When picking up my forks from a well known suspension servicing company, I seem to remember being told it was a good idea to spray a bit of silicone lube around the wipers and cycle the fork a few times after every ride.

Have I remembered correctly?

well that's what I always use.

See

http://www.tftunedshox.com/faq/tips.aspx

TFT advise putting teflon oil around the seals and giving them a pump on the service sheet i got from them.

Saying that i bought some of that silicone spray from CRC in their flood sale and is good stuff.

A lot of people I know swear by this stuff:

http://www.juicelubes.co.uk/fork-juice/

I'd like to know the same, mainly because that's what I've been doing for the last year or so. Will I die?

No ill effects yet using plumbers silicone spray (more generally used to lube brake pistons) but I'd assume it should be OK as the main justification for using on brakes is that silicine allegedly doesn't deteriorate the seals. Same should apply to forks.
Can anyone verify.

From the way they describe it, it sounds a lot like silicone oil to me.

Juice lubes does seems to be quite good. Silicone spray should be fine (wipe off any excess after applying) and isn't causing dust to be picked up, good to use for cleaning stantions after bike has been washed.

I just use GT 85, then pump the forks about 10 times. This seems to lift the filth out of the seals onto the stanchions where you can wipe it off.

I just use GT 85, then pump the forks about 10 times. This seems to lift the filth out of the seals onto the stanchions where you can wipe it off.

GT85 makes the bushings swell (if it gets inside the fork, obviously)

I have some silicone spray from halfords for lubing the door seals on my mini – will this do the trick?

yep I use the Stendec stuff…reminds me I need some more…

alexonabike – Member
I have some silicone spray from halfords for lubing the door seals on my mini – will this do the trick?

Yep, I've used dashboard cleaner before now (main ingredient is silicon)

Nice one!

Some people recommend Krytox for rubber /seals :
http://www2.dupont.com/Lubricants/en_US/uses_apps/faqs_krytox.html

The silicone spray that Halfords sell is possibly made by WD40 (who own 3in one) and might not be very rubber / wiper seal friendly.

GT85 makes the bushings swell (if it gets inside the fork, obviously)

Not sure about that one…bushes are metal. What it will do is de-grease the fork, not the best.

"GT85 makes the bushings swell"

Blimey how does that work? What are the bushings made of that they absorb the GT? The spray stuff is Teflon in solvent isn't it?

I'll take care not to over do it. I can vouch for it's cleaning properties tho. Tim Flooks said my forks both my Fox and Rockshox forks were in fine nick despite not servicing them regularly for 2 years and I can only put this down to my meticulous cleaning of the seals.

+1 for the juice lubes fork juice. Spot on stuff, keeps my fork feeling factory fresh.

Well worth it IMO.

my LBS recommended wet lube as an alternative as they didn't have any fork lube in stock at the time

Another vote for the Fork Juice. As with all sprays, it's vital to cover the caliper and rotor. I also use Juice on my seatpost as it all but eliminates the build-up of crud which ends up as a ground-up powder, crunching around when I adjust the post.

Forks bushes are Teflon coated rings of metal. Since teflon is a fluorocarbon and pretty damn inert to most things, I think it unlikely.

Now, the carrier fluid/solvent in GT85 might swell some fork wipers or oil seals.

I use whats to hand, which will either be fork oil, motor oil of finish line green lube.

I use a silicone spray that printers use which is lighter than GT85 types, can't think what it's called though

But spraying a mist of GT85 onto clean forks, then wiping the excess off should be fine.

Blimey how does that work? What are the bushings made of that they absorb the GT? The spray stuff is Teflon in solvent isn't it?

I shouldn't have stated it as a fact above, I have no source other than my own experience.

I'm not going to lie and say I know why, but I am 99% certain it is what fecked my forks.
I'd assume it was a solvent other than the Teflon as I've had no issues with other teflon based lubes on my forks.

What happened is that I opened them up and they were fine if a little dirty. I didn't have any IPA to hand so I instead sprayed GT85 on a cloth then used this to degrease and clean the seals, I wiped it off and upon reassembly they were immediately very tight and had loads of stiction. Felt a bit like an old ZZYXY fork if anyone remembers those 🙂

After an embarrassing trip to the LBS to admit my error and have the bushings replaced the forks were good as gold again. (the seals were not changed)

I suppose if the seals are in perfect nick, the GT85 shouldn't get inside anyway, but i'm not taking the chance

i use some fork oil in an old chain lube bottle, works perfect and shouldn't damage the fork as it's full of the stuff inside.

++1 for Juicy Lubes Fork Juice… works a treat on my forks, shock and Joplin post.

GT85 and TF2 spray aren't so very different from WD40, still basically stoddart solvent and mineral oil in a can, with some additives so the marketing men have something to work with.

Silicon spray seems good, fork oil is one of the other popular options and is very good at drawing muck out of the seals, though it does attract dust.

"The silicone spray that Halfords sell is possibly made by WD40 (who own 3in one) and might not be very rubber / wiper seal friendly."

That's a brilliant chain of thought there, I like it. Not that it makes any sense but still.

i use the stuff from lidl, they sell tins of silcone oil spray for like 1.20. got tonnes of the stuff.

The silicone spray that Halfords sell is possibly made by WD40 (who own 3in one) and might not be very rubber / wiper seal friendly.

I use that stuff for cleaning hydraulic caliper interiors and keeping pistons clean and seals supple. Should be in the toolbox of every hydraulic brake user.

+1 for the Lidl stuff. Just done my pikes in prep for tomorrow. Huge difference.