Why don’t you service your fork?

Just reading that X-Fusion thread, and there’s more than a few folks on it saying their forks are unserviced over many years. Given that it’s (mostly) pretty straightforward with normal tools, only takes 1/2 hour or so, vastly extends the life of – and after the actual frame; probably the most expensive bit of your bike, and the one part that will, more than anything else, effect how it rides.

Are you worried you’ll **** it up? Genuinely can’t be bothered? What?

Are you worried you’ll **** it up? Genuinely can’t be bothered? What?

Yes obviously ( 🙂 ) ,
No, I like having a go at most spannering jobs but never learned suspension but also:
I don’t actually ride my suspension bikes that much these days an an annual service seems overkill…

Expect a lot of this will be down to the ‘they still go up and down’ logic that some people have.

Throw in barely perceptible incremental degradation of performance as fluids get progressively dirtier, it can become difficult to notice that they’re actually running crap over time, unless, like me, you’re a princess that can feel the pea.

It’s rigid,

Satisfactory answer? 🙂

I do… once a year..

the rear shock on one of his DH bikes is due soon, but all bikes get serviced.

I don’t do any of them myself as i’d rather leave it to the Pros as they’re quite important.

I’ve never understood this either.  A service is just a fluid change and it takes little time and is simple to do with ordinary hand tools on all the forks I have.

I do, but it’s slightly overdue as it’s been too cold for quite a while now.

I put it off for years fearing I would f#*k it up (I think this will be a major factor for a lot of folk, as you say its an expensive part to replace)

But after buying a brand new bike in 2020 I thought I’d better keep on top of things, so started doing my suss, surprisingly easy to do, I just followed a you tube tutorial. Gets easier every time as well and feels a lot better afterwards

A bit messy? How do you dispose of old fluid?

Flimsy reasons I know, just trying to think of why I don’t do mine more often (actually I know why, because I use them for about 10hrs a year… 🙄)

Edit: also initial costs would be high for me assuming you still need a soft head hammer, circlip pliers and new crush washers?

Yes mostly worried I’ll **** it up.

Also learned from experience that “simple DIY jobs” can be messy and frustrating when you don’t have an existing tool collection or a garage and try to do them at the kitchen sink or on the living room floor.

How do you dispose of old fluid?

There’s so little in air forks, it usually just soaks into the old bedsheet that I’ve positioned underneath.

There are degrees of servicing…. until it merges into repair or replacement so I think a better question is why don’t people at least do the basics… At one end we have wiping the stanchions and towards the other rebuilding a damper

A basic oil change is probably the best thing you can do for your fork life… new sponge rings and crush washers it’s no more complicated than changing a vaccuum cleaner bag… and once you do that it’s a small step to replacing wiper seals every few along with a couple of o ring seals etc. and incrementally you end up reshimming etc

My guess is mostly it’s made out to be an intimidating mysterious art…

you still need a soft head hammer, circlip pliers and new crush washers?

Cassette tool or 32/34/36mm spanner (flat so as not to round off those flush Fox nuts) plus the right suspension fluids – that’s one thing – every fork seems to need a different variety of this oil/that oil for that leg this damper. Finding which ones, then finding someone who has em in stock…
I do do my Pikes, cos I have all the right stuff. I did my son’s Yaris too, but something always goes wrong. Like last time with the Yaris where they wouldn’t hold air after. Or I couldn’t release the air shaft on the Pikes. Gets stressful!
My Fox 34s on my full sus have been untouched since I fitted them (5 years). But they work great.
Back when I first got full sus bikes, I used to have the rear shocks apart trying different air cans etc. Too scared now. I haven’t got a nice bike workshoppy garage like I used to either. I should do that. Sort my garage out 🙂

Edit: also initial costs would be high for me assuming you still need a soft head hammer, circlip pliers and new crush washers?

