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Now the crap weather is starting up again and getting out on a particularly filthy (fun) ride recently, I’ve been reminded of more regular servicing / cleaning routine that I normally adopt during the rubbish months
it dawned on me I never do anything with my fork and dropper stanchions past a wipe over with a micro fibre cloth so looking to start really looking after them
what are people using to “properly” clean / lubricate their fork and dropper stanchions? How is the best way to do / use whatever is necessary?
advice / recommendations / pointers and links most welcome
Soapy water.
A (very occasional) spray with some fork/shock stanchion lubricant (I think my current one is Fenwicks).
I don't
Reason being that the wiper seals wipe the stanchion, the lubrication is done inside.
I might drop some suspension oil or in an emergency some wet lube on, cycle it a few times then wipe off. But really, if I am doing that then the fork needs a lowers service or the dropper needs a service.
Rinse with a hose after a muddy ride, quick wipe with a microfibre then a spray with some Juice Lubes Fork Juice. I've done that with every bike of mine for about the past 10 years and never had any trouble with forks or droppers.
I'm cautious, I used to us Silicon sprays and lubes etc, but I think it's going to have a detrimental effect on the grease in the seals.
I can complete a lower service quicker than I can remove the forks from the frame, so I do that a couple of times over winter and I've never any issues.
My routine.
I wash the bike, and clean with a carbon fibre cloth, Spray some fork lube onto the seals, compress the fork once to lift most of the accumulated debris away from the seal and up the stanchion, wipe away, apply a second light coat. It's not a replacement for a lower leg service, but I've not encountered any issues doing mine over several years, and dropping the lowers hasn't ever reveled a problem.
I once put a couple of drops of fork oil on the wiper seals of my wife's Fox before a 100 miler. (The corrrect stuff, whatever is was)
When she returned the stanchions both had worn through the surface. Although I was sparing and wiped any excess off, the dust obviously stuck to them and at the end of the day they were knackered!
So I never put anything on them, except soapy water!!!
I’m cautious, I used to us Silicon sprays and lubes etc, but I think it’s going to have a detrimental effect on the grease in the seals.
All the suspension specific oils and grease in the legs is silicon based anyway, that's why the spray lube is silicon.
Lick them. Be a man.
Halfords silicone spray, I've not found dirt inside my forks for over 10 years and I've had some seals last 5yrs without leaking, so it must work.
Oil supplied by EXT specifically for the job of keeping the seals lubricated between services. On a really mucky ride, will wipe them periodically to keep the muck at bay.
+1 for soapy water and also for
I’ve not found dirt inside my forks for over 10 years
I just try to do my lowers servicing vaguely on time.
I use a muckynutz mudguard permanently and that keeps so much muck away from the stanchions that there is little concern. Will occasionally then apply from fork juice or finish line wet lube, but having a Fox fork service last year after about 8 years of use, other than dirty foam rings, they were absolutely fine.
Anyhing you put on the outside is either going to get scraped off by the wiper seals or end up inside contamination the oil.
If the seals are working properly, they should be leaving a nice thin film of oil on the stanchions which is all the lubrication they need. Keeping the foam rings clean and keeping on top of the oil in the lowers is all that's needed really.
Ha ha ha winning reply so far goes to @relapsed_mandalorian
Lick them. Be a man.
thanks so far, all, my ham fisted ways are not quite ready (prepared) to tackle fork servicing just yet but plenty to chew on for now regarding generally upkeep(?!)
Soapy water has always been my go-to so little unsure if I’m just complicating things for the sake of it
EXT supply a little squeeze bottle of suspension oil with their forks, with a thin nozzle on the end, they recommend doing exactly as @jimmy748 is doing above
A vacuum can build up in the lowers, many new forks have air release buttons, otherwise you can slide a cable tie in to release it.
Oil in the lowers lubricants the surface between the bushes and the stanctions, the lowers the oil gets there quite easily under compression, but the uppers are more difficult, turning a bike upwards can do it, but often the oil can just run inside the upper tubes instead of between the stanction and bush.
By using the syringe as above you burp lowers and place fork oil directly onto the upper bushing as the same time.
I was put onto it by Sam at Geometron after talking to him about bushing park.
Usual bike wash and a cloth.
Plus keep on top of servicing, fresh oil and seals when needed. I've not had any issues of fork sealing or stickyness in many many years.
Properly? Lower service.
Typically, wash with warm soapy water, dry, one drip of finish line stanchion lube.
Bare minimum, wipe with alcohol wipe and finish line stanchion lube.
I wash the mud off (no high pressure stuff), dry it and then a squirt of silicon spray.
Then, as above, ONE COMPRESSION ONLY and wipe off the muck that comes out.
Been doing the same on a number of forks including a set of Pikes from around 2010, so it seems to work.
For prevention, one of those flexi thin mudguard thingies - keeps loads of crap off the seals.
I have some brunox deo spray
I wash off gently - try not to rub any grit on the stamchions.
Then a bit of a clean of the seals - maybe a cloth, maybe cotton bud.
Then WPL fork boost lube at the seals - use on shock and droppers too.
