Review Rockshox Yari 29"

Planemo

E*POWAH Elite
Mar 12, 2021
575
660
Essex UK
Product Image:
20211117_114333.jpg


Product name: Rockshox Yari 29"
Price paid: Came with Haibike 3.0
Score (out of 10): 7

Review: Not a review as such, but felt this the best place to put my thoughts regarding my Yaris which were supplied as new on my Haibike and have now done 700 miles but the stiction (subjective I know) hasn't got any better IMO. So I decided to pull them apart for a second time (1st was to fit a 180 airspring). Bear in mind my comparison of stiction is based on Fox 34 Ryhthm GRIP damper.

Everything appeared fine on stripdown (as per the 1st time) with suitable lube and no excess. So with the lowers off I actioned the airspring and it felt really good - very little if any stiction noticed and smooth throughout the travel. So then to the damper, where there was slightly more stiction than the airspring but nowhere near enough to cause what I was experiencing. Also smooth throughout travel.

At this point, given the damper was isolated, I thought I would check out the differences that adjustments made. I found that compression damping was pretty poor - no difference between click 0 and 6, at 7 there was a marked increase and at 8 and beyond it was virtually locked. So pretty much only 3 useable positions - 0, 6 and locked.
Rebound damping was similar to compression at the beginning adjustments - very little difference between 0 and 6 clicks, but actually quite a nice progression from then onwards and given the amount of clicks available compared to the compression side its actually quite useable. Overall not a problem for me as I ride open for most things, but for hardcore riders the limited damping adjustments especially for compression could be an issue and one where I believe swopping out the Motion Control for the charger damper would be a good move.

So with no real culprit yet found, I reinstalled the lowers without bolting up either internals and again the stiction was back. So off they came again and just to rule it out, I removed the wipers and refitted the lowers to check it wasn't the bushings - nope they were OK - lowers slid nicely and without any play.

So by my Sherlock levels of deduction, the vast majority of stiction had to be coming from the wipers. I had ordered some of the SKF green wipers in advance, suspecting the wipers from the beginning, plus knowing they fit them to the Lyriks I thought it would be a good shout. Prior to fitting them to the lowers I tried them on the stancions and they did indeed feel a little better than the stock ones, but not night and day. Oh well, I had them anyway so fitted them and everything else back up, sticking religiously to the RS service manual.

The upshot is that they do feel slightly better, but still not as good as my old (2016) totally stock Fox 34's, and especially given that the Fox haven't been serviced for an awfully long time. So I don't really know whats going on, I can only assume that the Yari's are working as they should be as I haven't found anything untoward. I would have hoped for better from them tbh, I appreciate they are not a top end fork but neither are the 34's.

I am left with thinking that the only real difference may be be the stancion coatings - the Fox have a bronze appearance (but deffo not Kashima) and maybe the black coating on the RS simply isn't as slippery. I don't know, but I deffo know that the 4 year old Fox's feel better than these brand new Yari's. Shame the Fox isn't a 29er.

In the meantime, I will see if the new SKF's ease up a little (possible) and update if this occurs.

I have given the Yari's a 7 rating. I was going to go for a 6, but apart from the stiction they are actually a nice fork, smooth once travelling and take hits well considering the 'lowly' MC damper. I actually have zero issues with them apart from the stiction.
 

Planemo

E*POWAH Elite
Mar 12, 2021
575
660
Essex UK
First ride today since the rebuild, did a little 25 miler over the country park and I have to say, things are better than I thought. All my initial testing was done statically which should give a good idea re stiction, but riding today really gave me a better impression. I nearly couldn't face it - peering out the patio doors and seeing a nasty frost from the warmth of my kitchen, thinking about undoing the multitude of freezing locks and chains that hold my bike down. So glad I did though, I had a really nice ride. Sometimes I just need to force myself. I'm terrible like that.

The forks were sooo much better. SBC was much improved over previous and on returning home and comparing them again against the aforementioned Fox 34's, theres no discernible difference. So the upshot is that given I didn't change anything other than the SKF wipers (the forks were already well serviced and rebuilt in exactly the same manner), I can only deduce that the SKF's really do help, despite my scepticism.

I would highly reccomend them if going for a service. Not cheap for a set of wipers (I paid £26) but extremely cheap for the feel they give. If they happen to bed down even more with some more miles on them, all's the better.
 

Planemo

E*POWAH Elite
Mar 12, 2021
575
660
Essex UK
Just a quick update, as the forks are even better now after a few miles on them. To the point where I'm not sure it's possible to get any less stiction with an air fork. It's a bit of an odd test but to give an idea I can stand at the side of the bike, at arms length, and apply a bit of pressure to the handlebar with one hand and the forks will give. No way would that happen before, needed 2 hands, astride the bike.

Of course this stiction reduction may come at the expense of wiper seal longevity. If I notice any abnormal wear or evidence of excessive crap getting in at the next service I will update again then.

So overall, the Yari's are working extremely well now. So glad, because I was seriously thinking about changing them out which I wasn't looking forward to cost wise. The downside was, it made me notice how crap the stiction is on the RS Deluxe Select+ although I have managed to pretty much get that sorted too. I have updated my Haibike review thread with the fix though.
 
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