Q2 front shock rebuild?

[billyk]

I had the Diatech headset on my Q2/559 apart today to clean and regrease the bearings. (8000 miles and the balls and races in good shape, just dirty).

I took the opportunity to look at the shock (see poor phone photo, with the fork out). Each side has 2 sets of large and a small holes. The top set are open, showing the white spring, and below that are similar holes with a bolt head in each (photo). The other side is exactly the same. What is the purpose of these?

The reason I care is that the shock appears not to be adjustable any more. The 6mm Allen bolt in the top is either at its full stop or is perfectly loose; there is no range of adjustment.

Is the shock rebuildable? Do those bolts in the side serve a function? An adjustment function?

Is there any web info about the shock? I don't even know what it's called or who makes it so I could look it up.

Any suggestions appreciated.

Billy K

 

[Doug Burton]

Those are not for adjustment. They hold anti-rotation blocks, as I remember. They keep the "outer" steerer tube in alignment with the "inner" or fork-attached tube. Without them, the handlebars have no rotary connection with the wheel.

They need to be tight, but if they're over-tight they can lock the shock tube in place by distorting the tubes or pushing the blocks out of alignment.

Don't remove more than one screw at a time, and reinstall them with blue loctite.

If you remove them all, you'll have a fishing expedition to get the blocks back in place. It won't be fun.

The shock is not adjustable per se. You can change the amount of pre-load on the spring, but it doesn't do anything in reality except reduce the shock travel, and if the ring nut in the top goes far enough down, you might be able to bind the spring coils.

Hope this helps.

 

[Rampa]

Mine must be rusted solid, or something. I actually did remove those screws, and nothing moved at all. I actually test rode it very carefully, and then went out for a longer ride. My shock has never moved when on the bike. I had it apart once, and was able to compress the spring. Curious. Now I really want to take it apart, just cannot quite figure out how to get in the slightly rusted top with the loooooong extension bolt fastened into it.

So I'll put them back in, but have a feeling some previous owner probably removed them and didn't get them back quite right. I'm, at least, the third owner of my Sofrider.

HINT:
Don't do what I did. You might die.

 

[billyk]

Thanks, @Doug Burton. Do you know who made these guys? I saw no markings giving the name. Knowing the manufacturer would let me look up info or maybe look for a replacement. And @Rampa, please let me know if you find out anything new. I'll do likewise.
BK

 

[Rampa]

They were made by "Kind", I believe. They are still around and making shock seat-posts. They don't seem to have any info on this fork. I googled "kind headset shock".

I put the screws back in. Something else is obviously holding mine in the proper orientation, as I rode 10 miles with the screws out in city traffic! I'm still alive. But I would not do what I did if they are for rotation alignment, as Doug mentioned. Mine could be elsewise jammed somehow. The little metal pieces inside never moved.

 

[Doug Burton]

I found a bill of materials for the Quest while I was hunting around last night, also thinking it was made by Kind Shock, but the BOM lists the manufacturer as EVO. Couldn't turn anything up on them, Kind made the Silvio air forks.

Kind has apparently left the fork business, at least at retail. They mostly make suspension seatposts now.

 

[super slim]

I have FINALLY found this Drawing sent to me by John Tolhurst, when I received my Quest V1.0, with very small 12 mm suspension travel, instead of 23 mm travel.
The two allen screws hold the alignment sections in place (See top view photo) that stops the handle bars rotating and the forks falling off when lifting the bike!

The spring (s) should be a total of 90 mm long (145 lbs/inch spring rate) to get the 23 mm of travel!
I replaced the single 40 mm long spring (280 lbs/inch) with a 95 mm long 180 lbs/inch square wire spring I bought to improve the MTB seat post!

 

[Rampa]

Thanks for posting that Super Slim! Nice to get a better idea of what's inside.

Mine is from a G2 Sofrider, and cannot be looked into from the top. So, a bit older design, I guess.There is a plug (star-fangled nut, I think) in the top with a piece of running thread secured into it that makes an extension to reach up through the extension tube and interface with top-cap bolt. An odd system, but it allows to set the bearing pre-load like any conventional threadless headset.

 

[billyk]

View attachment 5606 View attachment 5607

I have FINALLY found this Drawing sent to me by John Tolhurst, when I received my Quest V1.0, with very small 12 mm suspension travel, instead of 23 mm travel.
The two allen screws hold the alignment sections in place (See top view photo) that stops the handle bars rotating and the forks falling off when lifting the bike!

The spring (s) should be a total of 90 mm long (145 lbs/inch spring rate) to get the 23 mm of travel!
I replaced the single 40 mm long spring (280 lbs/inch) with a 95 mm long 180 lbs/inch square wire spring I bought to improve the MTB seat post!

Cool! (Hours of contemplation to follow).

I especially like to see the handwritten "5"s on the diagram. Exactly the way I wrote it until my mother spent years insisting it was wrong.

 

[super slim]

Thanks for posting that Super Slim! Nice to get a better idea of what's inside.

Mine is from a G2 Sofrider, and cannot be looked into from the top. So, a bit older design, I guess.There is a plug (star-fangled nut, I think) in the top with a piece of running thread secured into it that makes an extension to reach up through the extension tube and interface with top-cap bolt. An odd system, but it allows to set the bearing pre-load like any conventional threadless headset.

I removed the star fangled nut and replaced it with an expanding nut for a carbon fibre stem.

 

[Rampa]

Great idea Super Slim! I think I'll do that too. Thanks.