damaged forks, could they be saved?

After leaving my bike at my parents place whilst we moved, I discovered the damage that occurred to my rs pikes during storage 🙁 . I think something metalic has been left against the stanchion and had a chemical reaction causing the damage. I’ve had a couple of quotes to fix these and there’s no way I can currently afford to do it.
So, would you risk a diy repair using epoxy resin, the pitting is fairly deep and I’m concerned re structural integrity (just answered my own question really).
Possibly source some parts on ebay or just bin them and buy something else.
I’d really like to try and save these forks as they’ve only had a few weekends use from new.
What does the collective say?

Ooooo that pitting looks really deep doesn’t it? I’d be concerned what’s actually caused it and personally don’t think I’d trust the structural integrity of the rest of the metal underneath it. But I’m no metallurgist just a fat biffer who would probably snap them first tide out!

Hard to tell, but that looks quite deep, dont think id trust them to be structurally sound

On the leg just above the p on that sticker what’s that good sized chunk that’s been taken out of the leg. Was that there before??

That looks like something has been dropped on it. It be interested to know what metal combo caused that reaction…

^^^^^ THAT 😯 They are gone, no amount of ‘filling’ is going to sort those. New CSU or new fork time, sadly for you. What do your parents keep at their place? 😐

Ok, ok, the stachions are borked but would it be possible to source replacements 2nd hand? Do rockshox share parts across the range or will I be looking for just RS Pike 454 parts?

I can’t really be sure what the forks could have come into contact with. The bike was stored under some dust sheets in a dry brick built shed. There were a few gardening tools and pots etc about but on the other side of shed and all the nasty weed killers, fuel, oil etc is kept elsewhere.
Gutted doesn’t cover it at the moment 🙁

That looks like it happened on the way to storage or on the way back i.e. during transport. There are filings all over the fork which imply its caused by abrasion. The damage looks very similar to the seatpost on my road bike when I left it in the back of my work van and it fell over and vibrated against some metal shelving whilst I drove.

Ok, ok, the stachions are borked but would it be possible to source replacements 2nd hand?

Depends – you’d need to find the same fork , with good condition CSU (crown/steerer/ upper) with the right length steerer, etc etc etc

Do rockshox share parts across the range or will I be looking for just RS Pike 454 parts?

Spares for those are still available from RS (CSUs for 2010 U-Turn/ Dual Air Pikes), they cost around £263 + the price of fitting of course, which may or may not, depending on your circumstances be a viable option.

Probably new fork time all considered. 🙁

spooky – no, it was def corrosion of some kind, the sort of residue you find on battery terminals.

New uppers mate. Prolly any u-turn uppers will do fine [please check with someone else], 427’s were the cheap model available with 145-90mm u-turn I think – maybe try to find some secondhand with lowers knackered. 427’s had a steel steerer, it’s a little heavier.

Also – try finding/asking LoCo[/url] if he can help – he’s a nice chap.

Good luck.

It’s galvanic corrosion.

Looks like classic “electrolytic corrosion” I’d suggest that something iron or steel, and slightly damp was left against the forks. Unfortunately, your bike, having rubber tyres was insulated from the ground, and the dissimilar metals effectively created a battery, with the voltage driving a rapid ion flow from the more reactive metal (the ally forks)

Ouch! I feel for you as that is an expensive accident. I wouldn’t ride on those, not worth the risk.

£300 can get you the new Pikes (RC version, oem) from France. Worth considering vs repair costs or replacement CSU. Won’t be dual air (who needs it), or dual position / u-turn. Then again you can probably get other forks with that kind of stuff if you really want it for similar prices, especially older forks or second hand.

Worth checking your home contents coverage and seeing if you can claim for accidental damage?

ma a well just sell the lowers and damper/spring etc separately for spares.
In all honesty I’d probably fill them and see how they went. But keep an eye on the damage and probably grit blast/smooth the corrosion site first.

Find the RS parts list for your Pikes, then cross reference the part number for other forks that use it (sorry but I can’t find the linky).

Then keep an eye out on ebay etc for any of those forks being sold for spares and repairs and follow the RS instructions and do the work yourself.

I did similar to replace the shonky innards in some oem forks and the price of bust forks is pitifully low 🙂

Those are bollocksed. You might be able to get away with light use, but they’re Pikes, if you’re using them for light use you need to rethink the entire equation 😉

Rebuilding them with new parts is unlikely to make any sense but you could maybe find a set with different faults and combine- I did this with a set of Revs a while back, I needed the dampers so found a set with borked uppers.

Classic case of stanchion-worm. Either that, or drops of molecular acid from the film ‘Alien’ 😉

Seriously though, you have answered your own question – you are worried about structural integrity, and therefore sensible ! Smoothing with epoxy is only something to protect the wiper seal – you’ve got a much bigger issue than that. You’ll not enjoy your rides if you’re worrying about your forks constantly.

As others have said, sell the lowers and possibly the damper and spring. And after buying a good, similar pair of forks 2nd hand, you might only end up £150 out of pocket overall.

300? 399 before euro conversion costs etc on all tricks. Order something first though and 10% off that next (pike) order though whichll help the OP? Or order Rev rct3 etc?

Retire those forks. Sell them as spares on ebay. Someone will need a set of lowers etc.

Euro has gone up since I got mine, but looks like £350 delivered (€430 before shipping) will get you the 26″ 150 RC solo Pike.