Hello world

I have a set of pikes (which replaced some much loved revelations after the anodizing on the lower part of stantions wore away after about two years use). I sent them (the Revs) via my LBS for a service and I was told that they were way too worn to bother with and new stantions would cost a load. I dont want this to happen to my Pikes, so how do you go about taking special care of them, I wipe stantions down and blast with GT after ‘most rides’ but this wasnt enough for me revs, what else do people do….. can you lift the seals and clean under them?

Cheers folks

oh and how often do people send them away for servicing?

Do a lowers service every 30hrs riding as the manual states. It’s easy and can be done with the forks installed. The lowers only have 15ml of oil in them, so a couple years use without a service will mean they ran dry and running without lubricant and probably just mud.

Isn’t GT85 much like WD40? i.e a degreasing and penetrating agent?

If so, i’d suggest that if you getting GT85 (certainly WD40) ingress into your bushings.. you won’t have much in the way of fork oil between the bushings and stantions = wear.

WD40 and moving parts that rely on lubrication dont mix.

As above, don’t use GT85.

Buy some TFTuned lowers mix, and follow the guide here

It’s not really necessary to lube the stanchions at all but I do (with finish line stanchion lube but you could use suspension oil).

I use silicon spray to clean the stanchions. I can’t see using GT85 causing problems. The issue is not replacing the oil in the fork.

Whoa cheers folks, sounds like I have been doing it all wrong, will revert to manual (cheers sola mander), I just guestimated I did aboout 350 hrs riding on the revs with out adding oil, that would explain things going wrong. Oredr to TFTuned being placed now and proper service happening ASAP, stand by for advice.

Thanks again.

I lube the stanchions on my mx comps with finish line winter chain lube.

Service every 30hrs! Flippin eck I can do that in 3 weeks in the summer. I’d be forever stripping my forks. My MX comps have had one service, last year when they reached 4 years old.

I use Marzocchi’s, once in a while I’ll oil up the stanchions bounce them up and down, wipe of gak, then repeat until clean.

My MX comps have had one service, last year when they reached 4 years old.

Yeah but MX comps are open bath and have loads of oil sloshing about in them to keep everything juicy

There is a lowers service kit, grease, oil and seringe which i have will order from TFT tomorrow, cant believe I ran my revs into the ground like that, oh well live and learn. Thanks again all!

30 hours? I’ve done trips of about that length.

The bodge solution for servicing is to add some fork oil into the lowers without dismantling (lowers bolts off and pour a few mm inside). I tend to do this every 10 rides and a service every 20 or so.

The manual says 30 hours but I read that as intensive use hours, ie: downhill. I can’t see riding along smooth terrain or uphill uses up much/any of the oil in the lowers.

Top tip from TIMMY is to hang your bike so the front axle is above the seals. Or just leave your bike upside down for a bit every now and then.

Best tip i had was soak a rag in lubricant then put it round your stantions overnight every once in a while – esp fox for some reason. Next ride == buttery smooth.

I use this stuff after each ride…

Stendec Easy Glide Fork Grease

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?PartnerID=79&ModelID=3150

They go to my LBS for a service once a year.

I dont risk using any oil/lube/grease other than the branded receommended stuff. Same applies to car oil, only use exactly what’s recommended, why guess what’s best/better? Some recent posts on here gave the impression that Fox forks are too high maintenance and the rest are low maintenance in comparison but this post blows that theory out the window a bit.

I dont risk using any oil/lube/grease other than the branded receommended stuff. Same applies to car oil, only use exactly what’s recommended, why guess what’s best/better? Some recent posts on here gave the impression that Fox forks are too high maintenance and the rest are low maintenance in comparison but this post blows that theory out the window a bit.

Rock Shox have the advantage of having a proper separate oil and dust seals, there are 4 seal ‘edges’ between the inside and the outside. Fox combine this into one seal, with only two wiper edges. Rock Shox will go alot longer than fox without running dry but both types of fork run a semi-bath with just 10-20ml of oil in the lowers compared to Marzocchi with 150-220ml. Hence both fox and rs will always require more maintenance than Marzocchi and also explains part of the weight differences.

This is why I swapped back to some old Marzocchis over fox and rock shox. The performance might not be quite as good, and they are slightly heavier, but they are more reliable and dont need servicing every month

RS and Fox should have those maintenance ports like Totems.

To be honest I like fiddling with my bike anyway and tell the truth I have a Rohloff/Marzocchi bike that needs virtually no maintenance and it’s just a bit dull, so I ride a ‘normal’ bike too.

I dont risk using any oil/lube/grease other than the branded receommended stuff. Same applies to car oil, only use exactly what’s recommended, why guess what’s best/better?

my dad used to make jet engines for Rolls Royce and he’s been teaching motor vehicle engineering for the last 20 years and he says any engine oil will do for a car. a lot of bike-specific lubes aren’t as special as the price would suggest. as long as you’ve got some knowledge (like knowing that WD40 dissolves grease, not to use metal based grease on rubber seals and that the correct weight motorbike fork oils like silkolene can be used in mountain bike forks) then theres no need to buy exactly what the bike companies reccomend. still if you’re unsure it’s always best to pay a bit more for the reccomended.

or just ask PeterPoddy 🙂

what bomberman says

*pours 20W-50 in 2008 BMW M3

Me: ‘Hello BMW dealership, my car is making a strange sound’
Dealer: ‘has it got any oil in it?’
Me: ‘Yeah, I slung some Wilko 30W-50 in it’
Dealer: ‘Okaaaay…*click… naaaaaaaaaa’

What bomberman says, the only thing you need to worry about is fork oil not having seal swellers (unlikely unless you’re buying old stock). The grade/weight of suspension oil does seem to vary alittle between manufactures, including the ‘offical’ stuff so it’s not that important. Most people won’t notice 1/2wt irregularity in a fork as the oil they’re replacing is probably ruined anyway.

agree with bomberman up to a point. My car engine apparantly needs 0w-30 synthetic oil, I’ve had others tell me that 5w-30 is fine but who should I believe, them or the manufacturer? Ow-30 is thinner so apaprantly better for cold starts, so its safe to assume a thicker oil wont be as effective. So I basically go with the manufacturers recommendation. Not saying the other opinion is wrong but there you go.

Ow-30 is thinner so apaprantly better for cold starts, so its safe to assume a thicker oil wont be as effective.

i would have thought so too. It’s not going to make much difference but it’s one of those issues where a company might turn around and tell you that the warranty is void because you used the wrong kind of oil… I’ve only ever had second hand forks but if i’d paid a lot of money and had them from new then i’d be more worried about using the manufacturer’s stuff. the new thing with fox forks about lifting the seals and re-lubing seems stupid to me i tried it on my old 2004 talas which i’ve never had serviced and i almost scratched the stanchions to buggery. when i finally got the seals out the crush washers were CLEAN AS A WHISTLE. They should make a specific tool if they expect you to do that. but there’s a huge thread on here somewhere about that…