There are a few Navi shocks. One with a 750 lb/in spring and one with 1000 lb/in spring. But there are no user reviews.

[Grant-53]

Sounds like the seal is leaking oil. A seal might be replaced after filling the unit with light oil. Used bicycle or scooter shocks could be found to fit. Lastly an air cylinder fitted with two adjustable check valves could be made to work as an air shock. Figure 90 psi working pressure so to get 570 lb you need a piston area of 570/90 = 6.33 sq. in. Divide by pi and then take the square root to get the radius of the piston. In this case it comes out to 3 in. diameter so you might go with two 1.5 in. cylinders. Compare costs and weight.

[BarelyAWake]

I thought I should mention while the RockShox Monarch air shock is a very good unit - there's a reason for the price discrepancy, why the same shock is offered with such a wide price range & why it's still usually less than other comparable branded shocks... During their initial production run they had difficulty with the Schraeder valves failing to seal properly, as it was only a minor leak & a popular brand the market was flooded with these shocks before they realized there was a problem and offered dealer compensation.

As I understand it there was both compensation (partial refund for distributors) & an exchange program and not a full-fledged recall as it was such a minor issue - as a result many of these "defective" shocks are still readily available, usually at a reduced price vs the later variants - but few distributors seem willing to mention why.

As I had a project that needed three quality dampening shocks, was unwilling to spend the $600-900 & was informed of this by a friend (a LBS owner), I purchased the "defective" RockShox Monarchs for about $100 per unit (unfortunately now out of stock) and simply added one tiny drop of sewing machine oil into each of the Schraeder valves which fixed the slow leak issue, apparently permanently as that was at least two years ago.


While I find myself equally disgruntled with shovel's observation that "There's a huge valley between department store sh%t bikes and serious bikes" & and a similar one with aftermarket parts - sadly that gulf exists and there's not much to be done about it, worse yet it seems primarily consumer driven in that they'll charge whatever the market will bear, regardless of what the item's value may actually be.

Despite my cynicism, I do wish you the best of luck in your quest - given the market and available shocks and after searching extensively for my own project, I would suggest the RockShox Monarch is most likely the "best" combination of comparatively reasonable price & function, the "$40" coil-overs are very often extremely low quality, costing as little as $12 before 3rd party retail markup... if you've patience, luck and are willing to take a chance, or just want to see what these retailers are actually spending on these low end accessories try Alibaba.com ...but there's few willing to sell single units, no "dealer reputation" to speak of & if you hate ebay, you'll hate it more by the time you're done


I would agree w/the others that have suggested a rebuild or inquiring about take-offs (often new units removed for upgrades), it's true many bike shops charge premium prices for both labor & parts - but I've had great success and have saved untold amounts of money by skipping the sales people entirely and talking directly with the techs, many of whom are as "down to earth" as you'd expect, willing to talk honestly about products & might even take a "side job" at a greatly reduced prices - it's not always the case & many as clueless as their customers, but it's worth a shot...

[Grant-53]

I found some scooter sites that sell replacement shocks for under $75.