[Closed] Fork servicing, do you, should you ? would you ?

I'm not conscientious with fork services, but would do the lowers now and again - twice a year maybe. It's dead easy - let's you take a close look at the seals, get them lubricated etc.
Would only do anything else if the fork felt wrong - an upper oil change again is easy on rockshox - it's only when you get to things like servicing damper cartridges that it gets a bit more involved.

Fox forks with no servicing in 3000 miles - I'd be surprised if there's not just a whiff of oil left in there doing a poor job lubricating stanchions that are rapidly turning into aluminium oxide paste.

Seriously - get them serviced.

Depends on the riding conditions. That mileage over 12 months pretty much trashed my Stanchions however, I do ride in very wet conditions.

Short answer is yes, get them serviced.

preventative ... worst killer is crap in the oil.
Done my floats and it was easy as :-
drop lowers off-clean/flush out-fill lowers with correct grade/amount of oil-refit lowers ....
Go to pub with £70 saved ... 😆

bugger - need to do the girlfriends fox forks after the puffer this weekend 🙁

rigid has its advantages 😉

All the damage gets done to the bits you can't see externally. You'll probably not have noticed a degradation in performance over time as well.

They are relatively easy to do an oil change service. There are detailed step-by-step instructions on the Fox website.

You should really perform a wiper seal clean pretty regularly on Fox forks - it clears the crap out from under the wiper seal. It takes no more than 10 mins to do once you've done it a couple of times.

cp - Member
All the damage gets done to the bits you can't see externally. You'll probably not have noticed a degradation in performance over time as well.

They are relatively easy to do an oil change service. There are detailed step-by-step instructions on the Fox website.

You should really perform a wiper seal clean pretty regularly on Fox forks - it clears the crap out from under the wiper seal. It takes no more than 10 mins to do once you've done it a couple of times.

I was planning on getting my LBS to do it.

At least learn how to do the wiper seal clean. Well worth it in the long run.

If you can do that then I'd say oil and seal change service once a year.

Just sent my talas rp24 forks to mojo for a service.. got a call this morning telling me that i need new stanchions all seals and theres a problem with the talas adjustment.. all in- £400!! 😥 I'd get them serviced or the bill may be higher than just a service bill..

Like most things mountain-bikey I find new forks have just enough functionality to get them out of the door so in that respect the first service is usually quite rewarding.

Subsequent services? Meh...over two years now with some Revs and they still feel very good.

I've just home serviced mt RC41's and seemingly knackered them up, They wouldn't lock out someone said they need more oil, put more oil in and think i've put too much oil in them. Will start all over agin and see how that goes.

With RockShox I think it's economically viable to run them into the ground with zero servicing and then just buy new ones from Merlin/CRC where you're seemingly guaranteed at getting a brand new pair less than it would cost to have them serviced by the likes of TFT Mojo etc

Booked in with TFTuned for next Weds. Thanks lads.

18 months regular riding with no attention? they'll be running on homoeopathic lubrication by now - forks with merely the faintest memory of oils...

i'm kinda curious as to what TFT will say lol.

Full service every 12 to 18 months as rule of thumb depending on use.

Fox say lower service every 20 hours, and Full service every 200 hrs.

My forks get a lower service every month or so depending on use, with lower oil changed every 2 months, seals every 6 months. But they usually come apart between that for a tweak, too.

A little more time servicing or getting them serviced (regardless of brand) will save cash and make them feel better in the long term 😀

weeksy - Member
Booked in with TFTuned for next Weds. Thanks lads.

POSTED 53 MINUTES AGO #

Is it wrong that my 2002 Bombers have never been serviced? Many many 000's of of-road miles covered.

Granted they feel like poop now, but the main reason for that is the valve on the left hand side is stuck - and so isn't holding any air.

Perfect enough for the commuter anyway 🙂

Old marz and made like tractor parts, sealed very well and heavy duty 😉
The main thing is the oil, 'goes off' with use, so the performance gets worse as the oil doesn't work so well, damping and lubrication wise in addition the the contamination from any dirt that gets in.

But hang on, I thought Fox forks exploded after 5 miles unless you stopped to service them every 2 miles? Or is that just internet 'fact' with no basis in reality. 😉

you might wanna hang fire on that comment grum, at least till someone has taken them apart and seen what is required.

Well they ride perfectly well, go up down, slower faster, softer and harder, the lockout works etc.

... Working better than my 5 month old Lyrik RLR's then! Poploc doesn't spring back and they don't seem to lockout.. Gone exactly the same way as my mates Lyriks. 😥

Keep us posted on what the outcome is Weeksy. 😉

having just posted off a set of rockshox rebas this morning for some possible warrenty work after only 4 months of use on the other bike I'm a bit dissapointed with rockshox..

... Working better than my 5 month old Lyrik RLR's then! Poploc doesn't spring back and they don't seem to lockout.. Gone exactly the same way as my mates Lyriks.

having just posted off a set of rockshox rebas this morning for some possible warrenty work after only 4 months of use on the other bike I'm a bit dissapointed with rockshox..

