Fork care.

[Motozulu]

Talk to me

So in this crappy, gritty sand/mud time of year how should I be caring for my forks?

After every ride the bike gets a swill down with the hosepipe, quick application of muc off to dissolve the crud around the drivetrain, a light chain lube and a generous application of WD40 on the cables and other moving parts, but what should I be applying to the fork uppers?

 

[Cubist]

Try a d keep solvents away from the stanchions. Rinse off any mud or grit, dry them off, and either a light wipe with a lube, or cycle them a couple of times to get oil from the foam rings onto the stanchions.

Check makers guides for frequency of service and learn to do a lower leg service. Rockshox need doing every 100 hours or so. If nothing else it'll mean the foam rings always have some oil in them

 

[GrumpyGregry]

wash, dry, drizzle seals with extra virgin olive oil* pump em wipe again.

*other more appropriate lubricants are available. Like Fox Float Fluid.

Here's a Tech Tuesday for the OCD sufferers amongst us. I never go that far.


Well, hardly ever.

 

[Motozulu]

lube as in a chain lube?

 

[Cubist]

Given the level of faffage in that guide, I reckon a lower leg service would take about the same amount of time and result in fewer gouged stanchions. Besides which I'd probably stick the screwdriver blade straight in my eyeball. Again.

 

[Motozulu]

good linky Greg - especially as my new bike will have a fox up front

 

[Cubist]

Yes

lube as in a chain lube?

Yes. I have a bottle of 15 wt fork oil, but a solvent free chain lube would be just as good. Its only got to act as a rust inhibiter. Thestanchions are lubed by an oil soaked glide ring just under the seal, so as long as this is still wet with oil the fork looks after itself.

 

[Motozulu]

Thanks for the info.

 

[lulubel]

wash, dry, drizzle seals with extra virgin olive oil* pump em wipe again.

Just bringing this post back up to check that it's really OK to put olive oil on my forks.

When I first got the bike, the upper part was quite heavily coated with oil, but that's obviously been wiped off by now, and I don't want to damage them by running them "dry".

If olive oil is OK, is extra virgin definitely better than the lighter stuff? Or are we talking, the thicker the better? (We have about 4 different types of olive oil in our kitchen to choose from.)

 

[billflat12]

. Thestanchions are lubed by an oil soaked glide ring just under the seal, so as long as this is still wet with oil the fork looks after itself.

Always a good idea to store your bikes upside down for this reason

 

[02GF74]

wipe the stanchion with a soft cloth, then use a toothbrush to remove and muck/dirt between the seal and stnachion.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Just bringing this post back up to check that it's really OK to put olive oil on my forks.

When I first got the bike, the upper part was quite heavily coated with oil, but that's obviously been wiped off by now, and I don't want to damage them by running them "dry".

If olive oil is OK, is extra virgin definitely better than the lighter stuff? Or are we talking, the thicker the better? (We have about 4 different types of olive oil in our kitchen to choose from.)

Olive oil isn't the best cycle lubricant but it is a long long way from the worst.

 

[lulubel]

Olive oil isn't the best cycle lubricant but it is a long long way from the worst.

The alternatives we have are some very old wet chain lube, or some very thin Shimano dry chain lube (which I don't like very much, but was the best the lbs could do after offering me a tin of GT85 to lube the chain).

 

[GrumpyGregry]

The alternatives we have are some very old wet chain lube, or some very thin Shimano dry chain lube (which I don't like very much, but was the best the lbs could do after offering me a tin of GT85 to lube the chain).

Wet for me. dry lube seems counter intuitive in this context.

TFTuned, a well known UK suspension specialist recommend finish line green chain lube iirc.

 

[lulubel]

Wet for me. dry lube seems counter intuitive in this context.

TFTuned, a well known UK suspension specialist recommend finish line green chain lube iirc.

I've got a feeling our bottle is finish line. I'll dig it out tomorrow. (We don't use wet here because it really clogs everything up when it mixes with the dust. The best maintenance method I've found for the drive train is to wipe the whole lot down with baby wipes after every ride, and re-lube very sparingly with a thickish dry lube.)