[B R H]

I've got a 2018 RockShox SID World Cup with Charger 2 damper and remote lockout. It's been working just fine (brand new a few months ago) but, after a minor crash, seems to have lost all compression damping and lockout function. I'm not especially sensitive to damper settings, but the lockout was solid before and non-existent now.

On essentially flat ground, I hit a very square rock on the side of the trail due to tired legs and lack of focus and went over the bars very slowly, deeply compressing the fork in the process. I believe I had the fork locked out at the time, but maybe not. It was immediately after that when I noticed the lockout wasn't working.

I've tried releasing all air pressure (both positive and negative via "hidden" valve) and re-inflating. No change. With no air, it compresses all the way (full travel of 100 mm). No sticking or binding. There is 105 mm of exposed stanchion when fully extended (with no negative air pressure) and about 2.5 mm less when the negative air spring is filled (first compression of the fork). Before I press down on the fork the first time after inflating the positive air, the fork feels locked out but I'm sure that's just due to the lack of pressure in the negative spring. This all seems entirely like what I'd expect. Seems completely normal.

The remote lockout pulls the cable normally and holds the locked position just like it always has. I see zero evidence of any oil leak whatsoever.

The compression adjuster has about 19 indexed positions and there is no difference in performance regardless of the setting. I run it 8 clicks from closed.

The rebound adjuster seems to function normally. It has about 26 indexed positions. Rebound is definitely slower when the adjuster is all the way in than when it is all the way out. I run it 10 clicks from closed.

What is wrong with this thing and how do I fix it? When I open up the damper side, is there anything specifically to watch for that will help diagnose the problem? I have a bad feeling something blew out or deformed inside the damper and it's not user serviceable. Makes me miss my old Fox F100 with Stratos ID damper...

 

[294037]

It seems unlikely you would have damaged anything as the shimstack will still open at a certain pressure

Are you able to turn the lockout dial at the crown manually past the point the cable pulls it to? And see if it locks then. The cable may have lost tension and isn't pulling far enough

 

[B R H]

I checked that the cable hadn't slipped on the trail. Now I just pulled it apart to clean it and check that area again more carefully and I dinged up the cable a bit but that's not the trouble anyway. The lockout dial seems to behave as it always has. It has normal spring tension resisting rotation and turns about 75 degrees but does not lock out the fork or change the compression damping in any way. The compression dial also feels totally normal but does nothing.

 

[B R H]

It seems unlikely you would have damaged anything as the shimstack will still open at a certain pressure

Are you able to turn the lockout dial at the crown manually past the point the cable pulls it to? And see if it locks then. The cable may have lost tension and isn't pulling far enough

The cable tension is fine (cable is completely tight) and the lockout dial turns about 75 degrees which is correct as far as I recall (same as always has been). I'm not sure how to turn the lockout dial without the remote. The spring tension is pretty high and I don't want to grap it with pliers or anything like that. I suppose I could use a piece of cable to pull it manually and use locking pliers to "stop" the cable in place. How would you do this? Is 75 degrees not normal/enough?

 

[Nick_M2R]

Worth taking the adjustment knobs off the top, and look in the adjuster area to see if oil is leaking through the centre of adjusters. See pic. Had a near new Charger 2 RC2 that started loosing feel through the adjusters. Believe it was a relatively common problem with the Charger 2's. Cycling the damper with the adjusters off would cause a slight amount of oil to seep through. Had to send it back which was annoying, but got it replaced with a Charger 2.1, which was a much better feeling damper in comparison.

 

[B R H]

You got a 2.1 for a SID or different model?

I bought my 2018 SID new on eBay and a local SRAM dealer tried the warranty claim. Of course it was denied. SRAM claims the warranty only applies to the original purchaser. Sure, that's what the warranty states, but the intent (and some local laws) is simply to ensure they can validate the ownership period (2 years in this case). Multiple owners complicates that paper trail. However, given this is a 2018 model, it is obviously less than 2 years old. So really it's just a lame excuse SRAM is using to not do the right thing.

It was my first RockShox fork and will likely be my last. The warranty claim took way too long and the fact that you can't contact anyone directly for support is lame. My experience with Fox forks has been the complete opposite. I'll most likely be replacing this with a Fox at some point. Even my old Fox Float flexed less torsionally, although it's not an issue for the majority of what I ride (XC). For now I have a new damper to install. Hopefully it lasts the rest of the season so I don't have to deal with SRAM again.