My Rockshox stanchions wore down horribly and they started leaking oil within a year of riding, as did a mate's. Therefore by the standard of INTERNET FACTS as applied to Fox forks, Rockshox are not fit for purpose and IT"S A DISGRACE!!! etc.

i've had to postpone this for a month due to Mrs Weeksy needing some extra cash and don't want to be left short. So i've had to allocate funds to that instead.

weeksy - Member

i've had to postpone this for a month due to Mrs Weeksy needing some extra cash and don't want to be left short. So i've had to allocate funds to that instead.

Weeksy, what are you doing on here? Stick to the KTM forums mate. 😀

Seriously, didn’t know you where into pushers as well... I use Mojo for suspension work that I can’t do myself. Good service and normally quick turn around time.

www.boysiescyclerepairs.co.uk

Boysie, we do work for 'the trade' too 😉

I've just home serviced mt RC41's and seemingly knackered them up, They wouldn't lock out someone said they need more oil, put more oil in and think i've put too much oil in them. Will start all over agin and see how that goes

It's a while since I had a set, but I vaguely recall the lockout dying on mine, and fixing it by leaving the bike upside down overnight. My memory might be playing tricks on me though...

Servicing forks once they feel wrong is like going to the toilet because you've got wet feet.

YES, if you're fists aren't made of ham and you can pick up a spanner, you can do it yourself.
Expect an hour for the first seal/oil swap you do.
Fox kindly give step by step pictorial instructions on their tech site.

[url= http://service.foxracingshox.com/consumers/Content/Service/Forks/F-Series/F29erRLC_RL.htm ]here[/url]

Soak new foam wipers in 50:50 mix of float/10wt over night and give the stantions a good clean and wipe over with float fluid before assembly also and you'll be set.

Servicing forks once they feel wrong is like going to the toilet because you've got wet feet.

😆

I may have to steal that one, you'll also get wet feet if you service your forks wrong

[b][u]LoCo:[/b][/u] The main thing is the oil, 'goes off' with use, so the performance gets worse as the oil doesn't work so well, damping and lubrication wise in addition the the contamination from any dirt that gets in

Excuse this dumb question, but is the oil that you put into the lower legs also used for damping? I assumed that there would be some other oil up in the damping using (e.g. right hand uppers) and the stuff in the bottom (where all the crap goes) is just there for lubrication.

I've just brought a service kit and sime fork oil, and i'l going to take apart the 100mm foxes from my race HT. Which i haven't so much as looked at since i got it, 5 years ago..... I think they are gonna be fine, because being my XC bike i usually run the forks so hard they don't actually move at all 😉

Roverpig, some forks do if they have an open bath damper cartridge.

Rockshox are a closed damper system (separate oil) but dirt can still get onto the rebound and air shafts and get pulled up onto the lower side of the damper and air cartridges seals, which is the most usual cause of failure of the damper or air carts.

I haven't had my forks serviced in about 2 years (in fact that wasn't a full service either - I blew the seals in Morzine...) 😳

When I am actually looking after my kit, I have used this guy http://www.reboundsuspension.co.uk/ and have been really pleased with the service / price / speed 🙂

My 2012 f29s were serviced at 16 months old and 2500 miles. Sent them to TFT and the out come was that they were ....... absolutely fine. Just needed the seals and oil changed.

Thanks Loco. So that's what they mean when they say that mt Fox F125RL forks are open bath, but my Revs aren't. I can see why I need to be more diligent with the oil changes on the Fox now.

Cheers,

Andy

... Working better than my 5 month old Lyrik RLR's then! Poploc doesn't spring back and they don't seem to lockout.. Gone exactly the same way as my mates Lyriks.

My rockshox on my hard tail did that after 3 month. Supply LBS said it was common and something inside, I sprayed with wd40 and it has been fine ever since. The lockou performance has always been questionable.

Whether or not you believe in preventative maintenance and longevity is moot.

The point is that after a 10 minute lowers service on my revelations, they feel AMAZING - totally worth 10 mins of anyone's time.

Roverpig, from memory the manufacturers service guide line times are about the same, just one maybe more resistant to lack of maintenance than the other.

That makes sense I suppose. The amount of crap getting into the lowers will be the same, but presumably it has less effect on dampin and causes less damage in a closed damper system.

What surprises me is how little oil is in there. If I've read the manual properly I'm only supposed to put around 10ml in each lower leg of m Revelation. RLT forks. That's just two teaspoons full !

The 2013 oil charts states 5ml per leg, but you'll get another 5ml ish in each foam ring and a touch more will fit, one of reasons we do our own mix of lower lube.

Tried lifting the seals once but after a long fruitless struggle I just scratched a stanchion and gave up.

Never worked out how to release the lowers by whacking the unscrewed foot nuts; tried copying Mojo's videos but it just didn't work.

Shop does it, though infrequently as I forget to ask them to do it most of the time.