Hi,
My RCT3’s are due a service but I’m reluctant to shell out £100 to get it done this side of Xmas. Is it a relatively easy task??

Cheers, Paul

I do my own rockshox Revs and its easy enough, follow the instructions and have the the tools and oils to hand.

I service my Fox forks. Quite straightforward, just down load the instructions and take your time….

Never used to but did some old Pikes before I sold them. It was staggeringly easy. Usual allen keys, a 24mm socket, circlip pliers & a very small pointed thing for prising up O-rings. Syringe helps for putting oil into the lowers.

No point owning Fox forks unless you can service them yourself.

basic stuff on most RS and Fox are a doddle, Sram have official how-to vids on youtube, loads of other guides out there. If youre only doing a lowers clean and re-lube its a 10 minute job.

As above. The revelation basic service only requires an allen key and a mallet / hammer + some 15wt oil, all the instructions are on the SRAM website. The circlip pliers / o-rings thing is only for the more advanced service which you don’t really need to do regularly (at most yearly, although I personally never bother to do this routinely).

I do the 10 minute service every couple of months on my RCT3 revelations. RockShox recommend you do this every 40 hours of riding which soon stacks up if you’re out regularly (IIRC Fox’s interval is even less). Sending them away once a year isn’t really enough for this and stantions can get worn as a result. Fortunately it’s laughably easy, everyone should be able to do it.

Yep, service my pace rc38 regularly and still going well. Even change the seals myself. As the advice before, I agree. Download some instructions, take your time, clean everything and have some quality fork grease and/or oil.

Jez http://www.followingthechainline.blogspot.com

Yep service my Fox, Rock Shox and Magura forks. Just make sure you have the correct tools, parts and instructions. Go steady and you’ll be fine

Ok thanks everyone, I’ll get the bits and have a go during the week!!

I did my first set of Fox Floats recently. I’m only mildly competent when it comes to this sort of stuff and it wasn’t too difficult. Took a lot longer than 10 mins (more like a couple of hours beginning to end!), but now I’ve done it once, I’m sure when I come around to doing the second set I’ll be much quicker. It is easy(ish), don’t be afraid to give it a try and save yourself a few quid.

Started working on mine after being quoted £400 for a new steerer, crown and stanchions after sending away for a service because they had gone a bit stiff.

So I thought I had nothing to loose, cost me £16 oils and bits, took it easy and found out a bit more how forks are put together and function, oh and they work perfectly again.
Quite happy stripping and changing oils in the lowers now.

Not sure what forks they were. New upper assembly is ‘only’ ~ £200 from SRAM.

As well as oil’s etc mentioned above it’s worth getting some crush washers for the bottom of the fork legs – I find they need replacing every 3-4 times I do the lowers on my Reba’s – could be my rubbish maintenance skills though!

Always have done, and lots of other peoples forks as well. Fox and Rockshox have good online guides, Marzocchi can be a bit trickier to find instructions for but it can be done.

My understanding is that most importers for Marzocchi object to this lack of public info and will try and help out if you get stuck.

What folk have said about reading up before hand (web), getting all the right bits (oil, foam washers etc) and taking your time. Two things I found useful:

For Fox forks you need (well it will make it much easier) a filed flat socket for the top nut – normal sockets are rounded and slip, I bought one (27mm I think) from TFT for a tenna or thereabouts.

Remember to let the air pressure out, assuming you have air forks. Otherwise when you release the bolt, the uppers will explode up into your garage ceiling.

Have fun and think of the money you’ll save 🙂

Superficial – Member

Not sure what forks they were. New upper assembly is ‘only’ ~ £200 from SRAM.

A pair of 11 month old Totem Solo Air which I had paid about £450 for and at the time I could get a new pair from Merlin for £520.
What was more annoying was despite sending away with bags of time (4 weeks +) and constant chasing, Fisher only let the LBS know a few days before an Alps trip, thanks Fisher expensive, wrong diagnosis and poor service, although I suspect the LBS probably contributed to the time issue.

Luckily I had some Fox 160 Vans to fit …….. which I just about got away with but 180 mm of travel would have helped with wear and tear on the hands and arms.

I do routine lowers services but I don’t generally do dampers or repairs, they’re just that bit more involved.

Rockshox fork lowers (in fact most lowers) are dead easy to do. If you can wipe your arse, undo a bolt, and pour a drink you can service a Rockshox.

Oil and seal changes no problem, would never dare do a DIY job on the Fox sealed damper though.

Only a few people have stated what type of service they do, I would hazard a guess most only do the lowers which is what I do. Does a full service make that much difference if they appear to be working correctly?

I serviced my RS coil forks. I did the lowers, put fresh oil in the damper and greased various bits. I didn’t see the point in the renewing seals as they weren’t leaking.

Rockshox fork lowers (in fact most lowers) are dead easy to do. If you can wipe your arse, undo a bolt, and pour a drink you can service a Rockshox.

Haha yep indeed.

BTW why should you use a socket for the top caps, what’s wrong with an adjustable spanner?

Always do a full service once a year, makes a difference IMHO

Service, yes. Repair or tune, no.

Changing oil and replacing seals is pretty easy. If I dont do enough of the first it leads to the 2nd beig required so it helps if you have someone close by so you can drop them off and collect. I use Stendec on the way to/from my work.

Done full service on RS and Magura and lowers on Fox. All v simple, although I couldn’t get a socket that would fit my Wotans. Grrrr! Also did an old pair of Marz AM SLs which were much more complicated with a weird air bladder thingummy and no instructions. Still went back together and worked OK though. IMO the really important thing is to keep the oil topped up in the lowers, otherwise it gets expensive.

would agree that servicing Rockshox (lowers and damper) is relatively easy. Also done Fox lowers, however never seviced the sealed RC2 damper on the Fox, wouldn’t mind having a go. anyone just replaced the oil in a fox sealed damper?

How important is the oil weight? I want to do a lower leg service on my dual air Revs, bike radar article recommends 15wt but I have some unused Castrol 10wt, would this be acceptable?

muckytee – Member

BTW why should you use a socket for the top caps, what’s wrong with an adjustable spanner?

More likely to mar or damage the top cap with an aj…

If you only have one bike and your forks only need attention once a year then simply send them to LoCo and be done with it.

However, if -like me- you’re sat on three sets of Pikes, one set of Revelations and a pair of Wotans to look after then it’s well worth investing in snap-ring pliers, syringes, fork oil and surgical spirit before having a crack yourselves.

Have this evening rebuilt the Air spring of my Revelations, completed in an hour.

I’ve changed bushes on Marzocchis and changed internals on Rock Shox, pretty straightforward. Yet to do my Foxes but I don’t see it being any more complex, assuming you have the instructions and the right tools.

Cheers, Rich

I’ve always serviced my own forks right from the first set of Manitou 4’s in 1995! That includes doing everything on forks (and rear shocks too), and increasingly servicing mate’s forks/shocks too. The most ‘enjoyable’ to work on are DT Swiss and Fox FIT forx – I don’t like working on RS forks!

Just download the instructions and go slow/steady when doing the work.

Don’t suppose any one has done a BOS lower lube?

Cannot find any online instructions

I serviced forks in my own if there is not any big problem.

Service my coil and air rockshocks now after making sure I did some research, had all the right tools, oils, parts and manuals. A few issues along the way detailed within these pages, but with practice its not difficult and seem to have the hang of things now.