To put it lightly: servicing mountain bike suspension components is not simple. Most anyone can look at a rear shock on a bike and intuit what it does on a rudimentary level. But relatively few can marshal a detailed explanation of what’s going on inside the linkage that makes it do what it does.
Cane Creek Cycling Components wants to help change that — by opening its service manuals for all to see.
Previously, the North Carolina component fabricator only made its proprietary suspension service info available to authorized service centers. But for the first time, it will now publish its maintenance procedures and make its specialty tools available to all bike shops and dealers.
Equipped dealers and shops can now access service procedures through Cane Creek’s suspension service page, and order tools directly from Cane Creek and other designated distributors.
“Our 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,” Cane Creek Service Center Manager Nate Field said in a press release.
That’s one reason why you’ll still need to go through an authorized service center for anything beyond a standard service. Also, going through any unauthorized mechanic will void your factory warranty, Cane Creek said. And it does not plan to add “anyone else” to the service centers listed on its Dealer Locator utility.
Still, the company’s liberalizing of its data could help streamline everyday suspension maintenance. You can now access instructions for Double Barrel CS, Double Barrel Inline, DB IL, DB Kitsuma, Helm, and Helm MKII forks.
