Fox vanilla rlc twang on compression

[ishaw]

I've been putting together a bike for my youngest today, giving him pic of parts to throw at it. The forks best suited for the build are done fox vanilla rlc 130mm forks. They have been sat a while but seems to be in decent shape bar some paint scuffs here and there which I'll touch up a bit.

All the dials work, rebound, compression, lockout and Lockout threshold, the only thing that concerns me is a slight twang on compression.

I'm keen to know what this may be as I don't want the fork to fail or lunch itself as it's decent and the only one I have that suits the build.

Anyone know their way around these forks that can help diagnose the sound?

Pic of the build so far and the forks in question.

Yes, my shed is a mess.

 

[clubby]

Have you pulled the spring out to check it? Is there much preload on it? If not, could be it’s just not seated properly on the top cap until it starts to compress.

 

[ishaw]

So I've removed the spring side. What was in there was not what I expected. Yes there was a spring, but there was also what seems to be an air shaft travel reducer sitting on top of the spring. Any ideas what this is about?

Anyhow, with the spring removed, I still get the clicking sound from the damper side, so I can at least confirm it's not the spring, so what else can it be? If something was broken inside I'd not expect all the dials to be working and doing their respective jobs, which they are.

Any further ideas?

 

[clubby]

That black piece is just the travel adjust spacer, looks like I’d expect.
Unfortunately there’s no way of knowing what’s going on damper side without dismantling it.

Manual, if you don’t have one.

https://www.montagnadilombardia.com/05_32mm_en.pdf

They may look in good shape, but you have to remember that they are 20 year old forks now and probably have never been serviced. Could just be lack of lubrication or any number of small parts or shafts could be worn out.

 

[ishaw]

Thanks, I'll give them a tear down at the weekend and see what's what. If I can stop the clicking the bike is actually good to go. One build off the 2025 list hopefully, then on to one for a mates son. That one will free up some much needed space.