Have just bought pair of 2011 Fox 36 Van RC2 FIT which have Kashima coat. All the pictures and adverts I’ve seen of these show glorious dark gold coloured stanchions. I was pretty disappointed when my forks arrived that they were a lot lighter in colour than I expected. In fact, they look like any bog standard stanchions!

Anyone else had issues with this?

oOOOOOOOH – Been there and back – I was told its a variation sometimes in the die they use in the manufacturing process! I have to say the coating on my 2010 F120’s are standing up very well and the finish is def not a typical anodising like my 07 Talas forks.

As Foxy says, colour can vary from batch to batch due an number of variables in the process, performance should not be affected

Yes have seen a few of them about. One lad the other night had some 32 FIT forks the stanchions were so gold it was difficult to make out the rest of the bike. Others have needed a double-take shame really because the Kashima coat in the pics looks most excellent.

slightly related but i have a pair of 140mm 32 vanillas and the left stanchion is quite clearly a different shade to the right one, been like it since new so not a wear thing.

it upset me to begin with, now it makes me giggle every time i see them from the front.

So, no different to non-kashmina forks then ? 😉

I have to stand up for the new FIT/Kashima models – I love mine (over 1 year) and have had absolutely no issues at all 🙂

Cheers guys. That’s the message I’m gettting from Fox – there’s a variation in the colour dye. Pretty cheeky really as all the pics and adverts make them out to be a really cool dark gold colour.

I’ve no doubt performance is the same…..but we all know it’s about the aesthetics as well!

xiphon, behave yourself! 😉

“click”

Cynical mode turned off.

I was miffed when I FORKED out the money for them – get it – see what I did there 😉 – anyway – I don’t even notice now 🙂

speaking of Cynicism where’s Al?

Yep – most of the coated forks I’ve seen haven’t looked much different to the normal stanchions.

As an aside, I’ve just been looking at the service guidelines for the 2011 & 2012 forks – I see Fox are now only recommending a service/inspection of seals etc every 100hours, with advice to wipe/clean the external surface after every ride. Is that right?

Seems to be… Quite a big change considering they shortened the intervals last year (made I laugh- “This is the new kashima coat, it’s more durable and longlasting, PS service your forks twice as often”).

Wonder why the Vans have such different intervals, bushing check and lowers oil change every 30 hours vs 100.

New SKS/Fox seals due out soon apparently alot better, lower friction after bedded in.

my 2011 float rlc 36’s are kashima “lite” coat.

flawless performance but the lube oil and float washer levels were very low from the factory !!!! be warned !

Just bought a new 2011 zesty and paid extra to upgrade the fork to 2012 Fox Talas RLC 150. Was dissapointed to find the kashima colour is a dark POO brown colour rather than gold. They do not look like £900 forks and wish i had the non kashima colour.

Got to be the best thread title for a while, I proper LOLed.

I bought a pair of 2012 36 VAN RC2 FIT a few weeks ago, they are a lovely gold colour but not as dark as i thought they would be – but still pleased – just trying to find the sweet spot with all the compression settings I still dont really understand them!

Have a look at the setup guide to see if it helps:

http://locotuning.co.uk/compression-setup.html

😀

Have a look at the setup guide to see if it helps:

Thanks Simon, I decided to write off the damaged Sektors and treat myself to the 36’s, just need a 32mm socket off you for the LH top cap but you have been closed?

Yes, off on holiday, back now so drop me a line to place an order whenever’s good for you.

mmmmmmmm golden

I believe that the 2012 caoting is more of a darker gold/brown colour than the 2011. Hence why all the recent pictures look alot darker!

So if they dye the fork legs gold, what colour is Kashima in its natural state?

One thing that affects the colour is coating thickness. If you have one leg darker than the other then it could have less protection one leg.

The coating is interesting but I’m not sure. I guess all you are basically doing is packing the aluminium oxide pores with molybdenum grease!

I am sure this is a translation mistake as the coating is only for aluminium:

Kashima Coat improves on corrosion resistance by 4~5 times of chromic surface.In salt spray test (5%35?) of Kashima Coat minimum 50µm thickness, no rust was detected even after 1,000 hours of its testing.

rust = oxidisation, I suspect…

Its a Titanium Nitride coating I think.

no its as andyl says, filling the pores in the anodized oxide surface with moly disulphide (lubricating agent). A pigment is added to give the gold colouring.

http://www.kashima-coat.com/pdf/English_pamphlet.pdf

** loves that this thread is all about people getting upset about the color of a performance improving part. You mean you didn’t buy it purely for functional reasons?? **

…as they say “All the gear and no idea” 😆

I probably, mostly only ever, really, buy performance improving parts for their aesthetic value.

And will sometimes even buy lesser performing (and more expensive) parts for their aesthetic value.

A bike for me is a mobile work of art intended to be covered in mud and dropped down mountains. It’s not a humdrum everyday tool like a VW Golf.

Aesthetics are important ’cause it’s all in the mind, init’.. 😉

the moly disulphide enhances performance, the gold pigment is purely cosmetic. Not too outrageous for people to be disappointed in a cosmetic element of an expensive item not being as advertised. Would you be happy with a 300 quid goretex jacket having mismatched sleeves just because it was still waterproof, or would you in fact expect it to either look perfect, or be sold at a fraction of the price in a factory outlet store?

I’d happily have some faded or turd brown kashimas at TK Maxx prices 😀

no its as andyl says, filling the pores in the anodized oxide surface with moly disulphide (lubricating agent). A pigment is added to give the gold colouring.

ah…so an inferior coating with pigment added to make it look like a more expensive TiN coating