[Closed] Why can't Fox sort themselves out?

Personaly I don't have a problem with my fox forks but do clean them and keep the foam ring lubed
Pace do suffer with the black coating coming off as do rockshox

Just been looking at csu price for a mate lyrik £375
Same part for fox half that.

Never had a problem with Fox myself, turns out they are the most reliable forks among our (lazy) lot, keep the seals well-lubed & clean

Just been looking on ebay and around 50% of the forks on offer have stantion wear,

The sellers haven't looked after their forks properly, not really Fox's fault is it

i've poss got some fox float 150mm (spaced down to 140mm atm) FIT RL 15mm QR in black id be possibly willing to sell?

serviced by loco - and new SKF (when serviced in june time) seals by loco too! probably due a service, but running absolutly fine at the mo

no wear on the stanchions, due to me cleaning after every single ride! (even loco said i clealry look after them 😉 ) do have one very very light scratch on the stanchion (its not deep, more a light scratch)

been thinking of selling them to try something different if your interested?

Never had a problem, got four set of Fox forks between us, some of which are nearly eight years old and they're all perfect, I do the foam rings a few times a year and its all good..

I know what your saying about not looking after them but I'm sure Fox owners are no more or less careful then owners of other brands. The other brands have no where near the same issue with stantion wear. All the evidence points to a problem that has been ongoing for years.

I've had a couple of sets of Fox in the past and didn't have a problem with the Floats I had from new and looked after but the amount that do wear is not simply down to naughty owners.

The sellers haven't looked after their forks properly, not really Fox's fault is it

This. When mine went to Locos for a service they were nice and clean inside, no stantion wear and I clean and lube mine every ride. Regular oil changes, oiling of the legs and all is fine.

i've poss got some fox float 150mm (spaced down to 140mm atm) FIT RL 15mm QR in black id be possibly willing to sell?

serviced by loco - and new SKF (when serviced in june time) seals by loco too! probably due a service, but running absolutly fine at the mo

no wear on the stanchions, due to me cleaning after every single ride! (even loco said i clealry look after them ) do have one very very light scratch on the stanchion (its not deep, more a light scratch)

been thinking of selling them to try something different if your interested?

Cheers mate but I'm after some 100mm or 120mm forks and am not convinced Fox is the way to go atm.

IMO it never used to be an issue. I had a set of 2004 F100 RLTs and some 2007 Talas RLs and never had a problem with either in several years with no servicing.

My 2011 F100 FIT RLs were utterly trashed after 10 months. That said... new Kashima uppers and seals seem to have sorted the issue, much less marking.

I give mine a good wash and wipe after every ride an liberaly spray with Fork Juice. Also turn the bike upside down for a few hrs every few weeks. Current forks are 5 yrs old and have had an annual service every year at TF Tuned. I don't do the foam rings in between services.

stanchions fine - probably just tempted fate typing that tho 😆

I will confess this makes me nervous about buying Fox. I'm not shy of a spanner and my bikes get cleaned, but I've not once opened up a set of forks to service them. Once or twice a year I can cope with, but if I've got to take them apart more often than that I'm pretty sure it won't get done.

Fox won't say it publically but UK conditions are not the norm and as such and given that most owners outside of the UK don't have stantion wear issues, Fox are perfectly happy with the performance (which can be managed in the UK if you're careful about constantly servicing them) and won't be changing the design just for us, a small part of the market...

all i've ever done with mine, is a proper service once a year - probably 2 seal services a year - and religiously sprayed them with fork juice after everyride and wiped clean

= no wear on stanchions and thats in full on peak district skank!

whether ive just been lucky who knows, but my mate doesnt look after his at all (and i mean didnt even have them serviced at all for 2 years not even a home seal service, nothing, nadda, and his were still fine too!)

The sellers haven't looked after their forks properly, not really Fox's fault is it

I will buy RS from now on, loving my Pikes and lyriks.
Might give fox another go if they come on a bike i buy in the future.

Hmm.. I think the op is right in the fact that fox are not reliable enough, I'v gone through a lot of fox stantions myself over the years, I now make sure I constantly check and service my fox from now on, I do like there performance but I never have stantion wear on my totems or marzocchis, I do think if you service them and keep them lubed all the time they will be fine, but to me, it's just more hassle I don't need...there services interval times are a bit pathetic tbh!

