could a grease port/bleed valve put in up by the foam ring work in increasing the service intervals? You could pump in a small amount of fresh oil every ride to keep it lubed up.

Good idea, but you can do that anyway by using a cocktail stick to gently open the seal. The other problem is dirt getting in and forming a grinding paste around the bush.

Just wondering … do the fox rear shocks, floats, suffer from wear as much as their forks?

Ive seen a few worn air shock shafts. Its the same problem, but on most bikes the shock is out of the way of most mud and the seal is often not pointing upwards to trap mud around the seal. The older stmpjumper fsr design springs to mind.

just give them a blast of gt85 before a ride maybe.

Not a great idea! gt85 is a degreaser.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=20404
Great tyres. Fast rolling, light and predictable grip.

EDIT, didnt see the occational mud bit, but ive ridden mine all winter…they are pretty exciting in mud=good for skillz and lots of fun 😀

Its not the middle that gets too worn, its the side knobles…they get torn and lose their sharpness/edge. Dont get me wrong, STs are great tyres, but when i was racing i couldnt afford to replace every month or so.

Cheers – will do this very often! If i over oil the foams it will just dissipate right?

Yep, i clean the rings then soak…when they go in they're dripping.

Its just wear. If you gonna race DH put a super tacky on the rear.

If you can afford it! ST rear will be gone in a few dry dh races, or 1 race at ft bill!

If i turn my forks upside down (talas 32s) and slide the lowers off to clean i will not lose teh damping oil from the right leg will i? if thats the case then a clean and relube is a 10 minute job at most on top of a clean.

No you wont lose the oil, it will just run into the top of the stanction. Just leave upside down for abit so the oil can settle.

I can see a set of Revs on the horizon if the Fox forks really are that sensitive to being serviced.

As said above, revs are the same. If you are worried look at magura, '10 marzocchi or dt swiss. Magura and DT (although using a similar small oil volume lubing system) have 1 year service intervals, but i can only think they have sourced some high quality seals. And again…fox oem seals are shite!

Just a thought. If Fox recommend crazy amounts of services to qualify for their warranty repair then sure every ride you have is costing you ££££.

Ok my 36 servicing…say on average every 4 rides i re-lube lowers and every 20 i change damping oil. 1 litre oil is £10. 40ml per lower lube and 100ml per fit service. Thats only 15p per ride!

Never heard that at all. Source?

Have a look around…i know of 4 mates who have had rockshox stanction wear and lots of examples from the net.

Most recent…
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/rs-reba-help-can-this-happen-on-one-ride

How can any company justify this? There is no way I would buy Fox forks if they require that much maintenance. No other fork needs it so why? Do they really work that much better its worth it? I doubt it!

Rockshox do and have similar failure rates to fox. Consumers demanded lighter forks so manufacturers made them…less oil=lighter. If you want a top of the line fork then expect to maintain it, if not buy a marzocchi/manitou…hold on they fall apart too, best make that a pre 08 zocchi!

enduro seals are good but do increase fork stiction

Better that than wear your stanctions away?

I just got a 980 cassette from merlin for £34. Similar weight to xt but much cheaper…has the spider too so it doesnt get stuck.

I bet your wear is only on the non cartidge side.

Why? 36s have a fit cart so just as much lubing oil in both legs.

The main problem with fox is their seals are poor…they let dirt in and oil out. Ive not got round to it on mine yet, but looking seriously at some enduro seals. HERE Proper individual oil seals and dust wipers, just the way it should be.

8 strips in 13 months really isnt enough for foxs (depending on how much you ride them and in what conditons). I strip every 3-4 rides in winter/wet crap and 5-6 in dry. Upside down storage is key. You'll be fine with them for years as long as you continue to maintain.

If you find highrollers slippy get a spike…or just get on with it 😉

I actually use my 5.10s for hill walking from time to time…i find them really comfortable and supportive.

Hmm…try HERE.

rockshox are now making forks with a 15mm maxle…

True, but they have pretty much been forced into it by shimano and mavic. I guess you dont reep the benefits of a 20mm on a 100mm xc fork, but any bolt through (even 9mm) is better than qr.

Lovely. Hopefully can be of some use!

bangin on, did you get the dvd i sent?

If you think a 2ply is too much try a LUST tyre…halfway house at around 900g.

I'd swap your fox for pikes (or revs), that way you get 20mm all round and wheel compatability across all your bikes.

This 15QR nonsense is just a made up standard that fox and shimano came up with because rockshox already have the best tool for the job (maxle)
Word! 😀

Yep, dual ply if you dont need to ride up.
2.5 front, 2.35 rear is a good combo. 60a all round unless you race. 3c is not worth the cash.

Normally they just need tightening.

Valve core remover…
HERE

I would be tempted to clean out and re-lube the lowers and see if the seals leak. If they dont then no problem. I serviced a mates pikes that had just got a little stanction wear. Lasted a good year with normal servicing and no leaking (after a year the arch snapped but stanction showed no more wear).

Every ride you should be wiping dirt off from around the seal area and make sure there is no mud on the stanctions that can dry (dried mud can get under the seal next time the fork is compressed). Do not clean the seals with a degreaser or powerwasher.
If you regularly ride in muddy and fine gritty conditions then bite the bullet and accept that you will have to do the lower strip more than most…ft bill is pretty bad for this as the dirt is so fine.

I used to take mine off to stop me faffing with the rebound whilst out riding…i like to tinker.

All true, thought i would chime in as lots of people confuse floodgate with a true hsc adjustor…that and im pretty bored right now!

So virtually no compression damping at all? That's a bit of a weird set up, no?

Not strictly true…running both to min will give you very little lsc but will allow the fork to blow into the hsc circuit very easily. The high speed circuit is preset and can only be changed internally, so its the same for everyone. Sorry, pedantic i know 😈

Just use a 2.5mm allen key.

75 units alcohol per week…dude you drink alot!

http://www.bikechecker.com/demo.phtml
Does that help?

I was just pointing out that fact as you are comparing to 20mm and are looking to get 15mm. Its worth it if you ride hard or are a big rider, not worth it if you tend to back off and take it easy.

The difference between qr and qr15 isnt as big as qr and 20mm. 20mm is stiffer than qr15.

Haha, didnt think about where the oil would go, just the empty space left 😳
And oil wont have come out of the top o ring…i ran a boxxer for 2 weeks in france that was effectively open at the top (tip it upside down and oil ran out!).

Because he's not mentioned loosing travel!

Why would he lose travel with no damping oil? Travel adjust and air are in the other leg.

Unless your turning the rebound knob the wrong way!

Yeah, sounds like the damping oil has drained into the lowers. Ndew o ring should be job done.