A friend of mine has 170mm MRP ribbons on his identiti mettle and is having a few baffling issues with them…they inexplicably losing air

He’s had these forks for a couple of years now, regular servicing, maintenance, cleaning, set up and checks
So well looked after to put it mildly

The last couple of months or so he’s noticing that Theo air on the chambers is disappearing, from what I gather it’s not nearly as bad when riding than it is when the bike is stored away. Generally, when riding he might lose a few psi here and there but if left in the bike shed for a day or two, when he comes back to them, completely flat!

Since these issues have started he’s had them checked over, serviced, had lengthy chats with the guys at MRP and a solution to the issue still escapes everyone

The forks are squeaky clean inside and out and all bits have been deemed to be in a great condition

So, singletrack hive mind, I call upon ye for any experience with said issue, anyone had this with these forks before?

Anything anyone can throw into the pot of suggestion would be massively appreciated

donslow

a solution to the issue still escapes everyone

Replacing his forks with a new set would be my solution, have MRP considered that?

I can’t imagine they have given that the forks are (probably) out of warrantee and it’s only a recently present issue I’m not sure if they could / would

He doesn’t currently have best part of a grand to drop on new forks unfortunately

Assuming the Schrader cable core and top cap are tight I’d be checking that the ramp control plunger hasn’t become dislodged so it’s sitting slightly cockeyed and that the seal is well greased.
Next thing I’d be looking at is replacing the internal spring seals; I’m guessing that if these have been done then it doesn’t correlate with when the issue started?

If I had a leaky tube and couldn’t find the hole I’d put it in a bucket of water and look for airbubbles

Yep, dunk them in the bath is the obvious next step.

Or spray soapy water on all the possible leaky areas if you don’t fancy giving them a bath

Thanks for the replies so far all, I’m not sure he’s on this forum but I’ll throw him a link to this thread so he can have a look and answer any questions / check suggestions

In case it’s not clear – remove the lowers before dunking only the air spring side of the fork