LoCo - Member
Just been looking on ebay and around 50% of the forks on offer have stantion wear,
The sellers haven't looked after their forks properly, not really Fox's fault is it
POSTED 11 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

Loco, I think your right in what your saying, but I suppose you are going to defend fox as you'll want more people to buy them cos that'll be better business for you with all the servicing you'll get! 😉

I have a bit of an issue with the "not really Fox's fault" argument. If Ford produced a mass market car that had problems unless it was serviced every 2000 miles, it simply wouldn't sell. It would be Ford's fault for producing cars not fit for purpose. Are Fox forks really that much better than everyone else's that they justify shorter service intervals?

Perhaps Fox compromise on sealing to get good sensitivity from the fork? As a result, they rely on higher levels of maintenance?
Saying that though...the 140 talas on my Stumpjumper are fine. Probably done 4 lower leg services in that time.

Its not just a Fox issue. I'm also looking at forks at the moment and there are Rockshox's for sale with stanchion wear. Alot of sellers seem to list this obvious huge bill as

'minor mark on stanchion'

Makes me ****ing angry when I see such attempts to palm off a new CSU cost onto a upgrading newbie buyer.

Its not just maintenance that causes such wear- I think its constant fore-aft flex.

Theres a Fox seller -----> who I've asked three times on email if there is any stanchion wear - answered all the questions but not that one.

Hmm.

Note- One way to hide stanchion wear is to set the travel (internally) lower and say 'forks currently set at' or just not even say it. Wear sits lower down and hey presto when you realise forks aren't set at 'x' height - you investigate and its too late...

I bet this has happened..

LOL- found one straight away:
http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1265687/

"They have a slight sanction mark on the left side"

If you look into it Fox service intervals are pretty much the same as Rockshox, major service every 100 hours, and a lowers service every 15hours for Fox and 25 hours for Rockshox, so a bit different but not that much
And do a search for worn Rockshox lowers.. It's not exactly unheard of for those either.
Non are perfect.

stilltortoise - Member
I have a bit of an issue with the "not really Fox's fault" argument. If Ford produced a mass market car that had problems unless it was serviced every 2000 miles, it simply wouldn't sell. It would be Ford's fault for producing cars not fit for purpose. Are Fox forks really that much better than everyone else's that they justify shorter service intervals?

POSTED 40 SECONDS AGO #

Standard service intervals are 6000 miles or 6 months whatever comes first.

You risk damaging your engine if you don't follow them, no difference.

I'm finally going to bite the bullet and take a look at mine, hopefully without too many tears when I do so.

Could someone please tell me exactly what I need (and how much) to service my 32 Float 100s? 🙂

I'm not going to get drawn into whether fox's are more wear prone 😉 anything will wear if not serviced and cleaned.
I'm not after anymore work by suggesting you buy something that's going to break wear either 😯
Out of the several dozen fox forks I've had the only ones that worn through the upper leg coating were a set of Vanilla 140 qr's which I had for 5 years, were heavily used and abused and then the wear was only just visable with very close inspection but was there so replaced the uppers before I sold them.
TBH I reckon any fork would have worn given how many miles and abuse those forks had on them. 😐

Iv just replaced my uppers with new kashima ones after suffering stanchion wear. Iv also fitted a fender bender to see if this helps - seems to be a lot les crap on the stanchions after a ride - not to mention in my face. Also first service im going to put a bit more oil in the lower legs- Im sure Fox skimp on this to keep their weight figures competative.

Standard service intervals are 6000 miles or 6 months whatever comes first.

You risk damaging your engine if you don't follow them, no difference.

Of course there's a difference. 4000 miles. I'm not one of these people who thinks things will just carry on working without servicing. My analogy to cars was to point out that if you had to service a car after 2000 miles - [b]much[/b] less than most if not all car servicing intervals - you wouldn't be very impressed.

its not the fact that fox forks wear prematurely its the fact that 90% of people are incompetent and feel that they have spent the best part of 1K on a fork. why should they need servicing so soon?

Why doesn't Marzocchi have stanchion wear issues?

Cos they've got more oil in them than Kuwait.. It's also why they're heavy.

90% of people are incompetent

such arrogance!!!
This number is pure rubbish - they're very simple to service - maybe even you could do it.

The argument here as has been stated over and over again is about required length of service intervals; and how they are much shorter than other brands - which they are.

 

Have seen worn Marz forks too.

The seals and huge amount of oil in the lowers helps, but then you get the weigh trade off.

Anyway don't you hate Marz stuff atm Hora 😉

such arrogance!!!
This number is pure rubbish - they're very simple to service - maybe even you could do it.

arrogance? no just stating how I feel that alot of people on here are quick to slag off the fact that they spend so much money on the a fork then complain they wear out. yet haven't even serviced them.

You mean I can service the fork myself? really? well i never.

