Cane Creek Cycling Components Makes Suspension Service Procedures Public

Nov 15, 2022
by Cane Creek  

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CANE CREEK
Suspension Service Procedures
Available to the public

PRESS RELEASE: Cane Creek Cycling Components

Cane Creek Cycling Components announces their mountain bike suspension service procedures are available to the public. For the first time ever, Cane Creek publishes its service procedures and makes tools available for bike shops and dealers to perform Cane Creek suspension service.

Cane Creek has been making mountain bike suspension for decades but has restricted service to authorized service centers. Cane Creek maintains those looking to perform service still need proper Cane Creek specific tools along with a vacuum oil fill machine for all dampers and nitrogen for all shocks.

bigquotesOur hope is to be as transparent as possible about the tools and experience needed to properly service Cane Creek suspension, these services are not simple and we appreciate the work Service Centers have to do,—Nate Field, Cane Creek Service Center Mgr.


Equipped dealers and shops can now access step-by service procedures at www.CaneCreek.com and order tools directly from Cane Creek and other designated Distributors and International Service Centers.

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CANE CREEK SUSPENSION SERVICE


Service instructions are available for Double Barrel CS, Double Barrel Inline, DBIL, DB Kitsuma, Helm and Helm MKII forks. For anything beyond a standard service or for warranty consideration, suspension will still need to go through authorized service centers.

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Cane Creek Authorized Service Centers are listed on Cane Creek's Dealer Locator. Cane Creek will not directly recommend any service other than authorized service centers and no one else will be added to the dealer locator as a service center.

Cane Creek Cycling Components - Public Suspension Service Procedures


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Posted In:
Industry News Press Releases Cane Creek


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132 Comments
  • 98 5
 This is awesome news.
  • 171 8
 Awesome, yes, a brand that FINALLY is doing something that is the absolute minimum basic thing to do.
  • 88 0
 @faul: Haven't Rockshox always had this?
  • 56 0
 News that should have come out about 17 years ago
  • 25 0
 @faul: fox has all of these docs online too
  • 9 0
 CC is doing better than BOS now... as far as availability of service docs.
  • 3 0
 FWIW they have had this out for awhile now. Why they're just announcing it is anyone's guess.
  • 19 1
 I will never let a bike shop work on any of my suspension ever again. Lowers servicing i will do; any thing else it goes to the MFG or suspension specialist.
  • 2 1
 @likeittacky: what happened?
  • 18 0
 I haven't read any of the instructions, but I'm assuming the only tools I'll need are a sledge hammer, a hacksaw and a butane blowtorch?
  • 11 0
 @bigtim: Duct tape.. if you can't duc it, fuc it
  • 4 0
 They should have done this long ago as it has hampered sales, but great to see it happening now!

I've had 2 CC shocks (CCDB air, CCDB air IL) 2013-2019 and now one CC Helm Air fork since 2019. Great performance, very tuneable.
  • 4 0
 @Mayzei and @brookscurran:
I didn't want to say that Cane creek was the first brand to do that, only that, while positive news fore can creek's customers, this isn't great, this is late. Even BOS did it before them.
  • 1 0
 @DizzyNinja: I resemble that remark.
  • 3 2
 @Mayzei: Yep. Fox too. Pretty pathetic that they think this is newsworthy.
  • 15 2
 @likeittacky: Yeah I think unless you live in a place where the shop gets enough volume to have the expertise that is a smart strategy. Most run of the mill shops just don't have the ability to keep on top of suspension tech. There's just too many different brands with different models and different tools and different oils and different everything. And the mechanics are spending a lot of their time doing more routine repairs...not rebuilding dampers. I'm still a little disappointed in the cost of suspension maintenance. That "maintenance" can cost 15-28% of the cost of the part is just stupid. Example you buy a $680 X2 and have to spend $200 annually to have it serviced. You buy a $1100 fork and you spend $200+ to have it serviced. Imagine if you took your 50k car in and it cost 10k to service every year?
  • 7 3
 @foggnm: So what do you want to pay folks for labor per hour (overwhelming majority of any service cost)?
  • 1 0
 @Mayzei: yes, and Fox, Manitou, and probably a dozen other manufacturers
  • 2 2
 @Mayzei: main reason for prefering their products!
To some, not The Best, but for many as me, it's an excelent product, with home serviceabilaty, easy to source parts, and in my experience - reliable (at lest since 2011, when I changed from my Marzocchi Z2 10th Anny. for a Lyric DH RC2).