You don’t NEED either or the first two for an oil change on any fork I know. RS I use a long drill-hex adapter and hit that… Fox I hit the socket… but if you like you can get a camping mallet for £3

Crush washers cost a few pence each …

Yes, every year they get a strip and clean down. When the weather takes a turn for the worse; it’s damp and it’s cold and my shoes haven’t dried enough to go out for a ride usually.
I’ve got a 200h kit and time set aside to do the Pike tomorrow because it’s miserable outside!

Rather like wheel-building, it’s only daunting until you’ve tried it.

Availability of Rockshox spares in the UK has been awful and the constant changing of model numbers only makes buying them a bit of a lottery as shops won’t even be advertising the correct service kit part number.

As already said, there are also too many different oils and greases.

I’ve actually yet to do the Fox 34s on my Occam but it’s not really used that much. However, this thread is a good reminder so I’ll do some digging later and get everything ordered up to be done when the garage is a bit warmer.

I change the air every 3 months in mine.

On oils

I have a variety of weights on fork oils in litre bottles bought from motorbike shps years ago- thats years worth of servicing.  Cost insignificant.  I think I have 2.5 wt, 5, 10 which also allows a bit of damper tuning as you can vary the oil weight in them

Never used new crush washers.  Never needed any special tools.  IME the only difficult bit can be the top nuts.  Very shallow flats

Rather like wheel-building, it’s only daunting until you’ve tried it.

👆

I now have settled on our forks and know what I need and how to do it. I also have 2.5lt or 1lt motorcross oil and a couple of spare seals in the spares box.

I tend to do them twice a year – and have an afternoon of lowers servicing.

On oils

I have a variety of weights on fork oils in litre bottles bought from motorbike shps years ago- thats years worth of servicing.  Cost insignificant.  I think I have 2.5 wt, 5, 10 which also allows a bit of damper tuning as you can vary the oil weight in them

Never used new crush washers.  Never needed any special tools.  IME the only difficult bit can be the top nuts.  Very shallow flats

A lowers service is not difficult but it is a faff and quite daunting the first few times. It can be pretty messy as well if you haven’t got loads of space*. I generaly can’t be arsed so leave it for ages, I don’t use my suss bike that much though so don’t reckon they need it that regularly.

I’m never quite sure how much fluid to put in or what type and I just can’t be bothered trying to find out most of the time.

*Actually having an area to do that sort of thing is probably the biggest reason people don’t attempt it in the first place. I have a garage with a work bench and plenty of tools, but it’s a right **** mess and full of all sorts of other crap as well. If I kept it cleaner pr it was bigger with better storage I’d probably do it more….

Availability of Rockshox spares in the UK has been awful

Seal kits and service kits are pretty well stocked at the supplier (at least at the moment) very few are showing out of stock.

“Upgrades” (defined by the trailhead tab) are looking dire though, most stuff like airshafts, dampers etc. are mostly showing 5 months before restock (if you plan to get one and its available buy now)

Because I hate working on bikes.
Which is of course connected with lack of tools and lack of knowledge.
I don’t have time in my life for that sort of stuff. I’m either working, trying to enjoy some adventure time or flaked out trying to recoup and regenerate.
There us no point in my week where I think:
” what I really need now is to dismantle an expensive and complex part of my bike. Spend 4hours in a state of extreme agitation and probably have a non working bike afterwards.”

There is almost zero upside for me

The only reason I sold my Ohlins fork is that you need specialist tools for Full service where as I can do full damper service & lowers on my Mezzer forks experimenting with oil weights in damper & shim stacks

I’m guilty of this. Always wanted to but worried I’d balls it up.

If somebody could point me to a definitive guide to a lower service of my ‘21 Pike Ultimate I’ll have a go over Christmas and report back.

My Fox 34s on my full sus have been untouched since I fitted them (5 years). But they work great.

Do they though? or have you just not noticed? If I leave my Ohlins longer than say about 6 months, the fall off in performance is noticeable.