The main reason for stanchion wear as I understand it is not due to crud ingress through the seals, but a dry upper bushing.
There are a couple of ways to avoid this.
Avoid the use of degreasers such as muc off etc around the fork seals. A simple wipe clean of the stanchions, a squirt of lube and a pump up and down of the forks before storage.
Also regular inversion of the fork, such that the oil in the lower leg migrates towards the crown and soaks the foam ring then the foam ring will now properly lubricate the upper bushing.

I think it's unfair to judge fox by what for sale 2nd hand. What are the se people upgrading to? It's not like you can buy anything much better (RS/fox being much of a muchness these days). Therefore a lot of the sales are probably people realising the cost fo a service and CSU is about the same as some new forks off CRC.

Plenty of people keep them for years and regulalry service them with no issues.

Also there's a huge difference between people riding a trail center maybe once a week. And people out riding their bikes 4 times a week all winter. Both get a years use from them, but 100-200 hours use passes awfully quickly for some people without realising! Whilst some people are blissfuly iognorant of how below average their riding is.

Standard service intervals are 6000 miles or 6 months whatever comes first.

You risk damaging your engine if you don't follow them, no difference.

What four stroke car has 6000 mile/6 month service intervals?

Even my midget (theoreticaly, if you drove it enough in a year) can do that!

Even the yearly thing is a missonomer. The oil degrades with use not time, if you did infrequent motorway trips it would last far longer, the year just catches the people who do 3000mile s a year on a very short commute/school run thus building up crap/water in the oil that never gets burnt off.

ive managed to overtighten that bas*ard nut at the bottom once on my fox forks lowers before when doing a simple oil change, resulting in a new rod and postage costs of about 60quid

its now made me scared to even do a home seal service/ oil change - because, im ok at doing home mechanics, and i didnt even think id overtightened it with ham fistedness, just basically the same as always!

im now worried ive under-tightened it and the bloody nuts gonna work its way off 😆

cant win 🙁

Didn't touch my Fox forks for a year (and a pretty crap wet year it was too). Just got them back from their first service and all seems fine. No wear that I can see and no reports of problems. I do wash the bike after pretty much every ride and don't put degreaser anywhere near the forks. I don't use any fork juice, but the bike is stored in the shed hanging from its front wheel, so I guess the oil runs down to the foam ring.

Anybody remember fork boots , trouble is you can't see your nice shiny Kashima coated stanchions through them .

None of the internet heresay and waffle makes me want to buy fox forks, hey cost a fortune, they have stupidly short service intervals (relative to the competition) and seem to be a constant source of woe for half the owners, while the other half are meticulously cleaning and servicing them to prevent normal use bolloxing them...

I've had Several old pairs of Marzocchi forks, treated them like shite and never had this issue...

"

90% of people are incompetent

such arrogance!!!
This number is pure rubbish - they're very simple to service - maybe even you could do it.

The argument here as has been stated over and over again is about required length of service intervals; and how they are much shorter than other brands - which they are. Quote"

It's only two weeks since one of my cycling club told me that the bike goes in to the dealer to get the tyres blown up!

Simple they are to do but there are an amazing number of folk out there who have no mechanical ability or sympathy (but are intelligent enough to recognise that and so get the professionals to do it).

My Foxes had far less than the recommended amount of oil in them from new but I caught it after a year with no ill effect.

But there really is no excuse for poor life - I've said it before but forty years of motorcycle trials experience, seeing what hundreds of other bikes have been like on no fork maintenance (trials riders are notoriously tight and, sadly, these days also mechanically ignorant), tells me that mountainbike forks should be a lot better than they are.

 

I think the rumour mill started when Fox became a very popular OEM fork. FWIW we see plenty of Rock Shox in our workshop with stanchion wear. The 'problem' is with aluminium stanchions and cartidge forks. This means high performance and low weight, with the downside of frequent servicing. If you don't want the faff buy an open bath fork...

Other forks do wear - its just that the wear on Kashima coatings shows up because it wears the coating off.

Just service them and you will be fine. Honestly it takes 15 mins to the replace the foam rings and oil.

If you have spent £1k on your forks you are a ****t if you dont spend a few quid and 15 mins every few months looking after them.

Other forks do wear - its just that the wear on Kashima coatings shows up because it wears the coating off.

The problem has been around longer than Kashima.

IME they don't handle neglect as well as RS, no point in comparing them to open bath forks. I ran a Boxxer for about 18months with basically no oil and suffered no visible wear, my 36s still had a good amount of oil in them at the last service but are still showing signs of wear.

Of course riders should be following the service guidelines to the letter, but they should also be selecting kit to match the attention they are likely to give it. (How many people give their fork several services on a 2 week holiday out of interest?)

