REVIEWS DEALS BIKESHOPS TRAILS

Fox F29 - creaky crown - just live with it?

6414 Views 20 Replies 17 Participants Last post by texas, Aug 17, 2010

Green Giant

Discussion Starter · Jul 10, 2010

Well,

Man, I thought I was going to get lucky. My 2010 F29 RLC made it 800 miles before it started creaking at the crown.

Yup, I've gone through the entire list of "what could it be" (bolts, headsets, spacers, hubs, 15qr, stem, bars, etc) and it's still there. Had this problem with a Reba 29er also.

Was hoping this one would be better with the tapered steerer. I ran a manitou for a while and it was actually rock solid, but only saw 400 miles.

Never had this problem on my 26er forks, wondering if it's increased leverage or just something to deal with anymore with just about any fork. I'm sure Fox will take care of me on it, just annoying.

I'm wondering at this point if it's just something to live with living in an environment where we see a fair amount of sand, though I didn't really see this with my 26 forks.

Not that there is any chance in hell I'd go back to a 26er.

1 - 20 of 21 Posts

tryallrider

· #2 · Jul 10, 2010

I say call fox on monday and get yourself a new set of uppers. You should not have to deal with your $700 fork creaking. Im not an engineer by any means but its probably creaking because the steerer is loose in the crown. Thats not cool at all:nono:

They have done it for me in the past under warranty. cheers!

morandi

· #3 · Jul 11, 2010

Mine creaked. I in a "what the hell" moment I sprayed some heavy duty silicone lube at my steerer tube/crown when the bike was upside down. Creak gone. Go figure?

C Dunlop

· #4 · Jul 11, 2010

lots of forks creak out of the box. especially fox forks. your dealer will fix it or replace it under warranty.

alexrex20

· #5 · Jul 11, 2010

my old F80X did the same thing. before even contacting Fox via email, i went to my LBS who is an authorized Fox dealer, and they replaced the whole thing under warranty (even though i bought the fork online). i had just done a rebuild with Enduro seals, so they said they'd upgrade the new fork when it came in, before i picked it up. that was an '05 model that was warrantied in '06, and it's still going strong on my 26er singlespeed with several thousand miles logged.

great customer service, albeit not exactly of Fox Racing Shox.

Natedogz

· #6 · Jul 11, 2010

tryallrider said:
I say call fox on monday and get yourself a new set of uppers. You should not have to deal with your $700 fork creaking. Im not an engineer by any means but its probably creaking because the steerer is loose in the crown. Thats not cool at all:nono:

X2........................get it warrantied before it fails.

texas

· #7 · Jul 16, 2010

I'm very furstrated with my creaking F29.

My fork started creaking after about 6 months. Finally brought it in to the bike shop. They told me that they would send it to Fox to fix it under warranty. I had to pay the shipping which didn't sit too well with me, but the bigger problem was that I had do to without the bike for what turned out to be 4 weeks.

First ride was last night, started creaking as bad as ever 30 minutes into the ride. I will be really pissed if they tell me that I need to be without the bike again while they send the fork back to Fox. Hopefully they will just send me a new fork and then the bike shop can send the old one back after I get the new one.

Pair0dimes

· #8 · Jul 16, 2010

I saw your frustration first hand last night. Hope you get it resolved soon.

D.F.L.

· #9 · Jul 16, 2010 (Edited)

The '11s have a beefed up crown with a stiffer stanchion/crown interface. My 120rlc is on the way back from Fox and I'll let you know if it gets the '11 'Crown Steerer Unit'.

Regardless, get it warrantied.

**UPDATE: Mine is back, with what looks like a '10 crown. I'm hoping it's better. Fingers crossed. Oh, and if you are getting the uppers replaced and need a longer steerer, TELL THEM. Otherwise, they will cut the new steerer to match the length of the one you sent in! **

Green Giant

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jul 17, 2010

Yup, mine is at Fox now, looks to be getting new uppers. I've got the OEM dark grey spec. If they go with a 2011 crown that would be great, I could care less if the color is a bit different black etc.

