Garage Works

[boboso]

A buddy and me went there on a Saturday (they even offered breakfast!) and Steve and Tracy went through both bikes and worked with each of us.

My bud got dialed and Steve spent over an hour and a half with him. Documented existing conditions, pressures, measurements etc and gave a very clear understanding of suspension set up and what each (comp, reb, sag, pre-load) does and the effects each has. He was surprised at how far off he was on his settings and how much better the bike felt.

My story is a bit differant. Tracy re-built my front end (Fox TALAS) explaining everything as he went, showed me all the parts, what they do etc and then a re-install and set up. Front feels fantastic, differant fork totally. My rear shock (Fox RP23) apparently had the wrong spacer installed, so we went with the original Manitou Swinger 4way for the time being. Steve actually prefers this shock over the Fox due to the ability to run a low pre-load (read plusher) with a platform setting being seperate. However when we tried to set up the Swinger, the rebound action was non-existant. Garage Works has had my shocks for over two weeks to figure out the Manitou, but I will say Steve is going nuts over it. He explained he was going to Manitou this week to get educated on the IT systems for Manitou, and was taking my shock with him. If he cannot get it to work, he will provide a new one (either warranty or otherwise) per him.

As we had a trip to Mammoth, Steve provided me a loaner rear shock and set me up on that so I can ride.

I can tell you these guys are good, casual, and love what they do. Both Tracy and Steve call back quickly, and give even this old road racer an education on suspension set ups. Once my shock is back and on the bike, they have my recommendation.

At this point, much better than spending $300 or so for PUSH mods as the differance in feel at Mammoth and local here in SoCal is amazing.

[Neccros]

Damn I may need to give Steve a call and see what I can learn about my bike... I have some basic knowledge of suspension having worked for Eibach Springs, but I know bikes are a whole different ball game...

[dhshuttlemonkey]

Any mods for Marzocchi forks?

[Kid A]

Originally Posted by Johnny Dirt

Got my bike back last week and I can't stop smiling! Steve and Tracey did a great job tweaking out front and rear squish. Then they sat me down and actually went over what they did and how I can change all the settings to totally dial it in myself.


Front rebuild...................~$95.
Rear rebuild....................~$120.
Education......................~ FREE
Smile while I ride.............~Priceless!!

These guys are highly recommended, they are a full service garage.

Sound like your ready to rock the drops at top of Oaks! When you gonna join me there and teach me a thing or two

[TURNERob]

Originally Posted by boboso

At this point, much better than spending $300 or so for PUSH mods as the differance in feel at Mammoth and local here in SoCal is amazing.

Glad you're happy, but how can you say its much better than the PUSH mods? Do you have personal experience with PUSH products? I'm not knocking Garage Works at all, just wondering more details of exactly what they do internally to shocks/forks in comparison to PUSH that would make them better?

[Johnny Dirt]

Originally Posted by Kid A

Sound like your ready to rock the drops at top of Oaks! When you gonna join me there and teach me a thing or two

I can teach you how to care for road rash and busted ribs.

[boboso]

Originally Posted by TURNERob

Glad you're happy, but how can you say its much better than the PUSH mods? Do you have personal experience with PUSH products? I'm not knocking Garage Works at all, just wondering more details of exactly what they do internally to shocks/forks in comparison to PUSH that would make them better?

I think of Garage Works as the first step, if more is needed, then PUSH is the option.

Garage Works currently does nothing more to the internals, if a re-build is done, than others would do, but they know where to look for problems and how to properly set up a shock. Oil weights, shock settings, personal riding preferences, as well as on the bike set up are done while you wait (not sure if this will be true when they get more business). Steve is thinking of perhaps getting into mods but for now I think he is focused on what the majority of us may need.

"Another" riding bud has the same bike & shock (although a large) and the same fork. No doubt the PUSH mods work wonders and I am a huge fan of Darren as I have owned a Chuck CR-FS and Romic shocks. The PUSH mods felt fantastic on my freinds bike but as I was about to pull the trigger on PUSH, two of our group mentioned a "have you ever heard of these guys?" when reading one of the mags. Then this thread... As our Western Regional Lexus office is around the corner from their location we decided to give it a go.

What I am beating around is that spending $45 for set up and learing about suspension, and getting an improved ride with the stockers is well worth the cost. A large percentage of us will notice a huge improvement and not need to spend the extra duckets. My case with the Fox TALAS was a quick re-build, education, heavier oil... Much improved shock. Steve and Tracy think PUSH is a great option, Garage Works offers something the majority needs. However that said, this may answer cheaply if you REALLY do need more (i.e. PUSH). I have now used my "upgraded" fork at Mammoth and A&W Canyons and can say it is much improved.