Had a chance to buy a CC Inline for my Jeffsy, but step out as soon as I read awfull things about shock reliability!
  • 2 0
 @bigtim: and an itty bitty little tub to put the single remaining bolt/clip/washer/shim left over after reassembly somewhere 'safe' for next time you have them apart
  • 1 0
 @foggnm: This is why you use the manual and do it yourself...Even with 3 different suspended bikes I can easily keep the oil, tools, manuals, etc that I need. Easier than dirtbike or sportbike forks suspension but relatively the same principle.
  • 2 0
 @bigtim: If you can't do it with the hammer you are doing something wrong. You missed the first part of the service video as it was on autoplay that said" if you dont have a hammer do the following".
  • 1 0
 @BEERandSPOKES: BOS is the worst for US support. The Deville and Kirk was one of the best suspension platforms I've used but getting any kind of support or service in the states is almost impossible.
  • 2 1
 @foggnm: Your example has it all wrong: The folks who get screwed are those who own a $500 fork and a $300 shock. Their service cost are 40% and 67% of purchase price. So in your case you want to buy the most expensive shock and fork to benefit the most from lower service fee ratio. Or just buy new every year and list your shock and fork on PB " like new takeoff, just back from fox service" cough cough.
  • 2 0
 nothing on pinkbike is awesome news. You must complain.
  • 2 0
 @foggnm: then you would have a Tesla
  • 1 0
 @foggnm: I completely agree with you. I took two bikes to bike shop to get forks (Fox 36's) and shocks (Float X2's) serviced and it costs me around $800. $800 is crazy expensive for yearly suspension service on two bikes. I'll be doing the lowers myself and probably realistically only have a damper service every 2 years from now on.
  • 2 0
 @wtmorgan1: Or you can buy any Rockshox fork and service the damper with a $25 kit and crescent wrench.
  • 69 2
 I've never owned a Cane Creek suspension product, but I assumed that "of course a brand would have its service instructions available." All other brands do, right? I've been using Rock Shox and Fox service instructions for almost 15 years. Weird.
  • 10 77
flag nvranka (Nov 15, 2022 at 8:21) (Below Threshold)
 You’ve been servicing suspension and riding for 15 years + come PB and didn’t know cane creek had to be sent direct? Sus.
  • 29 1
 @nvranka: Assumptions are dangerous. They didnt say they worked in a bike shop. Could have just owned fox and rock shox forks and done them at home.
  • 7 1
 @nvranka: Or wisely just avoided Cane Creek suspension parts? I loved my DBAir on my last bike, but holy crap did it need a lot of (expensive) service. I didn't learn my lesson and had a HelmII on my new bike. Just replaced with an Ohlins because the Helm was constantly having issues.
  • 7 3
 Cane Creek makes awesome stuff, but they've always been transparent about being cranky and condescending. After all, is says "DB" right on their shocks
  • 5 12
flag nvranka (Nov 15, 2022 at 10:43) (Below Threshold)
 @enki: Right…but I too have never owned CC. That was the point lol….it was a joke in the end.

I’m just saying CC has been pointed at and complained about for this reason ever since I got into the sport. I’m not even active on forums or anything, just PB here and there and it’s a recurring theme.