Fox said they have a few forks in now for this... and I thought it was just my Rock Shox...

Wish Manitou would get on the ball with their 29er forks, their crowns seem to be silent.

Phil335

· #11 · Jul 17, 2010

My Fox F29 doesn't creak but I'll trade you a whiny girlfriend for it.

ExigeS

· #12 · Jul 17, 2010

Does it sound like this -

I sent it back to FOX and they fixed it.

Green Giant

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jul 25, 2010

Well,

Fox was great about the warranty. Turnaround took 3 days, shipped back to me on 3 day shipping.

What was really nice - they re-installed my crown race AND cut the steerer back down to the same length as before. They also beveled the top of the steerer so my King upper slid down nicely.

Having it cut was a huge bonus. I was literally waiting for the fork to leave on vacation, car was loaded etc.

Fork showed up and I had it re-installed in 5 minutes.

Now, if my local UPS would deliver earlier in the day! I'm 1 mile from the distribution center, but apparently last on their route. Saw that it was on the truck at 6am.. and it didn't show until 6pm.

Kudo's to Fox. They also did an overhaul on the fork. I'd rather not have a creaky crown, BUT Fox turned it around quick and I was able to deal with them directly (unlike Rock Shox).

See less See more

The Haunted

· #14 · Jul 25, 2010

Turn the bike upside down and spray the crown with a good penetrating oil, wait 5 minutes then spray again and voila, creaky crown is gone!

Turveyd

· #15 · Jul 25, 2010

Someone on another thread said, get some loctite thread lock, can't remember the exact number invert bike, put around it'll penetrate and stick inside and stop the creaking.

Natedogz

· #16 · Jul 26, 2010

texas said:
My fork started creaking after about 6 months. Finally brought it in to the bike shop. They told me that they would send it to Fox to fix it under warranty. I had to pay the shipping which didn't sit too well with me, but the bigger problem was that I had do to without the bike for what turned out to be 4 weeks.

First ride was last night, started creaking as bad as ever 30 minutes into the ride. I will be really pissed if they tell me that I need to be without the bike again while they send the fork back to Fox. Hopefully they will just send me a new fork and then the bike shop can send the old one back after I get the new one.

Fox should have sent a call tag for the shipping!

Dogdude222

· #17 · Aug 1, 2010

The Haunted said:
Turn the bike upside down and spray the crown with a good penetrating oil, wait 5 minutes then spray again and voila, creaky crown is gone!

I had been dealing with a loud clicking sound at the headtube for weeks. Several mechanics failed to diagnose the sound...all blaming it on the internal headset. Even the Giant Pro Team mechanic gave up. Finally, after seeing the video on this thread, I tried moving the fork legs around without a wheel in them. With even the slightest of pressure fore/aft on the right leg, I'd get the loud click-click-pop.

After finding that Fox's turnaround time was 8-10 days in house right now, I thought I would try the penetrating oil, and it worked! I left the bike upside down with penetrating oil in between the stanchion and the crown all afternoon. My bike is quieter than ever. Who knows if it will be a permanent solution, but at least I can maybe wait until winter to send the fork in. Just thought I'd share the info.

Good luck creaky F29 users.

See less See more

shopcat_cycles

· #18 · Aug 2, 2010

Anybody have a very slight creaking issue out of this fork? The sound coming from my fork is very slight but it's there - I have tried the same setup w/ a rigid fork and a Reba 29...both dead silent. I'll be sending my fork back to Fox tomorrow, and I hope they take care of the issue. At the same time, I think they may deny it, since it is so subtle.

El Caballo

· #19 · Aug 3, 2010

Green Giant said:
Wish Manitou would get on the ball with their 29er forks, their crowns seem to be silent.

What are they missing besides a 140mm-150mm version?

metrotuned

· #20 · Aug 4, 2010

It may also be the steerer tube/stem/stem cap. I added a headset spacer 5mm below the stem and it solved the creaking. (Check for play, if your steerer tube is cut almost exact, the stem cap will not sit flush on your stem).

1 - 20 of 21 Posts