Walk me through the modern fork minefield

[Raging_Bulls]

Not quite true. The only oil that needs draining is that in the lower legs, so only about 5mm per side. The damper oil and whole damper assembly is untouched. Rock shox also make it easy for you by using C shaped spacers that clip onto the shaft,making it unnecessary to completely dissemble the air spring assembly. 15 mins tops, including removal of forks from bike.

EDIT. IT's Fox that use C shaped spacers, not RS, but it's still a piece of cake. Checkthe SRAM website for a video.

Correct, the damper assembly (upper right leg) doesn't need to be opened for adjusting the ride height. I didn't even think about the damper when I wrote my previous post.
However the air spring assembly does need to be opened because that's where the spacers need to go. The manuals I looked up mention around 60 minutes for the average home mechanic. I guess that means 3-4 days in my case.
Since the stanchions are removed and the spring assembly is taken apart, they also suggest putting fresh RedRum on the bushings inside the lower stanchions and overhauling the pistons if necessary. That's probably why I'm seeing it as an overhaul.

Mine is 3 years old, so I reckon it's time for a check-up anyway. Normally I wouldn't open the Reba myself, but the LBS where I bought the bike has 2 left hands, the others in the area say it's going to take anywhere from 6 to 10 hours and hence will cost £250-400 and nobody seems willing to try and lower it beyond 80mm anyway (understandable due to legal and safety concerns).

 

[ishaw]

Looking at the manual for the 2013 fork I have just bought, to change travel, you need to replace the entire solo air spring assembly with one the right size for the travel needed.

 

[JamesM]

Mine is 3 years old, so I reckon it's time for a check-up anyway. Normally I wouldn't open the Reba myself, but the LBS where I bought the bike has 2 left hands, the others in the area say it's going to take anywhere from 6 to 10 hours and hence will cost £250-400 and nobody seems willing to try and lower it beyond 80mm anyway (understandable due to legal and safety concerns).

I've reduced the travel on 2 sets of OEM 100mm Dukes. One set I lowered to 80mm and the other to 72mm. Being OEM they weren't adjustable and didn't have the all-travel spacer. I just bought a load of appropriatley sized nylon washers from ebay and used them to icrease the length of the negative spring stack. That's all the spacer does anyway and using washers means you can adjust it in 2mm increments. Took me about an hour and it's not my day job. 6 to 10 hours :facepalm:

 

[ishaw]

I've just finished servicing my old rebas. Had to swap out the negative air spring, change the wiper seals, soak the foam washers, liberally apply Judy butter to bushings and replace the oil with 15wt. Probably took 30-40 mins so no idea where hours come in. Admittedly this was my second time at playing with a set of rebas, but even so????? I'm no expert, but the mire I've tried, the mire I've realised that it is not a dark art and not worth paying £70 plus for.

 

[wookiee]

Re:

...my two penneth... I have ridden Rockshox, Pace and Fox forks. The Pace forks whilst good are still a retro fork to me. Rockshox have some nice forks Rebas and Talas which are a solid fit and forget type of fork. But to be honest Fox forks work best in my opinion. Just feel a bit more subtle and nice action...BUT they do require a bit more looking after. However I have just serviced a pair of 2012 Fox Float 29's for the first time. I had always seen a fork service a dark art and that of the pros...

So with £20 or so spent on a service kit and another £8 on some oil and I was ready to give it a go. An online guide helped me through and before I knew it I had done it! Completely stripped and replaced seals and replaced oils etc in little under an hour. Respected pro service guys were quoting around £130-£150 including return postage, this cost me more like £30! And they work beautifully too.

So depending on your service tolerance! I would go Fox, but Rock shocks would be a close second.

Doug

 

[ishaw]

Thanks, I've plumped for some Reba rlt forks with maxle. I admit that until recently, I used to pay good money for servicing, but after buying some new Fox forks for my sts. And needing v lowers, decided to give it a whirl myself and was simple enough.

My hand was also forced on some v brake rebas I bought, as they arrived with a leak. Found a service kit and a moco damper for reasonable money, bought some oil and gave it a whirl and the results were good, and only £30 or so out of pocket and richer through knowledge and experience.

Decided to go rs simply due to having a set of Fox already and wanting to avoid building a clone in terms of parts.

Frame and forks should be here next week, by which I hope to have learned to bleed disc brakes and change bearings on my hubs.

 

[RobMac]

Re:

So, does this mean your taking in stuff to service ..................... PAL! :mrgreen:

 

[ishaw]

I'm afraid not, just part of the hobby though happy to help anyone who does.

 

[Dickyboy]

Should be a nice frame & fork combo.

Solo air vs Dual air - with the solo air you can't change the travel so easily, need a whole new assembly I understand - one reason I will be sticking with dual air for as long as they last. Can't say I've noticed the difference with a 15mm axle on my 130mm Revs & QR's seem lees faff to me.