I just rang up TFT to find out which bits to buy to self service my forks because I had heard they would be helpful. The guy I spoke to said he wasn't willing to give me any advice whatsoever as that would mean they wouldn't sell any servicing! I was going to buy the seals etc through them but now I'm not so sure...
I can see where he's coming from from a business point of view, but damn.
They have a point.
Of course you could probably have checked the servicing instructions for your forks for what was required.
I don't blame them
They've give me plenty of advice in the past, no problems.
thats pretty lame! read the service manual if you want to do it yourself.
If it's RS your servicing, it really is easy.
They've give me plenty of advice in the past, no problems
Me too. Maybe they realised they are maybe doing themselves out of business?
They've also given me loads of advice too, but usually with a sale. I buy seal kits and the like.
To be fair, it hasn't been the full instructions on how to do a service, but they answered questions on types of grease etc.
Basically I was asking what I would likely need out of:
32mm Seal kit, Samurai wiper, oil seals & foams - all models
Pike/Reba/Revelation Dual Air Service Kit (all O-rings, air valves, air caps, bottom out pads)
Pike/Reba/Revelation Motion Control O-Ring Kit (all O-Rings,Circlips, Bottom Out Pad & Foot Bolt
but he wouldn't tell me.
edit: Oh I wasn't asking how to do it, that would be taking the wee I think, I was asking which of their products I should buy!
Hmmm depends on the level or depth of what you were asking .... If they sell the parts to service the forks... And you just asked " what are the parts I need to service the forks and can I have them please?" Then I think its pretty piss poor of them. If you were asking advise on how to service the forks then yeah can see their point ??
Basically I was asking what I would likely need out of:32mm Seal kit, Samurai wiper, oil seals & foams - all models
Pike/Reba/Revelation Dual Air Service Kit (all O-rings, air valves, air caps, bottom out pads)
Pike/Reba/Revelation Motion Control O-Ring Kit (all O-Rings,Circlips, Bottom Out Pad & Foot Boltbut he wouldn't tell me.
Did you make it clear that you were going to purchase from TFT not CRC etc?
My wording was along the lines of "Which kits do I need to buy..", something like that anyway. I would have thought that I was buying it from them was implied.
Well, I'd have said "I want to buy one of these, but I can't do that unless you answer my question!"
How is the perosn on the end of a phone going to know what parts you need unless he can see the forks apart in front of him?
So if he advises you what you need and it's wrong/ or need more parts he's going to look a tit.
[shakes head in disbelief]
At that point I was a bit wary of the advice I would be given, kinda like being told by a dodgy mechanic that I needed a new engine when it only needed an oil change or something.
@ ziggy, that's why I'm asking for advice! He can conditionally say that I generally will need X if its been used for y hours or something.
He could, but I've had this with repairs and fork servicing before (TFT now does all my fork servicing) with requests over the phone, it's really difficult to advise without seeing the forks/bike in front of you. If you get it wrong or ends up costing more than quoted then it usually ends in grief. In this day and age if you give advice over the phone that could be incorrect it could lead to all sorts of trouble and even legal action.
Would you go to a car mechanic and ask him what parts you are likely to need for a service?
The only reason I rang was because of their reputation for being helpful, and they were obviously going to get a sale out of me anyway.
It's kinda like when I buy parts from the local BMW dealer, the parts guys are quite willing to impart advice on how to do jobs and what parts they think I need, even though they potentially lose my business by getting me to bring the car in for them to do it.
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