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Stratos Helix Shock busted.

3K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  pcmark 
#1 ·
I have an old 1999 Psycle Werks WildHare with an old Startos Helix coil shock. Well it finally took a dump. The little internal bottom out spring broke and was rubbing and causing a ton of noise.

I dont want to spend a ton of money but I want to keep the bike in working order. The shock is a 6.5 X 1.5 which I know is not common by todays standards. Any suggestions on what the best option would be to replace it? I have an old 1999 Fox Float R but it totally sucks. No matter how much air I put in it I always get 50% sag. Im 210 lbs and I have over 250 lbs of pressure in the shock and still get 50% sag which is why I went with the coil.
 
#2 ·
I have an old 1999 Psycle Werks WildHare with an old Startos Helix coil shock. Well it finally took a dump. The little internal bottom out spring broke and was rubbing and causing a ton of noise.

I dont want to spend a ton of money but I want to keep the bike in working order. The shock is a 6.5 X 1.5 which I know is not common by todays standards. Any suggestions on what the best option would be to replace it? I have an old 1999 Fox Float R but it totally sucks. No matter how much air I put in it I always get 50% sag. Im 210 lbs and I have over 250 lbs of pressure in the shock and still get 50% sag which is why I went with the coil.
Your best bet would be to find a Fox Vanilla on ebay and send it to push. Lots of 6.5 X 1.5 shocks there.
 
#3 ·
Douger - I have two of those shocks and an extra spring - I believe they are the same size, but I am out of town until Sunday so I can check then. One is on a Voodoo Canzo frame hanging on my wall. The other is on a Canzo frame that I would like to sell. They don't have a lot of use - those frames had Fox air shocks on for most of their use. The one was even serviced by Strattos with little use afterwards. Anyways, shoot me a note if you have any interest in these (assuming the size works). - Greg
 
#4 ·
I have one on Ebay

I have a Stratos Helix Pro onEbay right now. 6.5X1.5

I honestly don't know much about it. The previous owner dumped the oil out of it. I filled it with ATF and checked that it holds air. It likely will need to be 'burped' which I guess is common after refilling them.
 
#7 ·
ShockNerd says so

According to this post, this guy says he worked for Stratos and he recommended ATF. Actually, I saw ATF mentioned in more than one place, or 15WT oil.

edit: crap, it won't let me link the URL because i don't have 10 posts yet, so here's a snip

ShockNerd-"Yah, I work in the assembly and repair/service department of Stratos. Sounds to me like you might be low on oil, which would make a dead spot. As for the clicking, does it sound like something is hitting metal to metal?

For a quick fix (posibly temporary), unscrew the fill bolt, then try to burp it under ATF, then, while its still under oil, let the air back out. (Make sure the shock is upright as to let the air escape). Repeat a few times. Then call me in the morning."

Hot Chili- "Finally I had some time to serve my shock.
First I removed the spring and drained out all old ATF, because it was mix of ATF and shock oil, just opened the bolt on top of the rebound adjuster and compressed and expanded the shock until all ATF ran out.
Because I wasn't so happy with the abrupt remote lockout function, I removed the complete lockout unit and modified the opening in the barrel to get a smoother transition between open compression and lock out, now it is more like a real compression adjuster, remotely maneuvered by the left Gripshift handle (9 position micro adjuster).
After assembling the lockout unit, i placed the shock in a tin can with ATF and did the "burp" procedure a couple of times, placed the shock upright and compressed it (as long as possible with 200 psi) repeated the procedure again. Finally I get out all the air but there was still a small dead spot. After placing back the spring and with high preload on the spring I repeated the "burp" procedure and the procedure recommended by Shocknerd and now the dead spot is gone, the shock works smooth all the way. Will try at the weekend how it rides in real life, but a short test ride behind the house was perfect, no dead spot, no noise and a nice transition on the remote lockout.

Thanks to Shocknerd's son for your help. "

As for how it works, mine more or less seems like it does the same thing as the OP's. It came on a bike that I bought for parts so I haven't played with it too much.
 
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