I carry out basic oil and seal changes on my forks (X-fusion and Rockshox). It’s amazing the difference new seals and oil makes so is worth doing regularly. If I was always paying £££ for a service I think it would mean servicing less frequently and so more rides with poorly performing forks and shocks. If something is clearly wrong with compression or rebound I’ll send to an expert.

I’ve always battled with getting new seals in but have recently discovered that a Bart Harissa paste jar is the perfect size to push in (by hand) 34mm X fusion fork seals 🙂

Not done it myself yet however i just got the debonair air spring upgrade for my lyriks today. Will be doing a service at the same time. Think ill watch a few youtube vids first before attempting

@samuelr

Can you do a link to the rockshox full service videos you speak of. I have tried searching only come up with a lower leg service video .

Mwleeds, try popping the seals in the freezer then they require a gentle push in.

https://epicbleedsolutions.com/blogs/guides/how-to-bleed-rockshox-charger-damper

This isn’t a video but a good guide with clear pictures.

Do NOT overtighten things, esp things like the tiny grub screws that hold rebound knobs etc in place. Other than that follow the advice above about cleanliness and not rushing. Use the right tools and personally I prefer to use the right lubes and fluids, it’s a tiny investment in the context of an £800 set of forks, and oil and grease doesn’t go off…

Tf for spares but rarely do you need any apart from new oil and a good clean.
No more than two hours. But yes 1st time you panic about oil levels etc but take your time and keep everything spotless and re-oil everything.
For Rockshox everything oil level wise is online.
I started on forks with motorbikes ad
AND in general all are the same unless USD (UP SIDE DOWN).

Thanks for sharing that. I’ve just ordered the tool for my Fox 32 Step cast forks.

Did you get the longer version?

I sure did.

It’s going to replace the longer driver in this picture:

Only a matter of time before I had a disaster with the above.

I have become a bit of a ninja in the 50 hour service on Rockshox as I have taken mine to bits about 6 times in the last few weeks.

I conducted a quick service and decided that I needed to change the foam wipers so trawled around the internet to find the right ones. This then instigated a frustrating search through Decathlon, ebay TF tuned etc to find the right size which it turns out are really difficult to identify and find. Every time I received a new set, took the forks to bits to compare they turned out to be the wrong size. I did have an in depth chat with a bloke at TFT and still ended up with the wrongs ones! I was assured that they could be ‘made to fit’ but clearly my level of mechanical competence was not up to the task!! I now have a bag of the 20 of the right yellow 4mm rings that will last me some time.

With the weekly trial and error I went through my bespoke RS oil pretty quickly – with a bit of incompetent spillage – so have bought some Castrol 15wt fork oil which was considerably cheaper and seems to be pretty good.

All in all it is a pretty simple and satisfying process which I would thoroughly recommend!

Dogsby

YMMV but I find making a fork manual for your fork is helpful. Just edit the RS PDF (for 15 models and variants) until it’s only got your specific fork in (or its a case of if you have this then do this else do somat else)
also worth sticking all the oil vols, your pressures and settings etc. together before starting.

Once I have stuff in my hands I find its easier than the video’s… you can always take lots of pics as well.

RSP grease is cheap by the 500g… (about £25 from memory) huge compared to the tiny RS grease. I use PM600 on static seals though… and slick on moving.

Replace foam rings instead of trying to clean them, they go all squidgy and a sod to get back in straight … and they cost pence by the 20 and you can pre-marinade in the lowers oil … crush washers also cheap in bulk.