I am not a happy chap.

Just been to a local branch of a large bike shop to complain about the fork stanchions rusting on my daughters bike. Noticed a couple of months ago that there was some rust – took it in today to ask them about it. Evidently it’s wear and tear. Rust happens – for example a chain can rust overnight if left un-oiled. I’m probably most pissed off by the smugness of the response – the bike had some dried mud on the chainstays – so the manager says it’s obviously been neglected.

It was bought in July last year. It’s not a cheapy BSO but a Norco hardtail. These are Rockshox XC30 forks. It has had a very easy life as a you’d expect for a 10-year-old’s bike. Probably about 150 miles in total. Washed when dirty but not really needed much. Kept in a stone outbuilding.

Mainly a rant at the moment – going to send pics to them and ask them to reconsider / think again.

So to the STW massif – AIBU? Should I expect these to rust like this? It’s not affecting the performance at the moment but they’re just going to get worse.

I don’t have a comment on if it should happen or not but if warranty etc is a dead end I would probably just get a kitchen scouring pad and rub the rust off like I had to on chrome bmx I had as a kid. It always came back eventually but rubbed off easily.

I would ring rockshox/sram tech first though and see what they say.

Also might be worth giving them a spray / wipe over with some silicon lube after a ride. May help stop it getting worse or happening again.

Yes, YABU. 30 seconds with some Autosol and you’ll be reet.

Polish it up and then wipe oil over the stanchions after cleaning to prevent this. I guess it shouldn’t happen, but under some circumstances it will on chromed surfaces.

Edit- if it helps, I’ve seen much worse on similar Rockshox forks.

So you’ve taken the bike back after 11 months, they didn’t prearrange the rust and the stanchions aren’t made from the wrong material. Simply, it has been left in the wrong circumstances and rust has formed. This is predominately your fault in my opinion. Personally, if I worked at the shop I would of cleaned the rust off and given it you back .

Can’t imagine any unprotected chrome staying rust free after 11 months in a stone outbuilding I’m afraid

chocolateteapot – Member
Simply, it has been left in the wrong circumstances and rust has formed.

Oh I don’t know; I would suspect most people expect Mountain Bikes to be able to get wet without rusting.

Unfortunately, RS do have form for using these shitty stanchions on their low-end forks and they invariably rust. I seem to remember a lot of their OE Domain forks were the same – so you’d see year old £2k bikes wearing rusty forks.

If you really want to fight it, find an owner’s manual for that fork and look up the intended use and care instructions they’re probably wildly over-zealous, but if you having mistreated them but the standard of the manual they’re not really fit for purpose.

I had the bike in the car as we’re using it tonight. I was popping into the shop anyway so thought I’d ask them about it. I do regularly clean it off and the forks get a regular spray of Fork Juice.

What annoyed me was the immediate accusation of you’ve been neglecting it and wear and tear from the mechanic. Almost as if the bike wasn’t meant to be used..

In terms of wrong circumstances – lightly used and kept indoors? If I could be bothered I’m sure there’s a fit for purpose argument to be had if this is the case. Other bikes in the same shed are all fine – including my son’s bike with similar spec forks. If they’re not made from the wrong material, the quality of the material is pretty suspect. Chromed steel on my motorbike forks gets a much harder life and is still going strong.

I’d have been quite happy with forks cleaned off and handed back, actually. Comparison to a chain rusting (chain isn’t a chromed stanchion) and accusations of abusing the bike were patronising and crap.

As it is, I’ll just keep them clean and take my bike spend elsewhere.

I seem to remember a lot of their OE Domain forks were the same – so you’d see year old £2k bikes wearing rusty forks.

I have a set of Domains, they’re fine as I clean the bike then put a tiny coating of oil all over the stanchions. A mate never washed or put oil on his TK XC whatever’s and they were very ropey looking after not too long.

Chrome is about the only thing (OK you can Ti Nitride it too, not sure if that’s any different wrt corrosion) you can put on a steel tube to make it nice and slippy, but it isn’t a good barrier to corrosion.

Maybe get your daughter to ride harder, bottoming out will get a dab of oil spread out across the stanchions nicely too. I’m not suggesting that there’s no way you have a warranty claim, just it’s probably easier to just look after them.

get your daughter to ride harder

🙂 – might explain why the boy’s forks are surviving better!

had this with the OH’s Spec rockhopper.

