Last weekend riding at Mammoth my Rock Shox Lyric fork blew out.  Literally hemorriaging oil out the top just under the compression damping setting.  I didn’t think much of it at the time other than to call the shop that day to get on their schedule.  Last night, I drop by the shop to get an update and Morgan gives me this “You’re not gonna be happy look.” and proceeds to tell me that SRAM doesn’t have any replacement parts nor a replacement fork for me for weeks.  Yes, I am indeed not happy.

A little history on this fork.  I bought the bike at the end of March for my birthday.  While they were going over the bike they notice that one of the mounts for the front brake is stripped out.   Two options were provided; 1. They chase the threads and put a longer bolt in, 2. They put a Fox Talas on the bike.  I being the nice guy chose option 1 as it was easier for the shop.   Strike One!

A couple of days after I bought the bike I dropped by the shop to dial in my suspension.  Its a lot easier to do this with someone else than by yourself.  And, the shop offers this as part of a new purchase.  At this point we discover that the rebound damping is shot.   I have to assume that it was like that from the factory.  Strike Two!

Now with the compression damping hemoriaging oil and offering no damping we’re at Strike Three!  Its basically unridable in its current state.  And apparently unfixable as the bike industry is between year models.  I’m not sure why they don’t have inventory to fix last years model.  I can understand why they don’t have any 08 inventory to give me a new fork.  So we’re at an impasse.

Bicycle Warehouse is doing an outstanding job of trying to find a solution.  I spoke with SRAM support this morning and they said “We’ll call the shop, maybe we can figure out some miracle.”  I have a possible Plan B worked out but I’m not pleased about having to do it as it will cost me more money out of my pocket.  I’m also unhappy as I have been riding 2-4 times a week and I’d like to keep that up as I’m now down to 171 lbs from 195 lbs back in March.  And, I’d like to be in the best shape I can be for this trip to BC Canada.

Oh, and my BMW is  out of commision at the moment as well.  So I somehow managed to break all my toys at once.  Arg!

Update – 8/15/08 2:20PM

Spoke to the shop.  SRAM can’t get my fork fixed before the trip.  They (the shop) are going to give me a deal on a Fox Talas and we’ll fix the Lyrik when the parts come in then I’ll ebay it.  Very dissappointed in SRAM’s inability to support their top of the line equipment.

Update 2 – 8/28/08 9:15AM

Just a final update on this issue.  I had to buy another fork because SRAM/Rock Shox couldn’t supply the parts to fix it or another fork.  Bicycle Warehouse did an outstanding job of supporting me.  They gave me a good deal on a Fox Talas 36 and went out of their way to buy the replacement parts for the Lyrik (At no cost to me) so I could Ebay it and recover some of my costs.  Like I said. Seriously dissappointed with SRAM and Rock Shox.  It will be a long time before I buy their products (if ever).