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To cut a very long story short I have a very old set of Vanillas. I can barely remember cleaning the stanchions and I certainly haven't changed the oil or seals in 6 or 7 (or 10?) years ownership. They got to the point of being utterly lifeless, have been replaced and have been kicking around the garage for a few months now. I don't currently need them but I do still have two bikes that they could be used on.
Given the condition I thought I might as well taken them apart - partly to learn, and partly because I wanted to check the stanchions before advertising them or sending them to Mojo.
Anyway, I have just taken them apart and to my utter astonishment the stanchions look pretty damn good. Anyway, I have gone online and think that the basics of a service should be straightforward. Buy new seals and oil and put them back together.
However I would like to know how to check whether the various other parts are up to scratch or should be replaced - coils, preload adjuster, rebound adjuster, anything else? How can I tell if they need replacing?
Or am I bonkers - should I just leave it to the experts and learn how to do a minor service before I attempt a full overhaul?
No responses? I've actually got a bit further... the only thing that I am unsure about now is the rebound. The rebound used to spin rounds loads and do little good. I've read about how to try to get it working again by getting the air out, but what can I check whilst the fork is in pieces? How can I tell if it will be OK when I rebuild?
Can you still get parts for a 2003 fork?
I've never had much luck taking Fox's apart save for lower services.
Unless you can find some kind of 'how to' guide you might have to rely on trial and error - if you can't make them return at a snails pace on full rebound then it's not right.
Ichabod (and I?)
I think the seals are the same, the oil is the same... other parts could be very tricky. Mojo told me that Fox aim to keep parts available for 7 years after manufacture. Maybe 5 more years of straight steerer availability.
What hope is there for people like me who have two 26" wheel straight steerer bikes, love fox forks, and can't see any reason to change? Special headsets? Will someone else step in and make a business out of copying old fox forks for stuck-in-the-muds? Will the bastards finally get me to abandon a much loved frame and a much loved wheel-size?
Cheers PJ... looked at loads of stuff online but can't work out how to judge a damper other than "does it work when fitted?"
What hope is there for people like me who have two 26" wheel straight steerer bikes, love fox forks, and can't see any reason to change? Special headsets? Will someone else step in and make a business out of copying old fox forks for stuck-in-the-muds? Will the bastards finally get me to abandon a much loved frame and a much loved wheel-size?
I've sometimes wondered if it would be possible, at least on some of the straight steerer frames with larger headtubes to make a very small lower cup to squeeze a taper in there.
At least RS, Xfusion and Manito still make straight steerer forks, and even in QR. If I had a 26" straight steerer frame I loved and didn't want to be parted from I'd be tempted to buy a new fork for it now and you'd expect to get at least 5 years from it with decent maintenance.
Maybe I'll buy a brand new tapered fork and use a file to get it down to around 1 1/8 straight - should be fine.
Tapered seem to work in integrated headset straight steerer frames with the right headset... none integrated just ain't happening.
Wonder if there are many frambuilders being asked to put new headtubes on favoured old frames?
I know its old news but it really does bug me. I want decent kit, but I also hate waste and love 26" wheels. And I've never been out riding and thought "you know what, I'm really enjoying this ride, just imaging how much better it would be if my front axle was 6mm wider and the headtube had a bulge at the bottom. How stiff would that make me and my bike?"
I might not mind if the bike industry came to me and said "look we've had straight steerers fail far too often. Tapered are so much better and safer. Really sorry to do this to you, but we really want to sell you a new frame that is pretty much identical to your last one, just better and safer"
I do mind that they say "you need similar engineering to people ho launch themselves off full on mountains at insane speeds. You need a new bike and no, you can't use many of your old parts, and you certainly can't have the wheel-size you want."
I do mind that they say "you need similar engineering to people ho launch themselves off full on mountains at insane speeds. You need a new bike and no, you can't use many of your old parts, and you certainly can't have the wheel-size you want."
I know where you're coming from, I adored my 26" G-Spot, it was and is an awesome bike, it had an 1.5" headtube which made things easy, but 26" wheels and a QR rear meant it's days were numbered.
Jumped up to a 27.5" frame, tapered headtube, 142/12mm rear bike - thinking that's it, I'm current, it's all good - but it didn't take long - seems my 200mm x 57mm shock is imperial, my 142mm rear isn't boost and well my tyres aren't Plus or Fat so depending on whether these standards fail or stick (and most things it seems these days stick) I'll be staring at an obsolete bike in 5 years when I'm done with it (I typically keep them for a long time).