@bombdabass: lol “assumptions are dangerous”….stakes are low here fella
  • 6 2
 @nvranka: Haha. I am nearly 38. I worked in the bike industry from 2006-2011 (at a wheel company, shops, and managed a shop). I was into road racing, then cyclocross racing, then back to my MTB roots. I have only owned Rock Shox and Fox suspension. Why would I go down crazy forum rabbit holes to investigate Cane Creek's service practices? haha.
  • 5 0
 I don't think it is such a big sin. When you get into dampers you're usually not just tinkering around anymore and need to have some experience and repetitions under your belt. It isn't like bleeding a brake or adjusting your gears.
  • 2 0
 @nvranka: then it was just a real bad joke of you...
  • 2 0
 @wilflucky: yes, horrifically bad. The nerve!
  • 29 4
 As someone who has sworn off Cane Creek entirely as well as fox shocks due to their lack of at home serviceability, this is great news. Really wish shock manufacturers would follow RS and DVO and just use air to charge the IFP, but one can hope.
  • 10 7
 Their shocks still aren't home-serviceable unless you have access to a vacuum pump, and it you did, I suspect you could have figured out how to service without them telling you. With their shocks, the maintenance plan is still probably going to be 'just wait till it breaks and send it in', that usually only takes a couple months.
  • 3 0
 @Weens: Oh I did one way back when where I bled it by hand and replaced the rubber ifp seal with a tapped in Schrader valve. It wasn't bad at all. Tiny bit of noise but no loss of damping performance.
  • 27 1
 Zero need to use nitrogen to charge an IFP. The two most important properties, compressibility and density, track within a percent of each other at pressures ranging from sub atmosphere to over 500PSI and at temps from 70-250°F. Air is 78% nitrogen...
  • 4 28
flag vtracer (Nov 15, 2022 at 9:23) (Below Threshold)
 @Slavid666: The one problem with air is it has oxygen in it. A risk I'm not willing to take is finding out how O2 affects seals that were not designed for its presence. So yes, there is a pretty substantial difference between air and pure N2. I'm still lacking the vacuum bleeder so not a particularly useful shortcut.
  • 17 0
 @vtracer: Thats not at all what nitrogen is for in suspension. Seals dont care at all, else theyd break down upon production. They use it because technically its stays slightly more consistent pressure wise over varying heat ranges when a damping systems begins to heat up. Would you ever notice, that's out for debate.
  • 6 0
 @cougar797: yep more purity, less water, that’s all.
  • 3 1
 @Slavid666: other than heat changing that when combined with moisture. Water vapor expands vastly different than o2.

Also my understanding is nitrogen molecules are much bigger than o2 so o2 can escape easier.
  • 2 7
flag vinay (Nov 15, 2022 at 13:17) (Below Threshold)
 @fabwizard: Oxygen sounds much more dangerous than nitrogen. It isn't uncommon for pressurized gas to migrate past the ifp and mix with the oil. I can imagine oxygen is more likely to react with the oil though I can't tell for sure. Also, wouldn't oxygen cause more corrosion to the components?

I've always been wondering whether dried air would have a similar effect that nitrogen has as it indeed is the water that makes the pressure so dependent on the temperature. Back in the days we raced a car across Australia. The tires worked best at 5 bar but as they would heat up during the race, they'd inflate them to 4 or 4.5bar which implied they were never the exact right pressure. We used a mobile nitrogen charging/purging station that allowed us to inflate the tires with nitrogen. We could set it to 5bar and it would stay there. We had considerably less tire wear than the previous teams so yes, it does help. I can imagine this matters a whole lot more in suspension, where pressures are much higher than this.
  • 3 0
 @vinay: I think it is the moisture in regular air that would be the biggest issue due to heat and expansion.

The moisture plus o2 would also help oxidizing. Not helpful in suspension.

There is a reason motorcycles have been using nitrogen in shocks for a very long time.

