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What diameter dowel do you use to clean the inside of fork legs and poke grease down into the air spring upper tube? Best to use two separate dowels with different diameters for each job, or will one do?
You're overthinking it, it's a stick with a bit of clean cloth wrapped round the end to wipe out the lowers, anything non metallic will do.
And the air spring, just give the piston a healthy wipe of grease (or float fluid depending on model) , the piston will wipe 99% of it off the inside of the tube anyway.
Misread this and thought it was about how to handle the moment you realise you've just knocked the end of the damper rod off.
I've a bent coat hanger. I tie a piece of cloth at one end and shove it in.
Good dose of brake cleaner, give it a good wipe. It doesn't need to be surgically clean
Definitely overthinking it here. If your dowel ain't got the girth, wrap it in a bigger rag. As for getting fork grease into the uppers, the rockshox method is to stick some on the piston head and smear a bit inside with a mk1 finger. Shoving the piston assembly back in does the spreading out.
Now...
Misread this and thought it was about how to handle the moment you realise you’ve just knocked the end of the damper rod off.
That is a different kettle of fish. I presume you mean the thingy that 'sets' the bottom of the damper rod in the bottom of the lower. Ie you might have lost your rag with the bottom of the rod not releasing and overdone the 'encouragement'?
If this is the case, the correct tool is a wooden cricket stump from one of those My First Cricket Set things. It knocked it back in and reset it so it hasn't come out again in two subsequent services. Bodgetastic.
That is a different kettle of fish. I presume you mean the thingy that ‘sets’ the bottom of the damper rod in the bottom of the lower. Ie you might have lost your rag with the bottom of the rod not releasing and overdone the ‘encouragement’?
I am naturally predisposed to violence when it comes to bike fettling.
I am naturally predisposed to violence when it comes to bike fettling.
I'm 50/50. If I've set enough time aside, cleared it with the missus that I won't be needed for a couple of hours and told her to keep the kids inside if I look like I'm walking quickly back and forth to the shed - then I'm usually fine.
The time I refer to above was one of those ones where I know I've only got an hour or so and my mind is saying "you will regret this" as the first anticlockwise turn of an Allen key goes in.
I managed to shatter the footnut as well during the rapidly accelerating spiral of vile language, perspiration and violence that ensued.
🤦
To be honest the kids are old enough to have heard it all before at school now.
A month or so ago a seemingly simple DIY task escalated out of control quite rapidly.
When I loudly questioned the parentage of the shoe rack I was putting up on a stud wall all I could hear was chuckling from the cherubs.
Soft tip bottle brush with an old sock, there's even sponge ones too instead of bristles, and I've got a stick with a ball on the end that's perfect for greasing inside tubes, it's like a glockenspiel stick, mallet, whatever you call them, it might even be one, god knows where it's from, I found it in the loft.
20mm plastic conduit (B+Q).
Drill some holes through it and weave your rag through the holes. Spray some IPA (cleaner) in to the forks and then get busy with the conduit tool.
This'll get them lovely and clean without damaging anything. Please don't poke anything metal anywhere near the bushes or seals.