Air springs for bicycle front forks and other bicycle components

An air spring for a bicycle component, the air spring comprising:

• a tube having a first end and a second end opposite the first end;
• a piston in the tube;
• a rod coupled to the piston;
• a sealhead in the tube near the second end, the rod extending through a channel in the sealhead;
• a spacer in the tube to space the sealhead from the second end, the spacer having a first end and a second end opposite the first end, the second end of the spacer closest to the second end of the tube;
• and
• a retaining element coupled to an inner surface of the tube, the retaining element located further from the second end of the tube than from the second end of the spacer, the retaining element having an inner diameter that is less than an outer-most diameter of the sealhead, such that when the spacer is removed from the tube, the sealhead is moveable toward the second end of the tube but blocked by the retaining element from exiting the second end of the tube.

An air spring for a bicycle component, the air spring comprising:

• a tube having a first end and a second end opposite the first end, the tube having internal threads adjacent the first end, the tube defining a sealed pressure chamber;
• a cap coupled threadably coupled to the tube, the cap having external threads that are threadably engaged with the internal threads on the tube and defining an axial interface locking length, wherein an outer side surface of the cap has a vent groove that extends in an axial direction through the external threads;
• and
• a seal coupled to the cap and in sealing contact with an inner surface of the tube, wherein the seal is spaced from the first end of the tube by a seal gap that is less than the axial interface locking length such that as the cap is being unscrewed from the tube, the seal loses sealing contact with the inner surface before the cap is fully decoupled from the tube and the vent groove enables fluid to vent from the sealed pressure chamber.