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My forks are sad and poorly 🙁 The bike has been in the back of the van for days now in sub-zero temps. I went to ride tonight and they had collapsed. Shrunk. Like there was no air in them. So I pumped them up a bit and they sort of sluggishly worked for a while- but it was a ridiculously steep and sustained road climb so if they had dropped again I didn't notice. It was -2 degrees of coldness. Anyway, when we got to the singletrack down off the hill to get back home- I had no travel at all. Forks were somehow totally collapsed. All of us unable to budge them. Currently the bike is beside me in the warmth, with zero negative air and 100 psi of positive air. Forks are 2010 RS rev 426 (air). And now the travel is slowly returning as the bike drips condensation onto the carpet.
Is this a known problem?- I've ridden in much colder weather than this with these forks previously and not had this happen. Any suggested workable solutions?
I've got 426's that I've used in -20 with no problems, I suspect something fundamental ish wrong with yours?
Leaking pos air to neg? Damping fluid into lowers?
Are they under warranty (I dont know what country you're in?)
I'm in the UK. I now seem to have almost all the travel back in the few minutes that the bike has been indoors. It appears to me that it is definately a temperature related issue.
Water. It gets emulsified with the fork oil. It freezes.
That'd cause weirdness but would it cause them to pack down? Can't see it.
"2010 RS rev 426 (air"
IIRC doesn't exist? Must be either a 2009 (or 2006-8) 426 (or a 2010 SL,Race or Team), though spring assembly should be virtually the same on all of them?
definately 426 air. Maybe 2009 then.
Serviced fairly recently (3 months) I'll pop them open and look for water in them.