Tan tan fm121, built in spring?

[bangacan]

I just got my fm121 frame from tantan. It looks pretty good at first glance. Bb shell is not perfect but I did expect that.

What seems weird is the swing arm seems to have a built in spring somewhere that makes it hard to move up and down. All the pictures I've seen on many sites show the frame having a plastic connector where the shock goes. This didn't have that. I haven't gotten too far in the build to see if this tension is easily overcome. My daughter has a different model from tantan and it shipped with one of those plastic connectors that I assume prevents the swing arm from slamming into the main triangle with out the shock installed.

Normal?

[impmonkey]

I would check the torque on the linkage bolts. Maybe they are too tight.

[bangacan]

Problem might be these bearings. Already corroded and gunky

[impmonkey]

Yikes