If I could have used nitrogen in my race tires back in the day I would have, because compensating for the expansion of air was a bit of an art. To low and your tire melts to high and no grip.
  • 3 1
 rockshox is the new marzocchi bomber (of legend) of easy to service shock......
  • 1 0
 @jokermtb: Isn't Suntour even easier? They do market their forks as such.
  • 2 0
 Manitou seems to have leaned heavily into home servicing without specialist tools. Also the rear shock doesn't need nitrogen. But these docs have been available for at least 6 months because I downloaded them that long ago for a dB in line air
  • 1 0
 @cougar797: what I was told was the reason most companies insist on a nitrogen charge is because the moisture content is controlled as opposed to atmospheric air. The age old gas is compressible but liquids aren't
  • 1 0
 @briain: Manitou still requires about 40$ of specialty tools to rebuild their forks (or an hour or so of your time fabercobling) Minor inconvenience but not the end of the world
  • 1 0
 @vtracer: cutting a section out of a cassette tool isn't the worst but if you buy a deep cassette tool you don't even have to do that. It seems about the same amount of hassle as the the flat sockets you need for fox forks
  • 1 0
 @fabwizard: @vtracer: It does not, it's a step change by less than one percent, they are both equally as inconsistent. Look up the data using the tables that NIST has available are the world standard for liquid and gas properties, for a fee of course. No dyno will ever be able to measure the difference. At 73°F & 250PSI the ICT, isothermal compressibility, of air is 0.995142, N2 is .997119, @ 223°F air is 1.002369 and N2 is 1.00385. ICT is the inverse of the bulk modulus of a fluid or a gas, i.e. how squishy it is.
Heat will have no measurable difference on the compressibility or the density of N2 and Air. As air is 73% N2. This is all very easy to calculate for those that care, lots of myth very little data to back it up.
The solubility of both gases is water is very well documented and described by Junji Tokunaga in the Journal of chemical and engineering data vol 20 no 1, 1975. His work still stands to this day.
  • 2 0
 @Slavid666: not sure if you are responding correct to what we are saying.

From what I understand in your statement is that the compressability does not change by more than 1 percent. Which I agree except for the top of any racing sport would not notice. But that was not what we were stating. And I think I was a bit unclear.

Pure nitrogen expands less under heat than air. Air contains moisture. If you use air rather than nitrogen you will have a greater variation in expansion when heat is added to the mix. It is the expansion under heat not the compressability of said gases that we were referring to.

With nitrogen my tire pressure would rise say half a pound with tires at operating temperature. But air it could rise 2 pounds on a rainy day or 1 pound on a dry day. But nitrogen was always the same.

But secondly nitrogen tends to leak less.

Now you could do pure o2 but that in motor racing would probably not be the safest.
  • 1 0
 @briain: ??? eh i used to make a small fortune machining specialist tools to service mattocs as you simply struggled to buy them www.flickr.com/photos/151761966@N05
  • 1 0
 @vtracer: see below
  • 1 1
 @Compositepro: have a Mezzer and Dorado and I haven't bought any specialist tools. Even looked up the Mattoc toolkit all it is a deep socket, a flat socket and a cassette tool with a section out of it. Pretty easy to knock together. Also pretty sure decathlon sells a cassette deep enough to avoid cutting a section out
  • 1 0
 @briain: you’ve never had a mattoc to pieces then because any socket to get into the lower leg has waaaay to thick a wall to get in there the tool to get the damper shafts out of the bottom of the legs needs a slot milling in it I have 5 sets and sold about 100 sets of tools so I’m not sure if your spouting bobbins or just never actually been in one I also have 2 sets of Mezzer a on the bench right now that required a square edged socket to get the tops off
  • 1 0
 I haven’t been in the bottoms of the Mezzer yet
  • 1 0
 @briain: no way. Manitou can be a nightmare. For lowers and air can service, tooling is really minimal for all brands. Actually, manitou is the only brand I know of that requires more tools since their forks take a shaved down 8mm socket.
For fork service with most brands all you really need is a seal pusher and shaft clamps. If you don’t have a hand dyno you really shouldn’t be servicing your shocks at home. Also, I’ve said it on here before and I’ll say it again, a nitro fill setup costs maybe $100. It’s not a big deal.
  • 22 3
 RockShox is best for serviceability IMO
  • 6 0
 One of the main reasons I ride RS lately... Full rebuilds on forks are easy, parts are generally easy to get. air can service on shocks is really easy, full rebuilda are more involved but not terrible. Toughest part is usually sorting out exactly what sku to order to fit your particular model, year, 'trim' level, etc.
  • 7 4
 @Glenngineer: Rockshox is a nightmare to sort through all that. And if you have damaged parts good luck replacing them, you will likely have to buy an overpriced assembly or often an entire new damper or air spring.
The charger 2 damper has a common failure that is just an o ring failing but the only fix is an entirely new damper. $350 to fix a 20 cent o ring.
Fox on the other hand sells nearly every small part individually, and charges much less for csu’s, lowers, damper shafts and damper bodies. You can get a nitro fill set up for a little over $100.
  • 1 0
 @olafthemoose: it's a double lip seal in some model years, not an o ring... But yeah.