Compress, see if it brings anything up from the seals - pat off.
Spray with silicone - Fenwick currently, have used Vikings too. Both good.
The silicone isn't really to lube the fork, it's more to stop crud sticking, helps with the clean up next time.
I don't do this every ride, depends on the conditions. Mucky nutz on all forks - why would you take off!
I've used GT85 in the past but I got a bit concerned about it possibly stripping lubricant from inside the seals. I dunno if it's psychosomatic Snake Oil but I find Fenwicks to make a real difference for a couple of rides at least before it benefits from another squirt.
I think the biggest difference is if you have any cack under the seal lip. Easy to deal with but not everyone does it.
I scoot on a little silicon spray then do the "bump", it's just good for the soul to see that little ring of dirt and get rid of it. In practice I doubt it makes the slightest bit of difference on a maintained fork, which mine are because lowers services are such an easy thing to do.
I wouldn't use GT85 as it's a penetrant and it surely gets in everywhere and washes out the grease and oil leaving not much in the way of lubricant behind.
I'm not a chemical engineer so correct me if I'm wrong.
I've used a few different silicon sprays. They all feel the same and smell the same. It's probably the same stuff in different coloured tins. I think mine is currently Fenwick's.
They all feel the same and smell the same
I can't feel any difference either but some definitely smell different. Have you yet to experience Peaty's minty fresh of Muc-Off cherry?
I did notice Peaty's seems to fizz slightly on contact and lift dirt away from the seals. Not sure what's different about it to do that?
The only real difference in silicon sprays is the silicon content and the thickness, most silicon sprays are pretty thin. Glazier's silicone is ideal as it's thick- in fact that's exactly what Fork Juice is, you used to be able to buy the exact same product from Screwfix with a different label on.
A quick squirt and wipe of dodo fork juice after the bikes been washed. Also works really well if you've got stiff rear van doors!
It’s the seals harbouring grit that’s the issue
Chris Porters method - Clean out seals with a motorcycle seal cleaner tool. (thin, shaped piece of rigid plastic sheet that pushes down past the seal) Get some EXT oil in a mini bottle with tool from Mojo.
LOL at the amount of EXT tax on that tiny bottle of oil!
Seriously, just use a tiny cable tie and any regular fork spray.
Personally, I’m unconvinced that the stanchions need any lube. I get that people who know much more than me lube their stanchions. But Personally, I never have. And I’ve never had a fork need replaced because the stanchions were worn. If anything, I would be fearful that the lube would attract more dirt to the stanchions, which I believe, would cause more harm then any promised benefit.
The lube is supposed to go inside the seals not all over the stanchions. That's why you apply it, compress the forks and then clean the stanchions.
Wet seals just work better. They're more slippery and keep more dirt out. Just because you've never destroyed a fork doesn't mean they're working as well as they can be.
I've just done mine 5 minutes ago and the amount of grit that came out was eye opening. Now it's on a rag in the bin not sliding up and down in my fork.
adding some oil to the wiper sponges without stripping them down sounds like a good idea as a 'I know my forks really need a lowers service but I can't be arsed at the moment' solution. But I'd be a bit worried about either scraping the fork ano with a syringe, introducing dirt past the seal when I'd wedged something in it, or nicking/damaging the wiper with whatever I was using
Storing the bike inverted ensures the foam rings/upper bushing are always lubricated.
Few drops of wet chain lube on the stanchions. Compress forks a few times, then wipe clean. No need for anything else and never attempt to put oil into the forks from about the seals. You'll just stretch the seals and encourage dirt to get in.
Putting the bike upside-down for a few hours if not ridden in a while is a good idea.
Storing the bike inverted ensures the foam rings/upper bushing are always lubricated.
post above suggests maybe not - oil doesn't necessarily end up in the right place between the two tubes. Also, stoping upside down much more likely to give issues with brakes if there's any air in them, and simple isn't practical for a lot of us.
@mjsmke what evidence do have to support, because it’s bs, they are rubber seals and will not permanently deform by gently sliding in a very small round ended needle.
The outer seals keep large particles out, the foam rings protect against dust and water, but neither effect the sliding of the sanctions, that is done by the bushes and relies on an oil film between the bushes and the outside of the inner stations turning a bike upside down the oil just runs inside of the hollow in stanchion, putting oil directly on top of the bush keeps it lubricated and any excess soaks into the foam rings.
Putting anything other than fork oil on them is not a great idea, put a bit of fork oil in a small container and spray some of the silicone spray or whatever else people are using and look what it does to the oil, it will cause it to separate and become less slippery.
At the end of the day, a lowers service can be done in about 30 minutes without any special tools, so do it often, keep the seals clean, the foam rings wet and oil in the lowers and your forks will work fine, if you don’t they will feel crap no matter the damper or settings.
RSP Hyper Wiper. After washing/drying.
Chris Porters method – Clean out seals with a motorcycle seal cleaner tool. (thin, shaped piece of rigid plastic sheet that pushes down past the seal)
A friend of mine runs a motorbike suspension service/tuning company. He reckons he all those tools do is get more dirt into your forks.