Suspension is an integral part of modern mountain bikes. It helps you with control and traction when tackling rough terrain and it delivers comfort over uneven surfaces. Like any moving part, suspension experiences wear and tear and needs attention. It’s highly likely that Robbie’s Bicycle Concept (RBC), South Africa’s premier mountain bike suspension specialist, has serviced or refurbished your suspension. Here’s why…
Robbie Powell at the RBC front desk.
Established in 2016, Robbie saw a need for a specialist mountain bike suspension service centre. RBC has rapidly become the Southern African authority on mountain bike suspension. When you take your bike to your local bike shop because your suspension fork, rear shock or even dropper seatpost isn’t working as it should, chances are your LBS sends it to RBC for some expert attention.
“Some bike shops can do a lower leg fork service and we encourage that because a lower leg service should be done more regularly than a full service. But most bike shops send their full-service suspension work to RBC because we have the expertise, equipment, technology and tools to be able to service any mountain bike suspension. We also aim for a 48-hour turnaround from when we receive the job until it’s returned to the bike shop or bicycle owner,” explains Robbie.
“While we appreciate the confidence and trust in what we do, we are looking at ways to empower more bike shops to take on suspension servicing and will soon be expanding our premises to include a training centre. Bike shops will be able to send their technicians to RBC for training and, by investing in the appropriate tools and products, will be able to carry out their own suspension servicing too.
The RBC suspension service centre.
“Actually few people realise that the suspension unit on a mountain bike is the hardest working component on the bike and needs regular service to ensure it is smooth and compliant and working effectively,” added Robbie.
Robbie has been working on mountain bike suspension since 1995 when he completed his Master Suspension Mechanic course at the United Bicycle Institute in the USA. Back then there wasn’t much variety in suspension brands as it was still fairly new to mountain biking, with Rock Shox, Marzocchi and Manitou the primary suspension brands.
Now there are more than 15 mountain bike suspension brands and almost every mountain bike sold now has at least a suspension fork. RBC has the expertise and technology to be able to work on almost any mountain bike suspension and can diagnose, service and refurbish suspension.
Some suspension forks waiting their turn to serviced.
RBC holds an immense volume of spares, oils, fluids and service kits from all suspension brands, so can usually have any faulty suspension back to its owner within a couple of days.
Besides servicing and refurbishing suspension forks, rear shocks and dropper seatposts, RBC is also the South African importer and distributor for X-Fusion, Ohlins, Push and DT Swiss suspension as well as Andreani workshop tools, RSP suspension cleaners, grease and lubricant and ND Tuned steerer tubes and suspension accessories.
For more information or to find out how to book your own suspension service directly, visit the RBC website.
Lee testing a rear shock.
Robbie servicing a Lefty. That’s a dental tool…
RBC has all the right technology, tools, spares, oils and fluids to service and refurbish mountain bike suspension.
Each job goes back with some useful information and support.
Jacques fitting a new steerer tube to a fork.
Nelson cleaning a fork after servicing it.
Paid partnership with RBC
