Hi folks,

I’m running a 2008 (I think) Rockshox Revelation (Dual Air U Turn) and the stanchions are showing signs of wear – regular oil leak at the sliding seals. It was serviced about 300 miles ago so the seals should be fine.

Anyone have any idea how much it would cost to refurb this fork? I’d imagine new stanchions could be quite expensive, in which case is it worth while or should I bite the bullet and buy a new (second hand) fork?

This is on a small Soul, generally running at about 120mm but I like the option so if I went for a new fork I’d like some travel adjust. What do you think would be a good option other than a TALAS? This bike is for XC duties only so lightweight is better, but not critical as I’m a bit of a fatty anyway. Budget could be up to about £300. 1 1/8 steerer, QR.

Cheers

I like buying new bits but can’t afford them, especially forks. Therefore my Talas are still unfixed, too much money to get it done properly, even at LoCo. Let alone Mojo.
Because of that the only bouncy forks in use are old Bombers. Never a problem, always work well. Heavier and less adjustable but super-reliable.
If I could buy a new set it’d probably be a Magura. When I had my Rond 105’s they were as good as Marzocchi of the day and very simple to maintain. Sometimes you can pick them up here 2nd-hand for not much money.

I like buying new bits too but am having trouble justifying things these days with two young children! There’s life in the forks yet but I don’t really want to destroy them, I’m just wondering if the refurb cost would be better put towards a new fork.

Are the stanchions actually damaged / in need of replacement? As they are plated its easy to tell – if the plating is intact and smooth they are fine.

could simply be seals knackered again or could be worn bushes. Worn bushes are easy to check for as well – is the re slop in the fork?

When you say signs of stanchion wear – do you mean the coating is coming off?
Are there any visible scratches?
Or is it just that you are getting oil seeping past that makes you think they are worn? How much oil is it? A film as the fork is cycled or is it pouring past the seal?

What seals were changed at the service? Internal o-rings or wiper seals? Are new wiper seals part of a normal service?

It could just be that the fork is now well lubricated after the recent service and some of the oil is finding it’s way past the seal?
What happens if you turn the bike upside down for a few hours? Is there any evidence of gross leakage?

Stanchions appear undamaged, certainly no scratching etc and coating is intact but I’ll take a closer look after lunchtime ride.

TJ – what do you mean by slop in the fork?

Stumpy – Oil seeping past the seals, not loads but more than just the usual sheen on the stanchions. It gets dirty and gathers in a ring at the top of the travel. Haven’t tried turning the bike upside down yet.

To be perfectly honest I didn’t think much of the oil leaking until I recently put the bike in the LBS for some other work. They mentioned the stanchions were worn and agreed that the seals looked OK, I think they may have put one of those measuring caliper type things on them. I trust them enough to believe that they’re not just trying to weasel some money out of me, besides most/all of this bike came from the classifieds so they know I probably wouldn’t buy a fork from them anyway. Unfortunately I didn’t ask them how much they thought it would cost to fix and I haven’t been back yet.

As I said they’re not falling apart yet, but I’d rather not run them into the ground if I can help it so appreciate your thoughts.

I had worn stantions on my fox 32’s, was cheaper to buy new stantions, new lowers, all the necessary fluids and 15mm conversion kit for my Hope pro 2’s and do a strip and rebuild myself than it was to buy another set of 140mm forks with 15/20mm thru axle and the required pro 2 kit, was a very satisfying couple of hours spent in the kitchen and 12 months on the forks are still performing admirably.

tonyd – Member

TJ – what do you mean by slop in the fork?

hold the brake on and push the bike back and forwards as you would feeling for play in the head bearings. Put your finger between the stanchion and arch – you will be able to feel any play – should be only somewhere between a smidgeon and a gnats baw hair of movement

They mentioned the stanchions were worn

How can they tell this? If they are the Revs I am thinking of, they have gold anodised coating on them & travel indication marks on one leg?
The anodising will be of the order of microns thick, perhaps 10-50µm. If this coating shows no sign of damage/wear then the stanchions can’t be worn any significant amount…..certainly less than the manufacturing tolerance of the stanchion legs I would have thought!

You mention they were serviced 300 miles ago. By yourself or did you send them off? Did they put new wiper seals in? If not, I’d perhaps look at replacing them.
My Reba’s currently have a thin film of oil on the stanchions – normally with a bit of gunk in that I just wipe off. They are also year 2008 Reba air U-Turns so perhaps 3 years is the length of time it takes for the wiper seals to start failing??

Could be that the recent warmer weather has reduced the viscosity of the oil slightly and it’s starting to seep?

Thanks for all the responses. Just got back from a ride and took a closer look afterwards, the anodising on the stanchions is actually worn, looks faded and almost through to silver. This is on the lower half of what’s visible, probably the first 20mm or so of travel, then decreasing as you move up the stanchion.

I bought them from a mate who got them serviced before selling them, they were sent off but no idea if the wiper seals were replaced, possibly not from the sounds of things.

I also did what TJ suggested and checked for ‘slop’ – I can feel quite a lot of movement with my finger between the stanchion and arch, in excess of 0.5mm I’d say (was going to say 1mm but that sounds like a ridiculous amount).

I recently replaced the steerer unit in my 2009 Sids as they were to short for a frame upgrade. Petracycles replaced and cost was just on £200. Very easy replacement if you follow the instructions.

For serviceing, you cant beat tftuned, They recently did a warranty on a set of 2010 revelations that did the inevitable clunk and drop. Their typical service costs are around £80 which includes pick up and delivery.

Both TF and Petra offer lower leg rebuild kits around £30 so again, could be worth trying to do your own service before forking out for a new set altogether ?

Mate of mine has 08 Rev u-turns and has the same issue you describe; wear in the anodising right at the ‘top’ of the travel (i.e. near the seals when the fork is at it’s resting length).

Perhaps it is bushing wear that has caused this; particularly if you can feel some movement.
I’d give TFT a ring, explain the situation and ask their advice. I’ve rung them a few times and they have always been more than helpful.

Loco on here might also have some ideas – google Loco Tuning.

Hmm. Just called TFT and described the problem, response was “ooh that’s bad”(!). Probably looking at £200 for the CSU unit plus another £100 for them to service/rebuild (includes seals etc), so £300 spondoolies (Doing it myself would probably still cost £250) or buy a new fork. Bugger.

Ride it until it finally dies. Put a it more oil in the lowers evcery now and again. Only when the wear reaches the point that the ork judders under braking or the oil escaping soaks your brake is it totally dead. That might be a while yet. the performance will only deteriorate slowly

Yeah, as TJ says – I’d run it into the ground, especially if it’s not affecting performance.
Keep doing fairly regular ‘lowers’ servicing on it and it should be OK for a while yet.

My mates have been like that for ages now & they still work fine, just look a bit screwed.

Yep, I’ll run it into the ground. No point throwing money at it and it’s not ready for the bin yet. Bit annoying though as I spent the last 6 months or so putting together a nice hardtail and thought I had it finished. Oh well, an excuse to buy something new at some point and with enough time to figure out how to get it past the missus!

Thanks for the help folks.