Was mainly used for commuting 1 mile each way to Uni and kept in the house every night. After 6 months the rust spots appeared. Specialized store it was bought from were not bothered and just said to use some silicone lube on them, I would have said it was not good enough for a mountain bike but I assumed it was a case of lots of road spray being left on the bike each night that caused it but chrome plating should last a lot longer than that. I think it’s just a case of crappy thin chroming on low end forks they don’t care about.

After that i started making sure she gave them a bit of a lube and then she gave up cycling and it’s never been used since so has sat in the house and not got any worse. The rust spots are now just little black pin marks.

The only time my forks are ever that dirty and wet is straight after a ride – has that bike just been ridden, or is that how it normally looks?

does it go in the outbuilding with spots of water on them like in the pictures ?

or does it go away wiped and dry ?

Wet is from the rain as it’s pissing it down at the moment and I’d just put it back in my car. It’s not rubbed down and polished after every ride.. but it’s a mountain bike not an ornament.

I’ve exorcised by pissed-off-ness anyway.. thanks for the suggestions / stories of similar pain.

I still maintain it’s not great quality from Rockshox – and the reception in the shop means I’ll be buying random bike stuff elsewhere.

if you;’ve put it away slight wet, muddy, some grime then yeah they’ll go rusty, if you meticulously cleaned it after every ride then they shouldnt have rust,

that’ll probably buff straight out.

Indoors or stone outbuilding? Make your mind up.
One is centrally heated and dry. One is basically at outside temps and damp enough for condensation to form…….

Reba’s from 2008 unused in my garage and looks good as new but I did rubbed some light fork oil on the sanctions.

Don’t store bikes in cheap sheds where it gets damp.

Chrome stanchions at any price just aren’t fit for purpose IMO.

To the OP, looks like you’ve been lucky there and it’s not bubbled through the coating, it’ll polish off no bother!

Dry storage is the best prevention but obviously not always possible. A light coat of Calcium Stearate grease, K99 is cheap and similar (thicker) to internal fork greases before going in storage may help fend it off for a while.

I have some 209 Toras stored for years in damp stone sheds no rust,imo thats cheap substandard steel.

Reba’s from 2008 unused in my garage and looks good as new

Rebas have alu stanchions, just saying…

Hmmmm interesting ine that. I had a guy come in the other day with a bike he uses as a daily commuter, which has inevitably got cable rub on the front forks. My company have given him a set of brand new carbon forks for something that is a natural occurrence in bikes!

That was unreasonable.

So I’m guessing you know both the specification from rockshox and the material provided by the supplier? Or not.

Cheap it certainly is. The whole fork is built to a price. And the manufacturer was either expecting it to be used more (to keep the stanchion lubricated) or that someone who only rides 150 miles in 10 months really doesn’t give a crap about the condition of the bike.

Dickyboy – Member
Can’t imagine any unprotected chrome staying rust free after 11 months in a stone outbuilding I’m afraid

If it is a proper chroming job it should.

The chrome on the old British bikes used to be just about invulnerable. It took many years of neglect to get rust. Then came the cheap imports with just a flash of chrome on bare steel. They rusted like mad because chrome is porous and needs an underlying layer. It used to be copper, then nickel, and that stayed rust free.

So yes, it’s a crap chrome job, and not fit for the purpose it was intended IMO.

The purpose it was intended for was to look shiny in the shop……. pretty much.

which has inevitably got cable rub on the front forks

I’d always take issue with that, there is no reason a cable should rub on a fork if properly routed and setup, it’s not inevitable, I’m always a bit surprised when I see fork crowns (or worse, stanchions!) with severe cable rub, surely once you notice it’s started rubbing a little bit you do something about it, it’s not like it’s a hidden bit of frame tucked behind a linkage or something, it’s right there in plain view every time you look down!

There’s a few places on a frame where there’s always a risk, but most cable rub can be avoided with proper routing, and for the areas where rub will happen then pads/helitape will stop if if you’re bothered (I’m often lazy and not bothered), and if you buy pre-built bike form a shop then you’d hope the cables were routed properly.

I’ve had XC30’s on a 29er and they survived far more abuse than a bit of water and they never rusted, however I have a set of basic ‘silver’ Sektor’s on my wifes Cotic and I left water on them after a ride and they rusted just like that in one night.

Have managed to get it off with Autosol easy enough but the ‘Gold’ edition of the Sektors are much more durable.