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Big Clunk from the front end....shock??

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Old 11-10-19, 04:00 PM
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jrhoneOC
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Big Clunk from the front end....shock??

I have a Rockhopper Comp 1X with a Suntour XCM coil shock. I was riding down a pretty steep grade that was bumpy and fast. Everything was good then suddenly BANG. Sounded like a metallic clunk. Then shortly after hit another big bump and CLUNK. Looked at everything and it all looked good...it all felt normal for the rest of the ride. Was this the limitation of the cheap coil shock? Did I reach the full travel on that big bump? Is it time for a Rockshox or Manitou?
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Old 11-10-19, 05:21 PM
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Sounds like there's a good chance it was the fork. Add a lot more preload and see if you still hear the clunk-going to be a bumpier ride, but might answer the question if it's the fork. I'm not familiar with the fork, but your description points to that as the source. BTW--if you do decide to upgrade the fork, are you aware of Suntour's upgrade program?: https://www.srsuntour.us/pages/upgrade-program

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Old 11-10-19, 07:11 PM
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I
Originally Posted by jrhoneOC
I have a Rockhopper Comp 1X with a Suntour XCM coil shock. I was riding down a pretty steep grade that was bumpy and fast. Everything was good then suddenly BANG. Sounded like a metallic clunk. Then shortly after hit another big bump and CLUNK. Looked at everything and it all looked good...it all felt normal for the rest of the ride. Was this the limitation of the cheap coil shock? Did I reach the full travel on that big bump? Is it time for a Rockshox or Manitou?
Sounds to me like you bottomed out the fork. How much do you weigh? Ideally, the more you weight, the stiffer the spring you need. These forks come stock with a company’s best guess as to what the average rider needs, but it is often too stiff or too soft.

So to answer your question, it may not be so much that the fork is a cheap coil fork, but simply a coil fork with the wrong spring.
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Old 11-11-19, 11:16 AM
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I weigh 190. I will dial in more rebound and see if that helps with that.
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Old 11-11-19, 08:49 PM
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Originally Posted by jrhoneOC
I weigh 190. I will dial in more rebound and see if that helps with that.
Dialing in more rebound will not keep the fork from bottoming out.
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Old 11-11-19, 09:10 PM
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Originally Posted by Kapusta
Dialing in more rebound will not keep the fork from bottoming out.
thats hat i was thinking. thats why i didnt try it yet.
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Old 11-11-19, 09:54 PM
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Does the fork have an o-ring on the stanchion to let you know how much travel you are using? If not you can use a thin zip tie. That will let you know if indeed you are bottoming the fork. at 190lbs you may be heavy enough to bottom the fork on a harder hit.

The other possibility is that the fork is making is extending too fast and topping out harshly (in which case more rebound would help), but if that were the case I think you would be experiencing it in other situations beyond hard hits.
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