Risse Racing = Horrible Company

[CarlCarlson]

The Risse Company is horrible and they have the worst customer support ever. The Carleton FSAE Team was running Jupiter 7R's until they were found to be leaking, when sent back for a rebuild Risse just stopped answering calls, said the shocks were to be shipped backed. Received payment and never contacted us back for anything. RISSE RACING is the WORST COMPANY I'VE EVER DEALT WITH!. It has been 3 months of them ignoring e-mails and phone calls, with them possessing our 4 shocks sent for a rebuild as well as the money paid for this rebuild to happen. Even from the owner himself we got no response. I have lost all respect for this company and to aid to it, our back up set of dampers (more jupiter 7r's) have begun leaking as well.
I just want all the teams to know how poorly they have treated atleast one of the FSAE teams, it's ridiculous that the only way we've contacted them in the past 2 months was by calling from a states side number. They're the worst company ever.

[CarlCarlson]

The Risse Company is horrible and they have the worst customer support ever. The Carleton FSAE Team was running Jupiter 7R's until they were found to be leaking, when sent back for a rebuild Risse just stopped answering calls, said the shocks were to be shipped backed. Received payment and never contacted us back for anything. RISSE RACING is the WORST COMPANY I'VE EVER DEALT WITH!. It has been 3 months of them ignoring e-mails and phone calls, with them possessing our 4 shocks sent for a rebuild as well as the money paid for this rebuild to happen. Even from the owner himself we got no response. I have lost all respect for this company and to aid to it, our back up set of dampers (more jupiter 7r's) have begun leaking as well.
I just want all the teams to know how poorly they have treated atleast one of the FSAE teams, it's ridiculous that the only way we've contacted them in the past 2 months was by calling from a states side number. They're the worst company ever.

[M3Shark]

Carl-
Sorry to hear about your experience with Risse.

Don't feel bad about running your back up set that leaks. The second you finally get your rebuilt shocks back they will leak to. Ask me how i know...

[Scalesy]

funny this should come up, I have to call them today...which means I might get through by next week, if I'm lucky.

I got a set of shocks back from rebuild and they haven't leaked yet, but then again I haven't touched them. Is the quality still really that bad?

[Superfast Matt McCoy]

Speaking of, if any teams have some shocks that they are disgusted with and would like to put in a box and ship off to a far away place and never see again, let me know. I have a need for a couple less-than-spectacular bike shocks.

[Wesley]

Well Matt, we may have the shocks for you!

We have '06's Risses. We're putting the DB's from 07 on it eventually.

[Yellow Ranger]

yea, we'll get on that right after we get you the remote locater oil thingy- which I actually looked for and can't find - I think marley may have took it as a 'i'm gonna screw over the team' package...

back to the point- if you search any shock post that mentions the Risses, you'll see just about everyone comment on the pieces of shit they are...

[ZRubenson]

I had similar customer support issues last year, so it doesn't sound like an isolated incident...

[Josh Sharpe]

Hah sounds like we arent the only ones. We somehow lost a shock and ordered a new one back in March and still haven't received it. Ill have guys on my team take turns calling them. One day we called about 40 times and got no response. It is definately a nuisance.

-Josh Sharpe
SPSU Team Leader
fsae.spsu.edu

[ihaterisseracing]

I ordered a set of dampers from risse racing too- in february and have been getting fobbed off with excuse after excuse...and still havent recieved anything.

I have called and emailed almost everyday for last 2weeks.

I was told that they are in the process of moving (which is true at least) - but they have told me on 4 different occasions that "the shocks will be sent today."

totally unprofessional company - wish i could change my designs - but we have paid and designed around these shocks - not time left for a replacement.

...i actually joined this forum just to warn people to STAY WELL AWAY!

...from what else i've read, im not looking forward to the quality now either! :S

[Superfast Matt McCoy]

With the number of mountain bike shock companies out there I wouldn't think it would be an easy market, but if Risse has survived for as long as it has running the company like this...

Anyone wanna go halvsies on a CNC lathe?

[flavorPacket]

not necessary. A little bird told me that a well-known American racing shock company will be coming out with a FSAE-specific shock next year. It will be worth the wait.

PS having made our own damper before, the lathe isn't the hard part. It's the extrude honing and seals.

[Adambomb]

The Risses just need to be broken in. And by broken in I mean run them until they stop leaking, which is about the time they run out of oil http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif Damping is a little soft, but they will eventually stop leaking.

