TFT have “Heavy-Duty” or “Low-Friction”

http://www.tftunedshox.com/info/mount_kits_bushings.aspx

I’ve used the Heavy Duty in the past and they were reliable and long lasting.

Anyone used the “Low-Friction” and care to comment?

Anything else out there to consider?

yes the ones that come on the Fox CTD are different again….

IMO, best thing are the steel HD tube/ pin with a polymer eyelet bushing.

THe new low friction ones Fox and TF (race bros i think) might be a touch lighter but don’t think they last as long, also you can’t get just the eyelet bush (from fox at least not sure on TF ones) so it’s afull new kit everytime they wear, which is a bit wasteful to my mind.

From what I’ve seen the Racing Bros ones and Fox ones are the same but with different coloured eyelet bushes (blue or cream)

LoCo – is the fox LF stuff the ones I linked to above?

you may want to look in to these needle bearing kits.

http://www.enduroforkseals.com/id374.html

however there is no mention of Nicoli in the bike fit section.

My thoughts are the Rubber Seals on the Heavy-Duty ones stop crap getting in and causing wear which is why I found them to last so long.

I’m thinking the Heavy-Duty are the ones to go for again.

Mike, yes.

Bearings, not a fan tbh.

Messiah, maybe yes on dirt ingress, but you need a gap from wear in the first place for the dirt to get into 😉

Though so, was about to whip the mounting kit out before it went back for warranty but then realised it was different and my old bushin tool looked like it wouldn’t play ball. Still lasted longer then any kit did in my 04 enduro!!

I see BETD do a roller bearing as well.

http://www.mountainbikecomponents.co.uk/items.asp?CategoryID=231&Name=Fox+Needle+Roller+Bearing

Not sure I fancy a roller bearing in that application.

You might feel the reduced friction with the bike in the workstand, but I reckon 13 stone of human and rough trails will make it all move nicely anyway.

The new fox low friction ones are a complete rip off. With the steel ones you just change the eyelet at a cost of 50p but with the new ones you have to change the whole lot for £15-20 an end!!

I was taught a roller bearing shouldn’t be used for applications where the rotation angle is below 180, or maybe it was 90 I can’t remember. A shock bush rotates through a very small angle anyway so I’m sure a roller bearing is only going to cause pitting anyway.

Got the TF one, I haven’t put enough miles on it to comment really, easier to fit though and has little blue bits so that’s good. Feels lower friction just moving it by hand but I’m not convinced that really matters.

Jtech do something similiar-but-different with an igus bushing, put one of those in another bike and again, no obvious difference but the shock hardware is black so that’s a massive performance boost.

I was taught a roller bearing shouldn’t be used for applications where the rotation angle is below 180, or maybe it was 90 I can’t remember

Why are they almost always used for frame pivots then?

I thought most frames used deep groove ball bearings rather than roller bearings.

i’ve used those roller bearing ones from enduro and believe me they make a massive MASSIVE difference to the suspension and last for ages (super easy to open and keep freshly greased) can’t recommend them enough. never worn one out and used them for the last 2+ years

I’ve got the bits but not fitted them. I’m planning on a RWC roller on top as it does about 90 degrees and the fox 5 piece on the bottom which hardly rotates at all. That, plus some push bushes for the Turner frame.