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Bit of an odd and let me freely admit question of the 1%... what would you have as an FS bike that you might leave unused for a month - six weeks at a time unridden, but would then want to work reliably for two weeks hard riding?
I live in London most of the time, but travel up to Scotland every month or so, I have a Transition Smuggler up north and love it, but I find the SLX brakes, Monarch shock and st Swiss fork (not the most recent one) always need a bit of tlc after they’ve sat around unridden for a bit.
Is there anything to be done apart from sucking up the lube/bleed/etc time? Would a coil shock/fork be more reliable? Any thoughts about brakes?
Thanks
Crumbs, I barely touch my apline6 between rides. It got hammered in Spain for a week then was laid up over Christmas for two months and is now back into regular riding. Never need to add air to the fork, shock, seatpost or tyres. It’s like an annoyingly reliable Korean car, only somehow it has soul. I’ll probably change the pivot bearings when it gets re-painted in a few years. It’s bombproof. Made from filing cabinets see?
I haven’t ridden any of my bikes for 7 months. I expect them to work when I’m back riding again, but will only give them a basic check before I do.
trying not sound like a show off, but I have 7 bikes (4 FS), so there are going to be extended periods that some don’t get ridden as regularly as others. Not had any problems so far that are due to them sat doing nothing. If they worked when you put them away, they should work now, aside from maybe a little loss of air from the tyres.
In my experience its the hydraulic brakes and suspension that don't seem to like being left too long between rides.
That doesn't mean you will have problems for sure (No doubt you won't) but they are the components I have found can cause problems on occasion.
It might depend a bit on how it's stored, but I've never had any problems with an old Giant Anthem that gets ridden about once a month. That has Hayes El Camino brakes, which have never been serviced apart from pad changes, and Reba U-Turn forks. I turn it upside down for a few minutes before each ride, but that's about it. I think tubeless tyres are the biggest problem, if they go completely flat, they will need the old sealant cleaned out and replaced.
I did store another old Giant on a balcony behind my office for about 4 years. By the time I got round to checking it, every rubber component was just sticky goo. Shock went in the bin, forks and brakes needed complete overhauls.
Orange single pivot frame, coil shock and fork (Pike with coil conversion perhaps). I used to run Fox Vanilla RLC coil forks on an Orange Five and that was very low maintenance compared to most of the other bikes and suspension I’ve owned before or since.
Just about any decent bike and a decent set of lubes.
Lube the seals of your shocks and dropper, drop of lube on bearings if needed. Everything will be fine just check your pressures before you set out.
Got a Bird Aeris 145lt. Didn’t ride it from the start of December until this week. Worked perfectly first time with no maintenance.
Has a Rockshox Lyrik fork and deluxe rt3 shock. Sram Code R front brake and Guide R rear brake. All perfect.
Shimano brakes it seems don’t like being left unused and their seals leak.
Can’t comment on the DT Swiss fork.
Dehumidifier.
Essentially nothing to worry about, unless it's stored somewhere horrible- my old dh bike used to get ridden about 4 times a year, all it ever got before a ride was the suspension sprayed with silicon, the brakes squeezed to test, and the tyres inflated. And I parked my Remedy in November when I broke my wrist and just rode it right out of the garage in March when I healed up.