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Specialized AFR Shock Maintenance Instructions???

12K views 20 replies 11 participants last post by  08S-Works_Guy 
#1 ·
I recently bought a 06 Stumpjumper S-Works frame in eBay and I just finished building the bike, it rides awesome for a guy used to a M5 HT. It is a new frame and has the 07 Specialized AFR Shock with brain (yes, AFR not Fox brain), shock has Silver body with white Specialized logo, so looks it is the newer model (not the previous silver-golden one).

Can somebody point me where to get or provide the instructions for the shock maintenance: air sleeve service, oil...:thumbsup:
 
#3 ·
I need this info, too. I blew out the line between the shock and brain on my '07 AFR and Specialized is refusing to repair or replace it since it is installed on an '06 Stumpjumper I bought off eBay. I managed to reconnect the line to the shock, but all the oil has leaked out. Does anyone have any info on how to replace the oil? I think if I can do that the shock will be fine again.
 
#5 ·
Specialized CS great? Far from that.They are liars and cheaters.

In a way I share jhair's fate (with a long story being the background of my above statement).
As a matter of fact Specialized refuses to do any repairs on my Specialized AFR rear shock - that goes for warranty as well as paid repairs.

So if anyone knows about service instructions I'd be very interested as well.
 
#6 ·
Thalor said:
Specialized CS great? Far from that.They are liars and cheaters.

In a way I share jhair's fate (with a long story being the background of my above statement).
As a matter of fact Specialized refuses to do any repairs on my Specialized AFR rear shock - that goes for warranty as well as paid repairs.

So if anyone knows about service instructions I'd be very interested as well.
whoa what happened? The CS i was talking about wasn't regarding having the shocks fixed. But how come they won't take your shocks to fix? Share the story.
 
#7 · (Edited)
I've written up the whole story and it's a couple of pages - unfortunately is all german, so prolly won't get you far if I post it ;)

I'll try a quick summery:
I've bought one of these 06er S-Works frames with 07er AFR rear shock from an eBay seller named o_cyclism_o (just as jhair and apparently a few others around here did).
Shortly after building the bike the brain stopped working correctly (the dial on the brain has no effect anymore, it now acts as if always open). I went to a local store to see what a payed repair would cost - as I had already assumed that there will be no warranty service.
The guys at the store contacted Specialized and (to my surprise) they promissed me a warranty repair under the condition that I send in the complete bike.
Although I had my doubts I finally agreed and had the bike sent in. 3 weeks went by until they sent it back, telling me that frame and shock don't fit and due to the missing serial number on the frame there won't be any warranty.
Note that the setup (06 frame / 07 shock), missing frame serial, no invoice (from an authorized specialized dealer) was known by Specialized BEFORE the bike was sent in, I spoke with them myself, asked if the missing serial would be a problem etc....they sweet-talked to me until I was convinced to send in the bike.

After getting back the bike I asked again about a payed repair and was (officially) denied as well.

In the last phone call I had with the service guy he hinted me that I should try and go to a different Specialized dealer and just hand him the shock for a regular factory service. I was a bit surprised and asked if that would make sense as the serial number on the shock would be known by them now. He promised me that they didn't note down the serial.

So thats what I did - sent the shock to a different dealer to have him send it in for service. And guess what?
After weeks of waiting I get the reply that Specialized has detected the shock to be imported irregularly. And again no repairs.

So like I said - they lied and cheated and my shock is still defective.
 
#8 ·
jhair said:
I need this info, too. I blew out the line between the shock and brain on my '07 AFR and Specialized is refusing to repair or replace it since it is installed on an '06 Stumpjumper I bought off eBay. I managed to reconnect the line to the shock, but all the oil has leaked out. Does anyone have any info on how to replace the oil? I think if I can do that the shock will be fine again.
I have a Spanish friend that also has a one of these 06 S-Works frames with 07 AFR shock from eBay seller o_cyclism_o, and he also blew out the line between the shock and brain on '07 AFR, he went to a store in Bilbao and they sent the AFR to Specialized/Fox Dealer in Madrid, and Spec repaired the shock at a cost of 80 Euro.

Thalor said:
After getting back the bike I asked again about payed a repair and was (officially) denied as well. So thats what I did - sent the shock to a different dealer to have him send it in for service. And guess what? After weeks of waiting I get the reply that Specialized has detected the shock to be imported irregularly. So like I said - they lied and cheated and my shock is still defective.
It is disgusting that in some countries Specialized refuses to repair shocks purchased in a different country. I may agree that if there is no invoice or legal import in this country they may refuse warranty work, but they should not refuse a warranty service. Hey Spec, have heard of GLOBALIZATION!!!!

Thalor said:
The guys at the store contacted Specialized and (to my surprise) they promissed me a warranty repair under the condition that I send in the complete bike.
Although I had my doubts I finally agreed and had the bike sent in. 3 weeks went by until they sent it back, telling me that frame and shock don't fit and due to the missing serial number on the frame there won't be any warranty.
Note that the setup (06 frame / 07 shock), missing frame serial, no invoice was known by Specialized BEFORE the bike was sent in, I spoke with them myself, asked if the missing serial would be a problem etc....they sweet-talked to me until I was convinced to send in the bike..
And the story from Thalor in unbelievable, Spec knew in advance that the frame had no Serial, but probably they have heard of these frames from o_cyclism_o, but never saw them, so they cheated Thalor to ship the bike so they can inspect it, and later refused the warranty work. This sucks....:madmax:
 
#10 ·
Spaceman-Spiff said:
I have a Spanish friend that also has a one of these 06 S-Works frames with 07 AFR shock from eBay seller o_cyclism_o, and he also blew out the line between the shock and brain on '07 AFR, he went to a store in Bilbao and they sent the AFR to Specialized/Fox Dealer in Madrid, and Spec repaired the shock at a cost of 80 Euro.
How long ago did that happen?
I'm wondering why they refused to repair mine while they do repair others apparently coming from the same "source"...

