Why, if Cannondale can manage to equip an expensive lefty fork with a rubber "boot" that presumably does not gather dirt against the delicate stanchion of the fork (or "strut" I suppose in this case), do no other manufacturers return to doing so? I've heard the "it's not fashionable"/"they look gash"/(and my own,"the manufacturers want them to wear out, longevity of the product not being marketable") arguments before so let's ignore that. Is there any other reason why these delicate surfaces on a mountainbike are left uncovered from all the crap they encounter, and does anyone manufacture something that does the simple job of protecting them?

never felt the need for them, the seals seem to work well enough for me. lizard skins do some neoprene ones though but only for 100mm forks http://lizardskins.com/store/products/mountain/bike-protection/forkboot

The Lizard Skin has the potential to cause damage. Although they keep large lumps of muck off the fork stanchions, they hold quite a lot of water and the neoprene is porous enough to allow some fairly large particles of grit to become absorbed. The result is that the grit is held against the stanchion and continuously wears at the surface as the suspension cycles. The same issue is present with the rear air shock boot.

Seals are all well and good, but they don't stop the minor scratches that can end up major and costly problems. Rubber boots, like that on the Lefty, don't hold anything against the stanchion. All they do is stop bits of grit and minor knocks from getting near and scratching the delicate sliding parts. I know rubber boots work, as yesterday I took apart a pair of rather old and unloved marzocchi r's and they were sparkly clean underneath. The stanchions were in better condition than my tenderly coddled year old Pikes.

the Lizardskin neoprene fork gaitors are long enough for 5" travel forks,
i use them every winter,but always take them off once home and wash and rise them with the hose and hang to dry,those pikey forks are 05 and never been serviced except for a TF tune 4 years ago. i think its faulty mtb`s not having gaitors and needing serviced yearly, all part of the marketing con! 😮

I huess for the average rider, boots do not help. Different on upside down forks of course.

Someone needs to do a proper test by fitting a boot on one side and nothing on the other. Then after a couple of years we might know what works best.

:idea:hhhhmmmmm! to the inventing shed. something that keeps grit off but doesn't keep grit in. needs to look good , be available in a range of colours and a variety of sizes – I could be some time 💡

Forks used to come with boots. Forks used to be a lot worse. I remember a pair of Manitou Mach 5s I had with boots that doubled as a water pump!