EDIT: I'm not ashamed to say that I just want kit that goes on working these days. I'll be heading back to Marzocchi and paying the weight penalty next time.

Kashima wears?

😯

I thought it was wonder-stuff?

**** the weight issues- just use Mazz's approach.

If you have spent £1k on your forks you are a ****t if you dont spend a few quid and 15 mins every few months looking after them.

Again this is missing the point many of us are trying to make. I don't want to make a(nother) sweeping generalisation but many of us have no problem with looking after our kit and are happy to service forks. Some of us are happy to pay others to do it. What we're grumbling about is the frequency we're supposed to do it, which for a keen rider is a lot more often than "every few months".

This isn't unreasonable: http://www.ridefox.com/fox_tech_center/owners_manuals/07/eng/service_intervals.htm

How many people give their fork several services on a 2 week holiday out of interest?

How many need to?

Say 30 miles a day, 10mph = 3 hours of actual riding each day. Which seems reasnoble once you ignore uplifts, rests etc. Even on a group XC ride with what feels like little/no stopping my Garmin says we only actualy move for 75% of the time, and hollidays are far more laid back.

So that's one week for Fox's intervals, about 2 weeks for RS, assuming riding 5 days/week. Assuming 15 and 25 hour service intervals, which I thought was wrong as fox had increaced theirs to >24 hours.

And no one goes on holliday somewhere as crappy as the UK.

But yes, after a week's hard riding my forks feelt shagged (RS sektors and lyrics). I probably do a service every ~10 hours because it's quick and in reality if I didn't do it all I'd gain is a cup of tea or 10 minutes watching news 24.

cookeaa - Member
None of the internet heresay and waffle makes me want to buy fox forks, hey cost a fortune, they have stupidly short service intervals (relative to the competition) and seem to be a constant source of woe for half the owners, while the other half are meticulously cleaning and servicing them to prevent normal use bolloxing them...
[b]I've had Several old pairs of Marzocchi forks, treated them like shite and never had this issue...
[/b]POSTED 55 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

Too true! I've been riding for many years now in a big group and it definitely seems that the fox forks are the most vulnerable to stanchion wear, in fact tbh I haven't even seen any other brand forks wear!

It isn't really fair when you've paid do much for forks for them to wear within a year, weather they've been serviced or not! There is clearly a problem with there coating on the stanchions, if you run your finger nail very gently down fox stanchions you can feel they're quite rough compared to say RS or marzocchi.

I agree with some of the pro fox posts and agree user error is a factor and other forks get stantion wear but my point from the start was that there's a far higher percentage of bust Fox forks compared to the others.

I've spent more time then's healthy trawling ebay and various forums FS sections looking at suitable forks from all the main players to stick on my Clockwork for the last couple of months. It is a simple fact that far more Fox are mince then any of the other big boys, regardless of service intervals, hard life, easy life etc.

I just can't get my head around the fact that others seem to be able to provide coatings that last for the most part but Fox can't. It can not be that hard for their r+d chaps to work out?

[img] [/img]

khani - Member

If you look into it Fox service intervals are pretty much the same as Rockshox, major service every 100 hours, and a lowers service every 15hours for Fox and 25 hours for Rockshox, so a bit different but not that much

And do a search for worn Rockshox lowers.. It's not exactly unheard of for those either.

And when Rockshox do it, everyone goes "that's weird", when Fox do it they go "Dur, Fox all do that..."

But to be fair it does seem like Rockshox are more tolerant of it all... And I think that the people who actually service their forks to the schedules are probably a small minority. Servicing every 15 hours is mad- stop halfway through a 24 hour race and service your forks... Might seem more tolerable for people who ride for 3 hours once a fortnight but I'd have to service mine about every 8 days. Using only official Fox oil of course. Not very realistic or fit for purpose.

I've had one set of Rockshox wear, a set of Boxxers. They were 8 years old, and the receipt for the last service that came with the forks was for 2008. Not bad.

I have 2 sets of fox forks, one from 2005, the other from 2011.

Both are fine, I dont clean them very often at all, maybe once every 10 rides, they get a home service less frequently than once per year.

they seem great to me, no issues with anyone elses fox forks (or other brands) in my riding circle either.

Fox= shit!

never again will i have a set of Fox.cant take the abuse.
if they sort them selves out maybe, but they're overpriced..

Rock shox lyriks or mazz for me. 8)

Where does 15 hours come from, even the Fox site says 25 hours?

chestrockwell - Member

my point from the start was that there's a far higher percentage of bust Fox forks compared to the others.