BTW, we quit using Risses in '06 for all of the reasons above.

[vreihen]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by flavorPacket:
PS having made our own damper before, the lathe isn't the hard part. It's the extrude honing and seals. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Could this be the part of the manufacturing process that Risse is having problems with????? http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif

[Scalesy]

It's without a doubt honing and seals...they leak without ever being used....

[Anvit Garg]

flavorPacket: did the bird tell you if the dampers will have remote reservoirs?

And tell that bird to stop pooping on my black car.

[Rex]

I've actually had pretty decent luck with Risse each of 3 different times I dealt with them (including 1 rebuild recently - finally gave out after about 7 years of use). Have seen others (including my old FSAE team in later years) have problems with them, but my experiences have been good. Even talked on the phone to the guy about the specifics of the rebuild, which got done in about a week if I remember right. I paid full price for the rebuild since I'm not active FSAE anymore, maybe that makes a difference (i.e. FSAE discount work takes a backseat to full retail customers)? Or maybe build quality has gone down over time since mine are 5+ years old?

In any event sucks that you guys are having bad luck with them - purchased shocks are supposed to be one of the easy parts!

[flavorPacket]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Anvit Garg:
flavorPacket: did the bird tell you if the dampers will have remote reservoirs?

And tell that bird to stop pooping on my black car. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

No, piggyback, but you can rotate the canister to any angle. PM me for more info if you're interested.

[Adambomb]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Or maybe build quality has gone down over time since mine are 5+ years old? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

We've seen some evidence of this. We have a couple Risses from around '04 or so, they have hard anodized aluminum rods and "real" bump stops; our '05 ones had steel rods, and I swear they came from the factory with short sections of braided hose for bump stops. Not sure if the old ones worked any better, but there were some pretty obvious differences from old to new.

[Abhi Mittal]

Hi All,

We're a Uk team and decided to use Risse this year. We have been trying to get in touch with them for over a week now about our order status, they don't seem to be picking up. Does anyone have any idea why? Any national holidays in the states or anything?

Thanks

[RiNaZ]

no holiday this week, but this w/end is our memorial w/end, so 25th is a national holiday.

[-francisco-]

When i joined formula student last year i was surprised there were teams still using Risse Racing shocks. They're long forgotten in the mountainbike scene, their forks and shocks had problems and i don't think they have been spec'd on production bikes since the yearly 2000's.

[James Morris]

To Abhi Mittal

Forget Risse! There dampers are just leaky mess, and when on the damper dyno a nightmare to match damping curves between them as they will continue to leak oil at diffrent rates untill dry.

Give the guys at Mojo a ring, there the uk importers of fox dampers and they should be you choice for several reasons. 1st there nice guys and they wont muck you around, 2nd they do some fairly decent FS discount, 3rd they'll re shim there dampers for a reasonable amount to pretty much whatever damping curve you want, and finally there always just a phone call away and if your desperate there based in newport which is not a massive drive from Manchester.

www.mojo.co.uk (http://www.mojo.co.uk)

James Morris

SMU

[KM44248]

This is an interesting thread. We had the same issue with Risse. Shocks ordered early in the year didn't get to us until a few weeks before comp. Phone calls not returned or answered. Emails ignored. We had to get the school involved... Finally, when we got the owner on the phone, he literally lost his temper and began yelling and swearing at us. Must be nice to be doing so well they dont need the money from us SAE race teams...

[Samo Simonian]

If I had a penny for every time I tried to contact them and failed.......


I second all of the above, they should be banned

[DART-CG]

Did you know that, translated from german, "Risse" means scratches or cracks?! http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[Juggz]

not too sure if this company operates in australia?

Unlucky aye it seems that alot of teams are effected by this companies lack if respect i gues you could call it.

We use bilstein and they are great.

[Scalesy]

We ran an older set of Risse's (3 years?) at MIS this year, they didn't leak at all...I think the build quality has only recently gone down...I know I would never run our "new" set at competition.

[Erich Ohlde]

the risse's we got for our 04 car leaked everywhere. they have been crap for a while

[Zac]

looking at the reviews on mtbr.com, it seems like they've been hit or miss for a while.

[SamB]

Apparently, 7 months after ordering them, our shocks are in the country! Such a wonderful company to work with. Whether they will leak or not is another matter...

[Jimbo666]

Funny, he answers questions right up to the moment you pay. When you get the shock and it leaks, makes noises it shouldn't... hey, no reply...
Last time I buy Risse.