Romic Compression rebuild??? help please...

[cheetaprowlerDH]

before i go unscrewing bolts, i want to know if there is some kind of air valve on a Romic D shock that i could possibly pump it up again through...
everything on the shock still works(i.e. rebound, and typical compression) and there is a spike in the compression towards the end of the stroke when i have it fully cranked up, but through the first 2/3 of the stroke, compression doesnt work...

is there some way to recharge it on my own or do i really have to send it in?

thanks

[dhkid]

i have no experience with the romic, but it supposedly needs a pressurized chamber when rebuilt.

[ChrisRobin]

I've never heard of someone rebuilding a Romic shock other than Vitox if I remember correctly. I wouldn't start unscrewing things just yet.

[-Danno-]

I changed the oil in a couple of them a few weeks ago. I used a little piece of electrical tape on the bottom side of the seal head to act as a check valve, and a basketball inflater with tape wrapped around it to fit tightly in the air fill hole (capped by that little allen screw). I pondered how to do this for a while, and tried this on a whim. I was amazed it work so well.

I put in 150 psi which may be a bit higher than what was in there originally. I have to say that they work great now. They`re completely silent and the damping seems to be perfect. That`s a nice change from the way they`ve been working for the past year or so.

The only tricks were making a tool to pull that top cap off, finding a way to pull the inner tube and IFP out, setting the IFP depth, and that little fill trick I described above. Oh yeah, I also used a little dab of sho-goo to hold the o-ring on the bottom of the inner tube in place while I put it back together. I set the IFP depth at 2" using an old piece of steerer tube that I cleaned up so it wouldn`t scratch anything. I calculated that it would move ~0.66" for my 2" stroke shock.

So if you`re feeling McIver-ish -- go for it! I suppose if it doesn't work out you could send it in to Romic.

[4130biker]

I'm not sure if Romic even operates anymore. Either that, or they just don't want to answer the phone or return my calls about a blown shock..

[kev211]

Id pm lovebunny. i know he rides a romic, and he knows a ton about it, and mtb in general.

[Pat...]

I'm not sure if Romic even operates anymore. Either that, or they just don't want to answer the phone or return my calls about a blown shock..

They are in business and can be hard to get a hold of. If you leave a message, they should get back to you. A rebuild is like $35.

[cheetaprowlerDH]

well, this is what i was afraid of...

i know Romic has been out of everything lately, so i dont want to send it to them until i get another shock... and i dont want to step into any DIY projects until i have truly solid steps(been there done that... almost got killed by a reservior flying at 300mph)... thank you Danno for the info, i'll try it once i get another shock on there and if it doesnt work, i'll just send it in...

in the meantime, i'm just going to up my spring rate... need to do that no matter what...

any more info would be greatly appreciated though!
:cheers:

[Cave Dweller]

Few pics of some Romic internals, might help. Im not sure where i downloaded these from, i think it was a japanese website??

http://forums.farkin.net/photo/data/500/51104343-L.jpg

http://forums.farkin.net/photo/data/500/51104278-L.jpg

http://forums.farkin.net/photo/data/500/internals.jpg

[DirtyMike]

Roger is most def still in business, they do mostly offroad stuff now though. Best thing you can do is to get a hold of them, and drive your part top them, they machine all ther own parts so if there out, they just go out and make them. I like Romic alot, its what I have and at first I was a bit leary. But when properly sprung they work great. Problem is that in teh parking lot they always feel like crap, its truly a shock you need to get out on the trail and ride to get the full effect of how its working, also remember the blue knob doesnt change the compression, its like a gate valve on a rockshox, for your pedallability, the compression is controlled by the reactor valve inside, from full open to full closed you shouldnt be able to feel a difference in the shock when compressing the bike in the parking lot.

[cheetaprowlerDH]

yeah, i will send it to them once i get another shock on my bike... i'm thinking a Roco WC...
i LOVE the way the Romic works, i prefer it over a DHX, etc. any day...
as for the compression knob, every time i cranked it up, it most definitley became much harder to compress regardless of where or what i am riding... i liked it that way... but i understand the reactor valve and love the way it works!

[ChrisRobin]

Same here, cranking up the compression could almost lock out the shock. Obviously on the trail, it opens up.

[1453]

for what it's worth I sent my shock into Romic a few weeks ago, called them during business hours and got an RMA number, sent it in, paid a few bucks and got it freshly rebuilt two weeks later.

SO they still service these things.

[DirtyMike]

Not only do they still service them, they still sell them. Its just a matter of putting int he order. Speaking of the overhauls, what did it cost you anyways???

[cheetaprowlerDH]

yeah, that would be good to know...

i'm actually thinking of buying a Rocco Air from Sully and then once DRAKETHOMAS opens up his suspension center down here, sending the shock in to him for a custom workover... he sounds really promising!


any reveiws on the Rocco? i saw that the Air comes in 9.5x3.0, so i am amped to slap one on my bike! Zokie front and back baby! hahaha

[Curler]

34.95 plus shipping back; to you it was 9 bucks for me

[1453]

yep, 34.95+9 for shipping. never had to service it the 3 years I owned it, all the dials still works as they should, I just felt like I owed it to get fresh oil and overhaul.

[vitox]

I've never heard of someone rebuilding a Romic shock other than Vitox if I remember correctly. I wouldn't start unscrewing things just yet.

wow its been a while im surprised you remember that, i cant find the post so ill try explaining


the romic shock has an allen threaded hole with a cap where the air goes in, which makes it impossible to fill with a normal pump setup because by the time you put that cap back in, the air is all gone.

what i did was to machine a new top cap, although you can also modify the existing one.

think of the original one, put a screwdriver slot on the top, and remove material from the underside/inside of it.

then, get a piece of rubber, i used part from a conveyor belt (legally obtained actually hehe) and cut it to fit under the top cap, then thread the top cap in.

now you can use a normal syring type inflation setup like the vanilla RC and other shocks use but you have fiddle a bit to get the air to stay in while you close the cap, couple of tries not more than that though.