As Tracy said to me while disecting my Fox, "they really do a good job with the stockers for most riders".

[PHAT TIRE]

I was at Garage Works on Friday to pick up my old sled. She needed some shock and fork work. I spent an hour talking with Steve when I dropped off my bike. He's a real cool relaxed cat . Highly knowledgable in the suspensioning of bikes. He is a retired road racer turned shop owner with an engineering degree. They tore my suspensioning swingarm and pivots all down to find out where the misterious clunking was coming from that two shops told me not to worry about- it's normal wear and tear . It was a loose pivot bushing in the shock. They fixed that. The rear shock was sent to Fox since it's the only one they don't work on and installed a 5th element air loaner for me so I could ride this weekend. The front fork is like butter now that they rebuilt it. It's so nice but the best part is that Steve took the time to set me up on the bike right.

NOW: This is the benefit to going to Garage Works:The Set-Up. If you don't understand, like I didn't, how bike shock pressures, tire pressure, bike geometry, rebound, sag, spring rates, and compression rates all work together for your ride and how to adjust them for each trail you ride, this is why you must go talk to these guys. Steve took the fact that I'm a X/C guy interested in a lot of climbing fast down technical but have trouble in the drops and berms with traction/ tire gripping and set-up the bike for that style. Then when I got there we spent almost two hours hoping, curb bashing and fitting the suspension correctly to what felt good to me. Yes, two hours hanging in his Garage and riding in the rain in a parking lot!!! No one has ever been able to set-up it right for me. They are very willing to sell you a bike get you on it and discuss all those things but it took Steve to get me dialed. I used all the manufacturers specs and how to write-ups to find out that I was riding with too much shock pressure to keep the ride stabilized.

I spent about $200 (still waiting for Fox's est. $80 bill) for:

• Bike Tear Down
• Bushing replacement
• Front Fork Rebuild
• Steve's infintie wisdom, teaching and patience
• Rear Shock rebuild (free loaner)
• Shipping to Shock to Fox

So Garage Works gets a and a and a from me along with a big thank you .

Cheers and thanks for the beers Steve!

[tkblazer]

thanks for the review, i'm going to drop off my fork there to get rebuilt since i don't want to mess it up... seems like a nice guy and his shop is close to work so why not eh...

[Pain Freak]

I'll have to make a point of getting over there. I like how I have my bikes set up, but I'm always wondering if I'm getting the best of my suspension.

[PHAT TIRE]

Originally Posted by Pain Freak

I'll have to make a point of getting over there. I like how I have my bikes set up, but I'm always wondering if I'm getting the best of my suspension.

I think they charge like $40 for an hour of consultation. Sounds like a lot but when you consider all of the time you spend (and Money) It's a small investment in knowledge. Good Luck.

[boboso]

Something to consider... Me and my riding buds went to a "suspension and maintenance" lesson that Steve did for us... I think it was around $40 each, spent almost 3-4 hours on a Saturday there, set up 4 bikes out of 6 (two were already done). Though some of us did not need the maintenance bits (brakes, shifting set up, hubs etc) the suspension lesson was well worth it. Steve is very casual and if you have a group of guys, will gladly set something up. The best part, as others have noted and I had noted earlier, was seeing your shock or forks internals, learning what they do, getting it set up and why it works the way it does. Plus he is a good guy (5-10 dealer too!).

Originally Posted by PHAT TIRE

I think they charge like $40 for an hour of consultation. Sounds like a lot but when you consider all of the time you spend (and Money) It's a small investment in knowledge. Good Luck.

[Neccros]

Lets set up an STR "tweak, tune and learn" day.... call Steve in advanced and see what he thinks....

[Jordansrealm]

I would be up for a day there as long as im in town

[xhuskr]

Originally Posted by Neccros

Lets set up an STR "tweak, tune and learn" day.... call Steve in advanced and see what he thinks....

sounds great to me!! would love to get my Minute tuned to my style.

[mullarks]

Originally Posted by Neccros

Lets set up an STR "tweak, tune and learn" day.... call Steve in advanced and see what he thinks....

That would be awesome.

[mtbcat]

anybody have garage works. do work on there fox 07. 36 talas recently, if so what do you think ?