http://www.flickr.com/photos/15458377@N00/6407961143/

forks 8 rides old. 6 of those rides done in dry and dusty conditions in Phoenix, Arizona. Forks wiped clean and stanchions/seals lubed with light oil, excess oil and dust/grime wiped off between each ride.

The wear is hardly visible, but clearly something isn’t right. I’ve contacted the retailer….fingers crossed for a prompted and satisfactory response 😕

What forks are they? I can’t see any wear in the photo.

I’m sure people can work it out from the photo so, coil u-turn lyriks.

the light colour stripe running down the inside of the stanchion, about 2mm wide, and fading as it nears the crown. It is only just visible (in real life, and the photo) but it is there.

I don’t think it is a seal issue, looks more like a lube issue. Did you check the lower lube levels when new?

looks more like a lube issue.

that is my thinking, although the forks felt good, and plusher than my other set of u-turn lyriks. I’d heard that lyriks have a tendency to occasionally ship with low oil but no…I didn’t feel it was necessary to check the oil level…I spent my time building the new bike up, giving it 2 test rides and then packing it before the holiday.

If it is a low lube issue will the bushes be damaged as well as the stanchions?

What tends to happen is that the bushes need “Bedding in” during the early use of the fork, during this time lubrication is essential. No / limited lube will cause wear on the stantion coating as this will be the weakest link. This wear will microns thick but will be sufficeient to discolour. This will be the same for worn bushes due to slight angular contact.

My guess is that the stripe is the origional colour and the rest of the stantion has worn / discoloured.

As their new i’d get them changed, if they were 2nd hand i’d just increase the lower service intervals.

What tends to happen is that the bushes need “Bedding in” during the early use of the fork, during this time lubrication is essential.

Ah ha! that makes sense. the wear was first spotted after the 8th ride. Since I was on a 3 week biking holiday in the states there was little i could do about it immediately except hope they carried on working. The wear got no worse in the following 2 weeks (once the bushes had bedded in).

It’s the strip that is the worn bit, its silvery. To my eye the whole damper side stanchion is a tiny bit more sivlery than the coil side…but my riding buddues reckon I was imagining that…but the narrow strip is the worn bit.

The wear is hardly visible and the forks seem to function fine….but yes, since they are brand new I hope to get a new CSU fitted at least….hopefully the retailer and Rockshox will agree. They were brand new in August but are 2010 stock which the retailer is now sold out of…some 2012 rc2dh lyriks wold be lovely but a new csu will do.

Mine has the same, very faint but they are pre prodcution 2006/7 Lyriks after all 😉

They have also been heavily modified over the years, never changed the bushes though!

Typical RS to be honest…

If it is bushes why would you have a narrow piece of wear which mimics the lubrication slot in the bush where nothing is rubbing?

I have got old stantions which have the marks of the bushing slots – this was the only unworn parts of the stantion as the bushes have not been rubbing in these areas…

Looks like you may have picked up a little trail something that has done just enough to cause this wear.

mr plow, I thought that too, if it was purely wear from the bushings with low oil/lack of lube at the bushings then I’d expect the wear to be over a wider area and probably at the front of the stanchion. Difficult to pick up grime though when riding in a dry and dusty desert and looking after the seals correctly. When the wear was spotted, at the end of the 8th ride I carefully pulled the seal back and could see nothing obvious trapped. If it was caused by grime then IMHO the seals aren’t up to the job – 8 dusty rides and proper care still not sufficient!

I’ll have to wait for RS to strip and inspect them I guess. but I’m guessing that the bush happened to have a high spot or burr, and a low oil level perhaps. The first few rides bedded the bushing in, removing the high spot and discolouring the stanchion.

Fingers crossed you get them sorted with the least fuss.

cheers. yep, I’m sure the retailer and RS will be professional, so we shall see what that means over the next few weeks.

Hi Neil, Long time, no see. Kev (from the Welsh forum) here. IME the wear pattern on your fork would indicate what you say. If it had worn over a wider area it’s called as lack of maintenance for warranty purposes. You’ve found no foreign bodies in the seals, which rules out accidental damage. So I reckon you’ve got a good case for for a CSU and bushing replacement there fella.
The forks do have a rep for shipping with low oil bath levels, but that’s not your concern, If you don’t get a warranty replacement, knowing how well you look after your kit, I’d be very surprised.

Marcus and Graham have kept me updated with photos of the Holiday rides, you lucky devils. Wish I could have gone with you guys.

Hi Kev, cheers.

The riding was fantastic! National on South Mountain is a trail I could do again and again. Next time hopeflly you can join us….there WILL be a next time! 😀

Update time.

I finally got around to posting the forks back to the shop, which I can now reveal was Wiggle. Wiggle sent them on to SRAM pretty quickly but I was just thinking today…hmm, been 2 weeks since I heard SRAM had those Lyriks’. Got home tonight and check my email to find…..an email from Wiggle confirming they have the forks back and that SRAM have replaced the CSU 😀

Good. It would seem that SRAM take their warranty seriously and, although I’ve yet to receive the forks back so haven’t seen the investigation/work sheet, I bet the cause was no/low oil in the damper leg.

Still, all seems to have ended well, well done SRAM and Wiggle 😀

Moral of the story, check your oil levels on new forks before you ride ’em!

moral of the story is….check your oil levels before you ship them! 🙂