Servicing rear shocks.

I tend to do all my own work on my bikes but have yet to do a rear shock service.

Planning on installing a Vorsprung Corsette this winter on a Fox Float CTD EVO.

Is servicing these that difficult? Best place to get a service kit? Any special tools needed? I would love an excuse To buy another tool.

if you are doing air sleeve service only, then yes, you can do it at home. you'll need to bring it to a service center to have it fully(damper) serviced

I'd get the Fox one personally, there are multiple options depending on which shock you have.

The Evolution shock you have has a higher nitrogen charge in it than a lot of the other shocks and you need to make sure you have an air can that is designed for that charge.

Talk to your local shop and have them call the distributor (or call the distributor OGC yourself) to make sure you get the right can for your shock, otherwise you're doing yourself a disservice and potentially wasting money.

It's also possible you might need to increase your rebound damping once you install a can with a larger neg chamber. Because the shock has much larger neg chamber it will have much lower initial breakaway force. Some riders have reported that they must run substantially higher air pressures to make up for this and get the right amount of sag and consequentially you might need to slow your rebound to contend with the higher PSI.

Here's an install video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itV1c0uMBs4

Might be worth doing, but I remember having an Evo series Fox shock a while back, and swapping it out for an older RP23 was a revelation. You might be putting lipstick on a pig.

I'd get the Fox one personally, there are multiple options depending on which shock you have.

The Evolution shock you have has a higher nitrogen charge in it than a lot of the other shocks and you need to make sure you have an air can that is designed for that charge.

Talk to your local shop and have them call the distributor (or call the distributor OGC yourself) to make sure you get the right can for your shock, otherwise you're doing yourself a disservice and potentially wasting money.

It's also possible you might need to increase your rebound damping once you install a can with a larger neg chamber. Because the shock has much larger neg chamber it will have much lower initial breakaway force. Some riders have reported that they must run substantially higher air pressures to make up for this and get the right amount of sag and consequentially you might need to slow your rebound to contend with the higher PSI.

Here's an install video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itV1c0uMBs4

The N charge is in the damper, not the air sleeve so why would that affect it? The larger negative air chamber does not affect initial breakaway but it will have a longer affect through the stroke. It allows or demands a higher psi which provides more midstroke support. That's how it was explained to me. Did I get it wrong?

I installed a corset sleeve on an rp23.

You'll add a lot more air spring pressure to get the sag needed.

I also had the boost valve pressure increased for more compression damping throughout. It felt very underdamped without. And had the strongest low speed spring installed on the climb switch just to make it work again.

The corset is a great thing for mid stroke support and initial breakaway. But expect to retune your low and high speed compressions for best results.

Thanks all for the advice. Might just make sense to get the pros to work on it. Looks like vorsprung could do a corset install and service at the same time. Or I just take it somewhere local for service.

Certainly better shocks out there but not sure how much I'm willing to spend the get something else hence the idea of a corset.

Talk to Steve at vorsprung. Call him or send him an email. He is very knowledgeable and honest IMO. He won't waste your time or money and he will give you the best option for your bike, weight and riding style.

Talk to Steve at vorsprung. Call him or send him an email. He is very knowledgeable and honest IMO. He won't waste your time or money and he will give you the best option for your bike, weight and riding style.

Good advice. I've never felt like I've ever been good at setting up my rear suspension. I'm over 225 kitted up and tend to push the limit of the shock.

James from SuspensionWerx is local knows all things suspension.