I'd like to see RS having replaceable seals in the fork sealheads instead of the preassembled unit.
  • 1 0
 I havent tried a charger 3 damper but i for one thing my lyrik is a bit of a turd compared to a 36 with grip 2 damper i had before it
  • 1 1
 @pargolf8: Well the previous model Lyrik Ultimate did have room for improvement, but in no way could it be called a turd. I've swapped mine for a coil Helm this year though, which I'd happily keep over a 36.
  • 2 0
 @chakaping: i just cant get it to feel nearly as confident as i could the 36. I think i will be converting to a front coil as well
  • 2 1
 That's why I buy RS. I can't stand missing out on a month or rides because of broken shit or routine maintenance. I like to fix it myself, ride the next day or next week when the parts/tools arrive.

This is hysterical to me that CC had not actually had their maintenance directions published; I just assumed they did like RS and Fox. so does that mean someone who rides regularly has to send in their CC suspension every month or a few times a season?
  • 1 0
 @MT36: yes
  • 23 4
 Too little, too late
  • 5 1
 Unfortunately I think you're right.... I still think the rebound dampening in the climb switch is amazing, like cheat mode on slow tech.
  • 8 2
 @deez-nucks: *damping
  • 7 0
 @TEAM-ROBOT: *water cooled
  • 1 0
 @deez-nucks: fox also dampens both high and slow speed circuits in the switch now.
  • 5 0
 @cogsci: it's wet no matter the speed?
  • 1 0
 yeah, kinda late on this news, maybe I'd consider them again some day, but I moved a few years ago
  • 15 1
 Rumor is in 2034 they will make service kits available to the general public. Well at least for their pre 2020 products.
  • 4 0
 but it is available www.bike-components.de/en/Cane-Creek/Air-Spring-Rebuild-Kit-for-Double-Barrel-Air-Air-CS-Air-IL-p65086
  • 11 1
 I feel like if you did this stuff before, you already know, if you didn't do it before, you still won't do it. A lot of it has to do with having the right tools and I will still pay the 100-250 to get my suspension rebuilt every other year rather than spending more than double that to do it at a similar frequency in the garage
  • 2 1
 It pretty only holds value when you have a shit ton of bikes. Or you can do it the Sam Pilgrim way and just wing it.

I say right around 1-3 bikes, just send it out and get it professionally done. 4+ might want to think about getting a bunch of professional tools and serving everything at home.