I do each or the forks in the garage, it is really not that hard. It takes longer to clean everything and take the fork off the bike than it does to service it.

Rather like wheel-building, it’s only daunting until you’ve tried it.

As a side note, I find that the most daunting thing about wheel building is the self doubt whilst measuring an OEM hub because you can’t find any information and the brand customer service line knows even less than Google!

@CalamityJames

https://www.sramconnect.com/globalassets/document-hierarchy/service-manuals/rockshox/front-suspension/2023-zeb-lyrik-pike-service-manual.pdf

First time I’d recommend download then edit the PDF removing stuff doesn’t apply to you… e.g. you have pike’s with RC2 damper…

(For a lowers it makes no odds but full service you need to remove the compression)

Just start with lowers service… chart on page 4-5 shows how much oil (also on damper bolt) and tightening torques after. If you don’t have a torque wrench it’s just enough to start crushing the crush washers 😉 the actual seal is made on the damper and air shafts… crush washer is a bit of a backup and way to tighten without damaging the shafts really

If somebody could point me to a definitive guide to a lower service of my ‘21 Pike Ultimate

Here’s the official SRAM service video. Pretty all the manufacturers do this now. There’s probably more in depth tutorials if you search a bit more.

This thread is making me feel guilty.

Im a proper “run everything into the ground” merchant.

I find the idea of me doing it quite off putting for the reason the generalist says. And the idea of dropping the bike off at the LBS for it to be done properly prohibitively expensive.

There really is no reason not to do lower services yourself.

It’s such a basic, quick and easy thing to do.

I even did a lowers service on a fork that i sold last week so i could show the buyer the condition of the stanchions.

And the idea of dropping the bike off at the LBS for it to be done properly prohibitively expensive.

For me it’s not just the cost, it’s the time required and – to an extent – my lack of trust in other mechanics 😜

I find the idea of me doing it quite off putting for the reason the generalist says. And the idea of dropping the bike off at the LBS for it to be done properly prohibitively expensive.

I also dislike bike maintenance TBH, but you do need to keep vaguely in line with the lowers servicing schedule if you want modern air forks to feel good.

You’ll probably get a lowers service done in an hour as a first timer and it’s hard to mess it up. The only tricky bit can be getting the lowers back onto the stanchions square, without folding a seal.

If you clean and re-lube fox forks properly after every ride they really don’t need servicing that much at all. Fox fluid will pull 99% of the crap that makes its way past the wipers back out onto the stanchions so you can clean them easily. Then the final cycle with fresh fluid re-lubes the wipers and the sponges. I try and send one fork off to TFT every other year and they always come back with a note to say how un-worn they are.

@tjagain flat faced sockets are a godsend for fork top caps – well worth the outlay (you’d need 1 or 2 perhaps). I had to put one 12mm long reach socket on a lathe for a set of marzocchis though as the clearance between the lowers and the nut retaining the damping rod was miniscule.

If somebody could point me to a definitive guide to a lower service of my ‘21 Pike Ultimate I’ll have a go over Christmas and report back.

Doddy is pretty clear with his vids

singlespeedstu

There really is no reason not to do lower services yourself.

try reading the thread

I’ve found it hard to get foam rings for my Fox 34s. Tried RS ones from ebay but they weren’t the same foam. Used a seal kit last time but that’s expensive.

Can anyone link to a source?

I do a lowers service, realistically every 9-12 months, you don’t realise how shit your forks are feeling until you service them.  I don’t tend to service the dampers though, I send them off to do that very very occasionally.

It is one of those jobs that does help to have the correct tool ,despite the bodging comments above, as an example a seal press I think is pretty much essential or at least reduces the stress markedly.

That reminds me, I need to do the rear shock’s aircan service soon.

I’m probably an annual lower leg servicer.

Whats putting me off right now though, is no garage. Doing it on the patio in sub zero temps is not really appealing to me.

try reading the thread

Yep I did. I still didn’t see any valid reasons for not doing it.