Sat Jan 27-9am Allamuchy

J-Dro

Well-Known Member
sean, i think my fork is just a case of overdue maintenance. i had a fork overhaul on my "to do" list for when the weather turns crappy in the winter. well, winter 2006-2007 never turned crappy so it just kept getting put off.

i took my fork completely apart when i got home today. the oil was an ugly greyish color which looks nothing like the color of fresh oil. i called around to see if anyone had new Marzocchi seals in stock (they didn't). so i cleaned up the old seals and i'm putting it back together with them until i get replacements. they look to be in good shape so hopefully they will hold for a while.

it wasn't much fun limping back to the car with a completely bottomed out fork... but at least the first part of the day was fun.
 

ArmyOfNone

Well-Known Member
today was a fun new experience. Never ridden in the snow before. I was very apprehensive at first to fully attack the trails. Plus i took a couple good spills early on some ice. Soon i realized that i could get some good traction in the snow and opened up on the way back. Id like to get up there a lil more often.

Good to get out w/ brett and sean again. Hope to do it again soon!

Jeff, good to hear that you shock will be a quick fix...hopefully.

how were those brake pads?
 

J-Dro

Well-Known Member
I pulled the brake pads out and put them in some boiling water for a few minutes to get the fork oil to seperate. Then scrubbed them a bit with a toothbrush. They look OK now and passed the driveway test. Cleaned up the rotor with rubbing alcohol. Ready to roll again.
 

jdog

Shop: Halter's Cycles
Shop Keep
bummer

I pulled the brake pads out and put them in some boiling water for a few minutes to get the fork oil to seperate. Then scrubbed them a bit with a toothbrush. They look OK now and passed the driveway test. Cleaned up the rotor with rubbing alcohol. Ready to roll again.

I would be curious to see if the oil could be removed from the pads by boiling them in water. Up till now I have assumed that once they touch oil you were done. Rubbing alcohol can do a pretty good job if you get to it quick but in your case that wasn't an option.

Sorry I didn't stock the seal.. But I doubt any LBS would.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
maybe if you soaked them in gas or brake cleaner but not sure about getting it out, sounds like they were drenched in oil..


Jdog on the seals. This past fall my GF bike needed an air sleeve service for her stumpjumper. Fox shock. NP very popular shock, very routine maintenance and not a single shop within 20 miles of me stocks the item. That i was a bit surprised about. I understand you cant stock all the seals for all the different shocks and forks out there, but does your shop at least stock the more popular ones that You your self see coming in and asking you to the the repairs?

I did the same thing. Walked in and asked about the rebuild kit and the guy looked at me like I Was Elvis. I ended up using the same seals and it was fine. So maybe the seals really don't need to be replaced that often?
 

ArmyOfNone

Well-Known Member
i am curious to learn how to dis/re assemble a fork.

No dissasemble johny 5

shortcircuit6.jpg


sorry guys just got home and workin on little sleep...hope you giggled atleast :)
 

jdog

Shop: Halter's Cycles
Shop Keep
maybe if you soaked them in gas or brake cleaner but not sure about getting it out, sounds like they were drenched in oil..


Jdog on the seals. This past fall my GF bike needed an air sleeve service for her stumpjumper. Fox shock. NP very popular shock, very routine maintenance and not a single shop within 20 miles of me stocks the item. That i was a bit surprised about. I understand you cant stock all the seals for all the different shocks and forks out there, but does your shop at least stock the more popular ones that You your self see coming in and asking you to the the repairs?

This is a tough one.. I am not surprised that no one had the seals you GF needed. I actually have the seals for the FOX rear shocks but no others.

I do a lot of headshock / Lefty sales and service. I have everything I need to tear apart everything on the c-dale stuff. I have been out to PA for training. Worst case I will have it the next day from PA. As for the rest, I have been so burned in the past by stocking small parts only to have them sit there forever and maybe if I am lucky I might find a use for them 5 years later.

Consider that the evolution of suspension forks is such that the small parts are typically outdated by the next year. There are forks out there from Rock Shox, Marzocchi, Manitou, Pace, RST, White Bros, FOX, etc.. So the chances of actually having the right small part are so minuscule that it just seems silly.

If I rode a bike that had a non-cdale fork (which I don't) I would probably sell a bunch of them and service many as well.

Back in the early 90's we were selling a ton of Sus. forks since everyone wanted one for their rigid bike. We were selling Judy's like crazy. I remember stocking every service part possible, not to mention special tools that now have no use.

Now every bike (with some exceptions) comes with a fork so the mad rush to get a sus fork has slowed to a trickle. Many times the online guys buy up all the leftover stock and sell the forks for way way less than the fork companies would have sold to me. Bottom line is that the sus fork market is fickle.

So yeah I felt bad that we didn't have that seal for Jeff, real bad. I would have felt even worse if I had sold him that fork and not supported him with small parts. (sorry Jeff, I heard the call come through.. I didn't know it was you but I thought to myself "good luck finding that in a local shop")

Trying to stock the 1000's of small items we carry is a constant battle. Many of the things we stock only get sold once or twice a year. Even dealing with aging bikes is a challenge (right now we are blowing out all 2006 stock..sorry for the shameless plug) since they unfortunately loose value the minute that they become last years model.

Lastly.. I have found that with the 10000's of possible forks out there that it is sometime wisest to send some forks and shocks to tuners who spend there lives making forks work like new. In general I am not a fan of outsourcing work but I have been amazed at the work done by Hippie Tech, Push Industries and the Shock Treatment Center at QBP.



j-
 

J-Dro

Well-Known Member
Hey J, I would have been shocked (pardon the pun) if you had those seals in stock. I just figured, what the hell, I have the fork in pieces so I might as well check around.

The fork seems to be holding air just fine now, but somewhere in the back of my mind the thought of it failing again on the trail will haunt me until I just get new seals. I've heard good reviews of the Enduro replacement seals so thats what I plan to order.

I don't have much experience with other brands, but Marzocchi forks are really easy to work on if you have a reasonable amount of mechanical ability and a few good tools.

And when my Fox RP23 is due for a overhaul, I'm definitely getting it PUSHED.
 
D

DANSPANK

Guest
Oooo, I can answer that one. "PUSH" is a company that can rebuild or retune forks/shocks to a riders specifications. You send your suspension in with a description of what you want and, a week or so later, they send it back to you. The part is considered to have been "PUSHed".

Wow, it's almost as if I know what I'm talking about!
 

ArmyOfNone

Well-Known Member
Oooo, I can answer that one. "PUSH" is a company that can rebuild or retune forks/shocks to a riders specifications. You send your suspension in with a description of what you want and, a week or so later, they send it back to you. The part is considered to have been "PUSHed".

Wow, it's almost as if I know what I'm talking about!

w00t! You da man! thanx for the clarification!
 
D

DANSPANK

Guest
There was an article in Mountain Bike Action and I read it whilst on the throne the other day. Test me on it - I'm golden!
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
They put a PUSH sticker on it too. Then when you ride by another biker with that sticker you can both honk your horn at each other.
 

hardtale70

She's Gone From Suck to Blow
Shop Keep
You should be using MBA on the throne not reading it.By the way who got what in the party favors dept?
 
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