i have just bought a 2nd hand bike and i did not notice this wear on one of the stanchions. The seller said he had just serviced these forks so i have been using the forks for 2-3 rides so far which no issues, ( they dont have an air leek or oil leak). however i have noticed each time the forks squish there appears to be a dirt/dust line on the stanchions. my question is are the forks ok to carry on using and how badly damaged are they?

They are both f***** and OK to carry on using.

Once the coating is worn away like that, the exposed metal below is much more easily damaged, so they will wear out quite quickly. With good maintenance, it should be possible to keep them going for a good while though. Just keep an eye on any serious metal loss…

Doesn’t happen in 2 or 3 rides, so they were exactly like that when you bought it.
Who serviced them? Not a shop as they would have recommended significant repair.
Worth an email as that’s a bit cheeky of him not tell you they are basically shot.
But, buyer beware and all that..

ok thanks for the feedback. will they last over a year with proper maintenance?

will they last over a year with proper maintenance

Maybe.

They could be dead in 3 months as well. Depends how often you ride, how muddy your trails are, etc.

Doesn’t happen in 2 or 3 rides, so they were exactly like that when you bought it.
Who serviced them? Not a shop as they would have recommended significant repair.
Worth an email as that’s a bit cheeky of him not tell you they are basically shot.

^ this. You did not do that damage in 2-3 rides. Id be going back to the seller

Damage to the stanchions is defiantly something the seller should have informed you about. Unfortunately since this is a second hand purchase you’d obviously be relying on their good will for them to do anything about it. Unless you have the over an eBay barrel or you bought it of here, then you might have some after sales support in your favour.

I’d be worried about what caused the damage to the stanchions hadn’t been resolved. He say’s they’ve been serviced but this person’s word apparently can’t be entirely trusted. If your comfortable with dropping the lowers off, drop them off and make sure everything is as it should be. If everything else on the bike is okay spend a bit of the money you saved by going second hand on sorting/replacing the forks.

Just to add you won’t get an air leak as the air is inside the air spring which is inside the stanchion so it is just the lubricating oil thstvcan get out and dirt that can get in. Eventually the wear will lead to play, extra friction and then binding as due to the play reaching a level that affects the sliding motion sufficiently.

Pics?

****. How did you buy the bike? No comeback but shocking if online/described. If collect buyer beware 🙁

Sort that hose routing out.

Forks are fine to carry on riding, eventually you may feel some play in the bushes but as they’re worn anyway you’re not going to damage anything worth saving.

I unfortunately did similar to a set of Pikes at a particularly grim Mountain Mayhem*, they kept going for years.

*so technically you can damage like that in 1 ride, it just needs to be a particularly long, horrible ride.