hi as above im a newbie.. i own a trek 6300.. ride on the road and bridleways and the local forrests.. need a bit of help if possible.. the lock out on my dart3 forks has stopped working and any ideas where i can ge some dart 3 decals as mine are a bit tatty?? 😆

Welcome.

You could change the fork for this:

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-xtrm960-wtb-rocket-surly-steel-fork

Lighter and all you need for forest and road work. It will make you faster, more skilled and cost nothing to maintain.

Just my 2p worth.

APF

You could change the fork for this:

Oh the joys of singletrack, stick a rigid fork on it. While you are there you might want to take all the gears off and stick some clown wheels on it as well.

Oh and welcome.

I guess they need servicing. PeterPoddy on here is Rockshox expert and can probably provide you a guide.

welcome

Welcome!
Have you an expensive watch or at least an espresso maker? Are you an expert on driving or chainsaw dancing?
Bike? You ride? Why and what for? Ooops, you thought we all did… well, yes, we do. Better than Peat/Gee, more style than CG/Palmer, further than Top Gear’s Hilux, we’re gods. You’re going to become one too, just don’t say it too loudly.
Change the fork for something better OR a nice rigid, Bontrager CF jobbie rides well. Or talk to PeterPoddy, he’s a gent and an expert at the same time.
And don’t worry too much about the gear, there’s always somebody who THINKS he knows better.

Hi DM,

As you can see everyone’s fallen out of bed on the wrong side this morning..In the hope they haven’t scared you off, let me explain…

The Dart is Rockshox basic fork and usually not considered to that great performance/weight wise. It has though improved over the years but is not something many ppl would recommend spending money on. Purely from the point of view that a 2nd hand “Tora” fork is probably where you money is better spent (next fork up in RS range). Hense the rigid comment, as a rigid fork is more reliable (what can go wrong?) and ‘probably’ lighter than the Dart.
As for HC, well he’s just having fun (in a nice way)

So… I have no idea why your fork would be doing what it is, though I can suggest it’s probably down to the Turnkey damper. The link below is the Rockshox service manual, and you need to look at the TurnkeyDamper section, Page 14 onwards. Now to most ppl that look incredibly difficult bit of work the 1st time, but nothing could be further from the truth, these forks come to piece in minutes & should go back together easily. Your issue will then be getting hold of the seal kit & suspension oil (ebay/motorcycle shops)
http://www.sram.com/sites/default/files/techdocs/2011-dart-technical-manual.pdf
(2011 Dart manual, you may need to search further for your specific year here)

So.. now you going what other options do you have?
You could see if your local bike shop will service them for you, as many will do it in-house, as they are quite straight forward (as per the manual above).

Or you could send it to a suspension specialist like TF Tuned, Loco or J-Tech or the SRAM service center (via fishers) and they’ll charge you a decent amount of money to service them.
Money “I’d” suggest that could be better spent on a new fork, so I’d say live with the issue for now (its not stopping you riding) and save for a better fork instead.

Start with asking you local bike shops if they can fix it “in-house” (or if they send them off), and then email those suspension specialists, ask them what they think the issue might be and how much it would cost to fix… to see where you stand & start thinking about doing the service yourself…

oh and decal’s? Check with Fisher Outdoors.

Hi, and welcome.

The most common cause of lockout failing is damping oil dropping from the upper leg on the damper side into the lower leg through some kind of leak. It isn’t limited to ‘cheap’ Rockshox.
The lower leg should contain just a small amount of oil to keep things lubricated, while the damping chamber will have ~100ml of oil in it (exact quantities will be in the service manual on the SRAM/Rockshox website).
You can get them sent off for servicing, or do it yourself. It’s not particularly difficult, so definitely worth trying if you are halfway handy with a spanner. Best thing to do is find the right service manual for your fork, read through it a few times, get all the tools you need, as well as plenty of tissue/kitchen towel & new oil. You can get fork oil from a motorcycle shop (it’s basically the same stuff) or I think Chain Reaction does some fairly reasonable stuff.

As for decals – not sure. Try TFTuned or perhaps ebay.

Hello Newbie! I’m one too, welcome.
You will very quickly discover that this place is pretty odd; it’ll make you laugh way more often that you’d think.
In amongst the madness, you’ll get some brilliantly helpful advice and the classifieds are a good way to get the bits you need.
Sorry – can’t help with forks but seems you’ve got some input there already.
😉

Of course I am 😀
Lovely to meet new people here. Honest, guv!

lol thanks for the repiles, think ill just live with the forks for a while. im not a hardend biker all dressed in tight lycra :lol:just do it for fun when i feel like it and bike the 12 miles to work when the sun is out..guess them there forks are not the best shame as i think its a nice bike. will check out the adds for another set when i have the cash..nice to meet you all and thanks for the comments,still want some new dart 3 decals tho..and there isnt any on e-bay.the only ones i found when i googled it was from the usa.. bit too pricey..

You could try giving Fisher Outdoor a call? They distribute SRAM/Rockshox stuff in the UK.

As per what stumpy says, however what he didnt mention is the oil that has leaked will now prevent your fork from getting full travel, leaving them pretty useless.
They need repaired really!

No body has asked, are they poploc forks?(lockout lever on the bars)

It could just have pulled the cable through…

Welcome to STW.

Hope you enjoy your stay and don’t take anything too seriously, none of this shit is actually real 😯

K.

Welcome to STW!

For what you could spend getting them fixed + postage + decals etc you could spend just a bit more and get some little used Tora’s?

welcome to stw.. it’s addictive, frustrating, opinionated and more often than not very, very funny 🙂