S30 rear suspension/elastomer

[ChaleJake]

Ok, I have had the S30 now for a few weeks. The rear elastomer is really noisy and bouncy. I did search the forum. It seems like the rear elastomer is installed incorrectly. Before I start taking the bike apart I thought I would get the opinion of the forum. I did compare this to my Silvio 2.1 and noticed the difference. At the time I thought it was a design change. Now that I have a few miles on the bike...I think it is wrong. I did take the metal cover just under the seat off but then I was unsure how to remove the plastic/rubber piece. Do I have to remove the rear triangle? Does that plastic/rubber piece somehow screw out? Ratz in his install merely says insert it.

My forum search led me to this thread. https://forum.cruzbike.com/threads/s30-rear-triangle-noise.11317/

In the above thread Ratz said: I was thinking the same thing the two silver metal plates that are mounted to the leaf springs are different. one of them has a depression that the rubber dampener goes into and the other one is flat. My guess is that the two Silver squares are transposed and that is messing up the spring action.”

I think this might be my issue. I am going to study the thread for clues. Thank you for any insight.

 

[rfneep]

It looks to me that you have the elastomer installed upside down. The elastomer has different mating surfaces on the two ends and one looks more centering than the other. Also (I’m guessing here) it may be that the elastomer is too high up but that would change if it were inverted.

Here is a quick picture of mine and it seems to work fine.

 

[rfneep]

I only dealt with this years ago but seem to remember I had the same problem. The solution was to orient the elastomer properly and put sufficient preload on it to keep contact even with no one in the bike. I vaguely remember the guidance is to just expose the second convolution at the exit of the enclosure.

(Ps. Ignore my weathered and cracked elastomer. I plan to replace it but it still works and I’ve not gotten around to it. )

Ray

 

[ChaleJake]

I only dealt with this years ago but seem to remember I had the same problem. The solution was to orient the elastomer properly and put sufficient preload on it to keep contact even with no one in the bike. I vaguely remember the guidance is to just expose the second convolution at the exit of the enclosure.

(Ps. Ignore my weathered and cracked elastomer. I plan to replace it but it still works and I’ve not gotten around to it. )

Ray

How do you get the elastomer out? I came to your same conclusion. This is how it was installed when I purchased the bike. Thank you.

 

[benphyr]

How do you get the elastomer out? I came to your same conclusion. This is how it was installed when I purchased the bike. Thank you.

It looks like you take off the wheel, then take off the spring (flat rectangle of titanium), then take out the elastomer which is held in place by a bolt through the center that probably also functions as the depth setting mechanism and either scres into the frame or into the spring holder.

 

[rfneep]

How do you get the elastomer out? I came to your same conclusion. This is how it was installed when I purchased the bike. Thank you.

I frankly do not exactly recall how I did that, but I believe I tried and failed to get the elastomer out from the top, so benphyr is basically correct. However, I do not believe there is a bolt through the center of the elastomer. The elastomer is centered by fitting somewhat tightly in the frame hole that contains the preload screw and by fitting on a centering ball joint on the adapter plate (called the Elastomer Mount in the figure) set between the elastomer and the seat stay link plate. That adapter plate is evident in my photo as the black disc upon which my cracked-edge elastomer is seated.

To help out, I ended up finding and following the guidelines from the Silvio 2.2 series manual. I believe that was the last version of the manual produced for the S30. The relevant page is attached.

In the end, I do not believe it was too difficult to do. Just a bit of a pain.

 

[ChaleJake]

I took the metal piece that holds the top part of the leaf spring off and recentered the elastomer on the metal plate. The elastomer is wedged into the frame and doesn’t move so I guess it is there to stay. I could only get to the spring leaf screws up by the headrest. The other screw heads are covered by the elastomer.

The metal plate for the spring was loose. I tightened it back up and reassembled it all. I did tighten the metal center plate down more than what it was. I will give it a test ride tomorrow and see how it feels. Thank you for the responses.

 

[super slim]

I took the metal piece that holds the top part of the leaf spring off and recentered the elastomer on the metal plate. The elastomer is wedged into the frame and doesn’t move so I guess it is there to stay. I could only get to the spring leaf screws up by the headrest. The other screw heads are covered by the elastomer.

The metal plate for the spring was loose. I tightened it back up and reassembled it all. I did tighten the metal center plate down more than what it was. I will give it a test ride tomorrow and see how it feels. Thank you for the responses.

From Ratz's photo the Aluminium clamp on top of the fork has a central Vee shaped depression for the Plastic end of the Poly spring to centre on.
All the 8 bolts of the clamps should be tight as the Titanium plate spring has a tight sideways fit into the fork top and the frame recess, and this resists the fork top from moving sideways.

 

[ChaleJake]

Yes, thank you. I referenced Ratz’s build and the Cruzbike assembly video. It seems that the 4 loose bolts and the metal screw being loose allowed the plastic V to move off the depression. There was almost zero blue thread lock on the screws. I’ve had a couple of rides now and all seems fine. I’ll go back and add some thread locker soon. It helps me tremendously to have the folks that really know provide guidance. Sometimes I am not sure that my interpretation is right. I appreciate all the feedback.

The metal piece that screws into the frame wasn’t screwed in much at all so I don’t see how it was touching the elastomer. The reference build documents say it should be installed from the bottom of the frame, then the elastomer etc. I doubt that happened. It was only about a 1/4” from the top. I greased it and used needle nose pliers and screwed it down.

One of the best things about Cruzbike is the documentation and the forum. I have learned so much and have increased my confidence for wrenching.