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I have an old pair of dual air rebas that need a service. LBS quoting £55 (Velorunner in Stone) to service them, which is very much at the bottom of the quotes from all local bike shops. This still seems extortionate for the job. Service kits sell for under £20 so why is the price so high for a service? one shop asking for 80 quid!
Is it easy to do yourself? following youtube videos. I'm pretty competent and servicing forks and building wheels is the last 2 things I haven't yet attempted. I do like to support my LBS and I could do with the time for other things.
This still seems extortionate for the job. Service kits sell for under £20 so why is the price so high for a service? one shop asking for 80 quid!
Time for mechanic, collection of tools, new oil and grease, disposal of old oil and grease,and other overheads, you don't buy a bacon sandwich for the cost of 2 rashers of bacon and a slice of bread do you?
Forks are simple IF you have the right tools and bits handy. You will need a bottle of the right oil (maybe 2) some good quality grease, cleaning rags, some cleaning solution, length of wooden dowel or similar to get the cloth inside and out, don't know if those opes need circlips removed or not. A machined flat socket is also best used on some top nuts to avoid damaged with their low profile,
It's one of those jobs which goes either of two ways, doddle or PITA, never a middle ground. I've done a full strip, oil change and regrease in less than 30 mins but have also spent over 4hrs trying to get a lockout lever set up properly...
If it's just a lowers service, then it's generally pretty hassle free - Damper/Airside as well takes longer and generally involves a lot more faffing about and potential to get stuff wrong.
Service kit might be 20 quid, but do you have the extra bits and bobs - different oils/greases/circlip pliers etc?
That'll just be a lowers service.
It doesn't sound unreasonable for wages/overheads for around an hour's work. The fact that other places charge more probably indicates it's not a rip off.
That said, it's easy to do yourself, for a lowers service you just need to be able to get the bolts off and have the right fluids to clean/lube the things. You'll probably manage it in a couple of hours, the next time you do it you'll manage it in less time than getting to the shop and back.
I have done the same forks as you just from following youtube videos and looking on sram website for the manual. Its pretty straight forward to be honest with nothing that complicated or complexed. You will definately need circlip pliers and 2 different weights of oil and just a basic tool kit. Hardest bit is getting the aluminium dial off the bottom of the fork as that is almost guaranteed to be stuck/gummed up/corroded.
Forks are fine to service if you are methodical and have tools/space to do it.
What forks? Have a look through the service manuals, for Fox and Rockshox tools are listed at the top, they are step by step with pictures so you can see if you fancy doing it.
A full seal kit for most forks is more than £55 (air, damper and lower, not just lower)
A lower service is a good place to start, if you can DIY regularly it will keep forks running much nicer for longer and help prevent stanchion damage.
You’ll probably manage it in a couple of hours, the next time you do it you’ll manage it in less time than getting to the shop and back.
That. Check youtube for vids. If you feel comfortable with what you see then go for it. It's not bad but a torque wrench is useful for the bolts in the lowers as one of them is hollow so won't like too much manly force.
It’s not bad but a torque wrench is useful for the bolts in the lowers as one of them is hollow so won’t like too much manly force.
Yeah it also helps you not to worry so much about them falling out and letting the lowers drop off. Although a "gentle to moderate nip" does the job, a torque wrench you know has done the job.
How can you say it's extortionate if you don't know how hard it is to do?
I can do a lowers service in less than the time it'd take me to drive to the suspension specialist & back. Definitely worth giving it a go with the aid of youtube.
It's a messy job, often fiddly with an awkward circlip that will fly across the room. You usually need a few 'unusual' tools that usually only seem to fit one fork - i've got various odd sockets/long sockets bought for forks. Have a huge lump of metal that's for pressing in the oil seals on some old bombers and another tool for protecting the top while you lever it out.
It'll take you a lot longer than it will a shop.
I'm about to do my first shock when the seals arrive. I fear this is going to be a level up from forks...
Servicing Rockshox stuff anyway is fairly easy if you're mechanically minded, I'm not but I still manage to do it within a few hours (should take half that) and using basic tool and ALL the swear words.
Frankly it's usually not cheaper the first time you do it, bottles of the right oils aren't cheap (although they seem to have enough to do dozens of forks) and the service kids are £35 for my forks. I think by the time I'd bought some new tools inner and outer circlip tools, seal tool (you don't really need it), oil, service kit, fancy grease etc it was about £80 which is what TFT charge - when I do it next it'll just be the service kit, but frankly I might not even need that - the seals I took out last time were visually anyway exactly the same as the ones I replaced so it's debatable whether a change was needed - but when you've got them and you're in there...
You'll want a bit of room, a workstand is handy, somewhere to drain the oil into, some good quality lint free rags or paper towels, some of the alcohol stuff the chemist asks lots of questions about and mostly time. If you're a bit of a stresshead like me you wont want to start running out of time and rushing it.
It's also compulsory to put your uppers back in the wrong way around the first time around and not realise until the forks are back on the bike...
Fork lowers basic service is dead easy- if you can undo a bolt, pour a shot, and wipe your arse you have all the relevant skills. Sometimes you'll need some annoying tool like a deep 10mm socket, depends on the fork. but this is just preventative maintenance, once a fork "needs a service" it probably wants more love.
Full services can vary a lot depending on how complex and how specific the fork is- like, you might need a bladder bleed tool, or it might be like an old Lyrik when there's 5 million little seals. But tbf, forks don't actually need full services that often, as long as the minor services are done regularly.
“needs a service”
Amen, if they just don't feel as fresh as before, or it's just 'time' then you're probably okay - if they're not doing what they should be doing, then it might be time to call in a Pro - I forget sometimes, but the benefits the like of TFT bring to the job is diagnosing faults and knowing how to fix them.
ta all, gonna take them down the shop tomorrow *grin*