Spaceman-Spiff said:
It is disgusting that in some countries Specialized refuses to repair shocks purchased in a different country. I may agree that if there is no invoice or legal import in this country they may refuse warranty work, but they should not refuse a warranty service. Hey Spec, have heard of GLOBALIZATION!!!!
The import was legal and there is an invoice, it's just not from an authorized specialized dealer.
 
#11 ·
@Thalor, I am saddened that it didn't work out for you, but as a customer and friend of an authorized Specialized dealer I can say that it works totally different if it was purchased through normal channels. It's strange that the serial number was missing, and that typically (at least in the US) means it was stolen. Frankly, I hope that the jerk that stole my Jamis would not get any support from them because he removed the serial to evade capture. Maybe that's the reason for the policy? It's possible that it became an issue internally once it arrived and others took notice.
 
#12 ·
Typically a missing serial means stolen here too.
But the serial wasn't removed, you would be able to tell that. The frame came in brand new condition and never had one. I'm sure the other customers who bought from the same seller could confirm.

I can understand not getting warranty. The legal situation here in Germany clearly says that it's always the seller who has to provide warranty. German law wouldn't be applicable of course, the seller is sitting in the US but a lawsuit for me doesn't make sense commercially anyways. Ok I'm SOL in that regard.

What I can NOT understand is the way I was treated with all the lies and cheating and I also can't understand that Specialized refuses to do the service for a fee (reading one of the posts above they actually did it for an other customer who bought one of the same frames).
 
#14 ·
What I don't think is understood is that the bike is counterfeit. If it doesn't have a serial number on the frame, it may not even be built in the same factory. Serial numbers are stamped before the paint even goes on the frame. This is a major problem in China, Taiwan and other areas with manufacturing. Depending where you are (I am guessing Germany), the laws and how Specialized CS handles counterfeit may be different there.
I tried to have a Sony radio fixed that I bought off a friend and because I didn't have any documentation of being the original owner, they wouldn't help me out. Big corporations need to protect themselves from counterfeiting and once they saw that the frame was counterfeit, the shock may be as well, apparently they decided it was against their best interest to not support counterfeit sales on ebay, which really sucks for you, I am sorry. If you bought it with paypal you should be covered through them for counterfeit product. Good Luck.
 
#15 ·
crashley said:
the bike is counterfeit.
I really envy your expertise! :thumbsup:

Without even seeing the bike you are able to tell what Specialized themselfs couldn't!

And the shock is counterfeit too - that would be actually a great thing because the shock worked quite well (which usually isn't the case for counterfeit products) and there is others than Specialized who can service the counterfeit shock. Good news!

Thanks for enlighting me.
 
#16 ·
Crap...I've fallen in the exact same hole. Purchase the same frame, same seller...and now, as of 2 weeks ago...having the same problems with the AFR shock...

I'll look for the serial number tonight...but I don't remember ever seeing one...

I definitely see Specialized's side...I thought I was going through an acceptable channel...

I suspect there are quite a few others that will have the same problem. As far as paypal is concerned...they cover the liability of counterfeiting?
 
#17 ·
06 s-works stumpy 07 afr

I am also the "winner" of one of the ocyclisomo o6 sworks frame.

I spent a year trying to figure out how to get correct size bushings for the afr shock since it came with the wrong shock eylet hardware.

The bottome eyelet in the afr is standard fox 1/2" so that is no problem get the standard fox bush and reducer for the o6sworks frame. But the top eyelet is slightly smaller @ 12mm. Betd seems to be the best source for the bushings for the top eyelet (15.75mmwide/8mmbolt12mmID).

You can see my posts about problems with the link from this bike, probably due to the fact that the length of the afr shock(7.75x1.75) is 1/4" longer than the factory setup.(7.5x1.75)

I found the correct 06 fox brain fade shock on ebay. Less frame creak right off the bat because of the correct top eyelet and maybe the correct shock length.

Having had both 07 and 06 brain shocks, I obviously like my bike better with the '06 brain because it fits.. But the 07 brain was pretty sweet even though the fit was incorrect. The 07 afr shock is noticably lighter and has great action and it locks out better than 06 brain. 06 brain feels a tad mushier but is still pretty good. So I took the 07 brain off and I guess its for sale.....

I am on the look out for an RP23.

Cant wait to ride the rp23 compared to the Spec brains.....
 
#19 ·
Just get a Fox RP23 from PUSH, and they'll reduce the stroke length to 1.75 for you for a small fee. 7.5x2.0 shock reduced to 7.5x1.75

But it would be nice if we could pay for service on the shock ourselves. What does Specialized do for bikes that are out of warranty or sold second hand? Surely they must be willing to service them for a normal fee - or the initial buyers can forget about any resale value on their purchase.
 
#21 ·
Kenda Small Block 8

I just purchase a pair of the Kenda Small Block 8 tires and I was wondering if anyone has tried these before and what they thought of them? I will be using them in a dusty and small pebble like rocks up at Vasona Park, St Josephs Trail, in Los Gatos. And any info that you might have with what air pressure you guys might be using with them.. I ride a S-Works Stumpy 08.. Thanks for all and for your time.. Have a great time riding.
 
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