But I would still send it to Ryan from fluid focus. He knows his shit and can even do after market tuning and mods.
  • 5 0
 Agreed. As somebody who has worked on cane creek, their stuff is much more complicated than other brands. If you are reading this and own cane creek, send it to a service center. You will hate your life if you try to service that stuff without experience or the help of somebody who has it.
  • 11 2
 Absolute great news from a brand i respect
  • 9 0
 My cane creek now can creak more
  • 3 0
 i laughed at this level of honesty
  • 8 1
 I have nothing but good things to say about my DB Air IL. Love the tunability. Thanks guys!
  • 4 0
 Not sure if Cane Creek is on here replying to anything, but I wonder if/wish they have different shims or needles for the compression side of a Kitsuma Air, and wonder if I can get those swapped when doing my next service? I found myself running both High and Low Speed Compression at full soft or a click out from full soft. Thought it was just me, maybe just the kinematics of the bike... even a ShockWiz recommends softening it a little bit as a grain of salt. Found a review of Kaz on a Meta TR29 with a Kitsuma Air and even in the review he's running like full soft. I'd like to get into the middle of the adjustment range a little more. Seems like a lot of bike setups in test articles even with other brands run into this issue. Forks too. I wonder what the options are for changing the baseline valving tune to one to give myself more range of adjustment back. The shock is buttery though, I love this thing.
  • 7 0
 Nate F. for the win!!! You da best Homie!
  • 2 1
 If you really want to show Nate F. your appreciation, the man absolutely loves puns. Make sure you include some in every correspondence possible with him, he goes wild for them!
  • 3 0
 In that case, I'm suspending my animosity of Cane Creeks service procedures for the time being. I've changed my tune, and hoping that with a little work, Cane Creek will be able to dial in their products.
  • 3 0
 It's a shame Cane Creek never did this before. I was wondering how serviceable their shocks were but couldn't find anything on servicing or acquiring service kits for rebuilds. This is the reason why I stuck with Rockshox and will continue to do so because all their parts are listed and many of the older parts are sill in circulation even if they're hard to find.
  • 5 0
 I expect CC will be having a boat load more warranty claims from improper work done by bike hack shops.
  • 5 2
 is this to do with the eu legislation for right to repair or something? Handing tsome people the keys to destination "thats now f*cked mate" seems a brave move
  • 5 0
 I'm glad to see progress on "Right to Repair" anywhere and everywhere.
  • 1 0
 I've heard good things about CC suspension, but always avoided it due to the lack of any real servicing information. Might actually consider them when my fork / shock needs replacing, although I've gone the DVO route and couldn't be happier.
  • 1 0
 Probably doing it to get out ahead on the surge in "right to repair" legislation efforts across north america and europe. Massachusetts is the only state that has passed right to repair into law so far in the USA but such laws are proposed in other states also. Also President Biden signed an executive order in 2021 of a similar effect in order to encourage competition amongst the repair sector, and Apple and Microsoft have already got on board with it.
  • 1 0
 Would love for everyone raving about availability of Fox Service manuals and parts to drop a link where we can find them. Rockshox makes it so easy with the serial number search and every single parts diagram/service manual online. If you can't figure it out, just admit you can't read a parts diagram.
  • 6 2
 Cool. Now please deliver a 170/180mm fork
  • 1 0
 Please!
  • 2 0
 Would trade up my ZEB 170 29er for a HELM 170 29er without a doubt.
  • 2 0
 With more tyre clearance than the Helm, please.
  • 4 1
 This is great. One of my big complaints with owning a Helm...hopefully more shops will be able to do services!
  • 4 0
 but I still can't get any spare parts. Useless.
  • 1 0
 Great but took way too long. I will never but another Cane Creek suspension product after the headaches I had in the past. Proprietary parts and tools, bad customer service and long turn around times to get my stuff back
  • 3 1
 Someone on MTBR made 3d printable cartridge tools:
www.thingiverse.com/thing:5148395
  • 2 0
 This is something that always put me off cane creek suspension. Now might be worth it.
  • 3 1
 Awesome. My favorite fork just became favoriter.
  • 1 0
 Pretty easy shock to service, no fancy tools needed. When are they going to sell spares!
  • 2 0
 great but shoudve been like that from the beginning
  • 2 0
 Great, now you only need 15 special tools
  • 1 0
 Great! My kitsuma has been running over 600mi and desperately needs a service
  • 1 0
 Finally Glad I held on to my 1st gen DB Coil Still on my Podium Hater of no choice of adjusters No Knobs
  • 1 0
 I have a Cane Creek Double Barrel to maintain, it needs special gas, where is the doc?
  • 1 1
 How about shocks that are either slightly heavier or don’t perform at 100%, but don’t any service needs.
  • 2 5
 I mean when they launched this shock it was recalled because the knobs were put on backwards for LSC and HSC and it needed a CPSC recall so maybe they finally figured it out Wink
  • 1 0
 FINALLY
  • 1 1
 Because they had to not because they wanted to.
  • 1 0
 Took you long enough
  • 1 0
 Take that EXT!
  • 1 0
 Hurray!
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