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I'm going to give my 2018 Pike RTC3s a lower leg service with all this downtime.
This will be its first (and my first time) and even though it doesn't feel like it needs one it will hopefully give enough of a noticeable feel on the trail.
I don't have anything I need but this looks like it does...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/283632531348
This sound ok or is there a better option out there?
I might as well change the seals and foam rings while I'm in there but hopefully it's more about changing the oil and giving it a good clean...cheers.
That’s everything you need right there. To be honest though I doubt you’d need to change the seals yet. It can be a bit of a ball ache. I’d inspect the ones you’ve got and keep the new ones as spares if they look in decent nick.
depending on how well youve looked after them should only need an oil change and foam ring clean. Dont worry too much when you struggle to get the foam rings back in, they will go and will sort themselves out once you ride the fork a bit...all will become clear when you try it! after each ride i spray some fork juice over the seals then cycle the suspension which draws the muc out. saves seals, foam rings and keeps the oil cleaner for longer.
Cheers both. I always clean the uppers after every ride. If the foam rings and uppers look good I won't change them - just clean accordingly and pop new oil in. Always there for next time I suppose.
Worth changing the seals to skf. Getting the old ones out is a bummer put a long Allen key under and hit with a mallet is the best way. The skf ones go in easily and are much smoother. Do the debonair spring upgrade too whilst you’re at it. Made a massive difference to my 2018 pikes.
Actually the seals in the kit you show are upgraded ones so fit them.
You probably need to get in the habit of doing the easy stuff more regularly. Lowers off, wipe clean, foam rings out, cleaned reinstalled and new oil +/- Judt butter if you’ve got it. Takes under 10mins if you’re slick and makes the fork feel great again.
By all means change the seals and other bits if you want, but that makes it much more of a PITA. Don’t shy away from doing the easy stuff.
Follow this video and you can’t go wrong :
A pick makes getting the foam rings in / out much easier
Isopropyl alcohol is a must
SRAM butter for the seals
Oil (obviously)
Drip tray to catch old oil
Hammer
Allen keys
Syringe with tube
I wouldn’t change seals or foam rings, just clean unless they are damaged.
2 years without a lowers service.
Unless you are a very occasional user, riding in non muddy and non dusty conditions, it’s almost certain your forks are either dry, close to dry, buggered or just not working as well as they were designed to.
In 2 years I’d expect to have serviced my lowers 6 times, and I know that’s not up to the standard of the recommended service intervals.
Are the skf low friction seals in the link the op gave the same as the green skf low friction seals? The green version usually sell for more than that whole kit
These are the latest seals from Rockshox that are manufactured by SKF.
No the same as SKF green seal, seems they are made by SKF for RS
Aside from keeping the fork clean, a lower leg service is the single best thing you can do to maintain the performance of your fork. You can tell when it needs doing, the fork will start to feel 'sticky'. In my experience, Rockshox forks don't always come with oil in the lowers from new, so I always do lower leg services on new forks before riding them.
Isopropyl alcohol is a must
Unsurprisingly, gettings hold of IPA at the moment is quite tricky. Any suggestions for an alternative cleaning product?
There was a link on here last year, but it wasn't that conclusive (I may resurrect if I get no response here)
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/alternatives-to-isopropyl-alcohol-for-cleaning-forks/