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I have an older fox Talas RLC fork. It rebounds under no weight fine, but even just sitting and pedaling it compresses fully.

If i pull up it will rebound, or get off it will rebound. But it seems to slowly sink when im on the bike.

Lock out still works, and the PSI is at 90-100, and I weigh 185. So that seems to be within normal range.

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  • Hi Any resolution to this? I have the same fork, same problem. When off the bike it does every thing you expect. on the bike just bottom outs. Talas side air pressure as per manual ~75 PSI changes length. Damper side the lock out works/blow off threshold works, damping appears to work not sure about low speed adjustment. Any joy Matt? Zenbike have you come across this problem before? Cheers – Paul Feb 17 '14 at 8:45
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I'll try to help, but I'm not sure about EVERY details of your fork, so let's see:

RLC means (adjustable) Rebound, Compression and Lockout.

If it rebounds, there is still some preload on your fork, but if your weight is enough to make it go down, perhaps the preload is not enough. Since your fork is air-sprung, it would make me think of very low pressure on the air-spring compartment.

Lockout works, so there is oil inside, which is the mechanism used by most lockout systems: entirely closing the compression oil valve.

You said PSI is at 90-100, which in some models is too little pressure. I have an RST model which demands me to put 170 psi. In the other hand I had another (larger bore) suspension which was fine with 40 psi. I don't know if this pressure is enough.

Even so, perhaps your model has MORE THAN ONE schraeder valve, so one would be "positive" pressure, the other would be "negative pressure" (or "low speed compression", or any other fancy name the factory creates).

The most interesting part is "it seems to SLOWLY sink when I'm on the bike". See questions later.

I have this questions, which you could put on comments or re-edit your original question:

  • Do you have the manual, and what PRELOAD air pressure do they recommend for your weight?
  • Do your model have more than one Schraeder valve? If yes, how are they named, and which one has the pressure you mentioned (where is it located)?
  • While the suspension slowly sinks, this happens while it is working (absorbing bumps and rebounding back), or just statically applying your weight on the bike while stopped? If you pull it down half travel, does it come back bevore continuing to sink, or continues to sink from this half travel position?

Hope it helps

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  • Good questions.Just the one Schrader valve, I dont have the manual, but just going of the 2008 fox manual online which indeed says 90 - 100psi. The suspension sinks after a few minutes. So just standing and trying its fine, but even pedaling in a parking lot it compresses fully 5". Yes, if i pull up while riding it will rebound, but quickly compresses again. – Matt Adams Feb 17 '12 at 19:27
  • Very very odd... The air on the air spring chamber should be "going" somewhere for this to happen... I think most probably you should take it to service, where the fork would be fully disassembled... – heltonbiker Feb 17 '12 at 21:57
  • The other odd thing here is that it seems to be keeping pressure just fine. No leaks, even after 2 weeks its still holding strong. – Matt Adams Feb 17 '12 at 22:35
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    I think you have a leaky piston. – Daniel R Hicks Feb 18 '12 at 0:15
  • So is that a rebuild kit like i see here: enduroforkseals.com/id152.html or better off to send it out to push industries? – Matt Adams Feb 18 '12 at 14:02
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This problem may happen on all TALAS models not specific to the older TALAS. I have a TALAS II and newer which had the same problem (32mm 2007 and 2012). Put a shock pump on the valve and see what happens to the pressure as you compress the fork. If it goes up (as it should under compression) you have another problem. If it stays pretty much the same then the problem is an O-ring which isolates the main air spring from the TALAS part.

Remove the top cap assembly which has the schraeder valve and small hollow pipe. Not the part that requires a 26mm socket. Undo the 8mm nut at the bottom of the assembly that the pipe is located in. Inside there is a small spring, ball bearing and an O-ring. Be careful not to loose them and remember the order. Replace the O-ring. Mine was clearly buggered. Resemble and hopefully you are good to go. Unfortunately fox do not show this valve in their drawings so it took me a bit of time to find..

Good luck.

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