Hoping someone might be able to help….my forks seem to have gone slow.

They’re a 2015 set of Fox 36s that I got on a new bike in the late summer. After a few rides bedding in, they felt amazing on holiday in Andorra in September.

However over the last month they’ve been feeling bad, the worst being last night where they felt incredibly slow and wooden. By that I mean a lot of resistance on compression (even though I don’t have a lot of compression on) and also slow to rebound, even though again I don’t have a lot of rebound damping on.

Is it my imagination or have they affected negatively by the cold weather? Has anyone else experienced similar problems?

My 2013 kashima RLC used to feel less responsive in the cold, 2010 RC2s were usually fine, don’t know why sorry

Time for a service before you go any further. I’d highly recommend getting them sent into mojo. You’ve got a years worth of riding so they’ll be overdue.

Especially due a service since they haven’t been serviced from new. I’ve found new forks can sometimes be a bit minimal with oils and fluids inside.

Thanks for the replies,

I really wouldn’t have thought they’d need a service given they’re new….but I guess I could stretch to that if needs must.

Has anyone else had a wooden feeling from the new 36s? Or has anyone changed anything (i.e. type/weight of oil) from standard?

Keep it standard on the 36 unless you want a custom tune. Fox forks are a bit sensitive to oil quality, so at least do a lower service. The stated interval is 125h for a full service, but in a very wet UK or when you’re pushing hard on long repetitive descents (I.e Alps uplift holidays) will reduce the service interval. My bet is on oil quality in combination with the forks now being fully bedded in (first service has all the running in crap in the oil and seals).

2015 forks needing a service already. Unless OP has been putting serious hours in that is an absolute joke.

Bramble – just to clarify, I got the forks in August 2015 so not even 6 months of riding

How many hours riding though? Fox say 125 hours between services, more frequent if it’s wet, muddy etc. Good time to learn how to service forks (or cough up for service cost!)

Yep in 6 months I know people who do more riding than some in 6 years, also 6 months in shit conditions can be even worse (hence time and distance are crap measures of mtb use) . A lower service is a simple home job and worth learning how to do.

Has anyone else had a wooden feeling from the new 36s? Or has anyone changed anything (i.e. type/weight of oil) from standard?

Yep, wooden/harsh on mine (inbetween going backwards & forwards to Mojo being constantly fixed).

My solution was to sell them for something that worked properly.

I would estimate about 60 hours riding, so way below the 125.

Hob Nob – yes the thought occurred to me….if the Deville FCV was out yet I might be tempted.

Send em back under warranty then

let us know how you get on… my friend has a set which feel the same

Just a quick update. I sent these off to mojo…excellent service, they looked at them under warranty even though I bought the bike in Germany. They stripped them down & basically said there was nothing wrong with them. They did however say that it could be possible with a lot of intense riding eg uplifts for them to go this way. Also the wiper seals were fairly dry apparently.

Having got them back they feel great again. Bit worrying really, given the low amount of use – I don’t want it just to randomly happen again.

Ha, dare I say, get used to it.

Mine felt nice for probably 7-10 rides (which at the time was a week/10 days riding for me), then rapidly fell off a cliff.

Some didn’t have quite enough oil in the lowers we’ve found.
Mine did the same, did a lower service, checked the damper & no fault found.
Re assembled & felt amazing again (takes about 20mins)

For perspective, I Think that the Pike has a 30(ish) hour service interval..

Pikes are 50 hours for a lowers service, 100 for the full damper.

Fox say to check the seals + foam rings every 25 hours, and a lowers service every 200 hours / annually.

Personally I’d be worried if my forks went from great to terrible that fast, but at least a lowers service isn’t too difficult.

Fox say to check the seals + foam rings every 25 hours, and a lowers service every 200 hours / annually.

Nope, every 125 a for a full service: http://www.ridefox.com/help.php?m=bike&id=553#serviceintervals

Very strange that they no longer seem to measure lower leg services on the 2016 forks

I reckon I get about 30-40 hours between lower services on my Rockshox, I aim for 25 or so.

They are noticeably smoother after a service.

Marzzochi forks on the other hand have been serviced 4 times in 15 years and are still nice and smooth (although the anodising is starting to wear thin, but not through, in places). They stay smooth between services.

I do drip a bit of oil on the seals and bounce them up and down to keep them well lubed and as free of muck as possible.

Marzzochi forks on the other hand have been serviced 4 times in 15 years and are still nice and smooth (although the anodising is starting to wear thin, but not through, in places). They stay smooth between services.

Open bath though, makes a huge difference. Original Fox 125s and the like were open bath too and also seemed to go on forever

Ah, my mistake, was going off some older and much more optimistic service documents. My old 2011 36s recommended a lowers service every 100 hours, although in practice they needed it much more frequently than that to keep them feeling nice.

A full week of alps or similar descending will definitely result in a drop off in performance, a lowers service, as mentioned usually sorts it out. If it’s particularly dusty and dry on a 10000ft descending (or more) week and you don’t wipe stantions it can degrade the bushes prematurely.

As others have said though, 30-40 hours between lowers of and oil changed/lowers cleaned out.
Open bath definitely better in terms of longevity, you pay for it in weight.

Deville’s I have had have lasted brilliantly, but others have had failures…same with Rockshox…none of the brands are immune.

mine had a check valve failure that rattled from new. they never felt very good. went back to Mojo after a few weeks and had it replaced and essentially a service. transformed them.
service intervals are pitifully low, more so in the muck of winter.

I reckon I get about 30-40 hours between lower services on my Rockshox, I aim for 25 or so.

Eh! That’d be at least monthly if not more regularly for me. 😯

b r, it is about monthly if riding that much, but on a 36 and a Pike if I remember, its less than half an hour’s job in reality. Not much for such an item in the grand scheme of things.

Someone (might have been PinkBike) recently did a comparison with off road MXracing forks etc and found they were very similar in requirement.

This is when you really wish single crown forks were as faff-free to work on as dual crown

I did a lowers service on my pikes yesterday, its been about 100 hours since the last lowers service. The oil that came out was moderately dirty, but more significantly contained enough water to turn it milky. The stanchions were perfect still,with no sign of any wear.