I've spent more time then's healthy trawling ebay and various forums FS sections looking at suitable forks from all the main players to stick on my Clockwork for the last couple of months. It is a simple fact that far more Fox are mince then any of the other big boys, regardless of service intervals, hard life, easy life etc.

As I said on the last page, people are unlikely to sell forks they're happy with, so a higher proportion of 2nd hand forks will be buggered and beyond economical repair, than forks that are in use. Fox are mahoosively popular OEM, so lots in ciruclation. Possibly a greater proortion with people who
a) didn't realise (or aknowlage) the cost fo them.
b) didn't research the forks, just the bike within their budget.
c) didnt read the manual as it was in amongst 5 others for the bike.

So more forks means more failiures, and looking at 2nd hand adds will always show up more buggered examples.

I know where you're coming from spoon but I bet there's more RS fitted OE and there's probably as many RS on the second hand market. They do not have the same problems with wear.
Lot's of people also sell old forks because they want a new set for no other reason then 'because'. The argument can go round and round but the fact seems to be that Fox stantions wear more then others.

I'd have thought it couldn't be to hard for them to put right and would also have thought it'd be in their best interests 😕

Anyway don't you hate Marz stuff atm Hora

The chocolate internals yes. The outer-body tends to be made of sterner stuff!

thisisnotaspoon - Member

Where does 15 hours come from, even the Fox site says 25 hours?

Must have changed that yet again, they switch their service intervals constantly (which is doubly confusing for users tbh, especially with their doubletalk- "Kashima is more reliable and durable. PS we've halved the service intervals"

i've poss got some fox float 150mm (spaced down to 140mm atm) FIT RL 15mm QR in black id be possibly willing to sell?

serviced by loco - and new SKF (when serviced in june time) seals by loco too! probably due a service, but running absolutly fine at the mo

no wear on the stanchions, due to me cleaning after every single ride! (even loco said i clealry look after them ) do have one very very light scratch on the stanchion (its not deep, more a light scratch)

been thinking of selling them to try something different if your interested?

Could be very interested, how much are you looking for them? Email me with a price and pictures please 🙂

Must have changed that yet again, they switch their service intervals constantly (which is doubly confusing for users tbh, especially with their doubletalk- "Kashima is more reliable and durable. PS we've halved the service intervals"

When did they halve it? I remember hearing they upped it to 25 hours whem people complained that technicaly doing a 24hour race invalidated the warrenty.

Never owned fox, but looking at a new bike and the options are SRAM drivechain and low spec SID, or Shimano drive train and FIT Floats for a couple of hundred more. I'd pay that just to avoid SRAM drivechain Although anoyingly, they all have elixirs..........

Orange Crush - I dont think its that fair to compare them with mototcycle forks. The forks on my motorcycles are chromed, thickly coated, heavier and can put up with tougher seals.

The ones on mountainbikes are expected to have no stiction, weigh bugger all and still work.

You ride a KTM by any chance ?

(Ive got a KTM 525, and a 990 as well as a Bultaco 250, Montessa 250 and XR400)

I've been burned and I'll never go back. Plenty of competition out there and the ones I've used since have been easily as good if not better (but then they are newer). RS + XFusion now
Serviced 5 times in a year (4 lowers + 1 uppers/lowers+new seals). Small amount of wear on the spring side inner. Maybe it was because I didnt use fox oil 😉 (I did use fox fluid though)

thisisnotaspoon - Member

When did they halve it? I remember hearing they upped it to 25 hours whem people complained that technicaly doing a 24hour race invalidated the warrenty.

They dropped the full service to 50 hours from 100 at about the same time as the kashima forks launched.

In 18 years of using suspension forks* I've never had a pair properly serviced and have never suffered from stanchion wear. Just make sure I clean the vital areas and lube regularly. Seems to do the trick for me.

(RS Quadras, Judys, Mags & Revs, lots of Bombers, and various Fox Vanillas and Floats)

As soon as I post this the 4 pairs currently residing in my shed are going to explode. I just know it.

So far mine have had two annual services and the stanchions are the only part of my bike that I'm fastidious about cleaning before each ride. I also cover them liberally in silicone spray at the same time. Feeling great, no signs of wear.

According to Strava it looks like they've had about 200 hours of use between services (I was castigated by the mechanic who did the first service - apparently the oil had emulsified due to me getting a bit too keen with the hose, whilst the mechanic who did the last service said they were looking good, so being more careful when washing has paid off). I haven't dared pull them apart myself...

Full service every 50 hours?

Says 200 in this link?

http://www.ridefox.com/fox_tech_center/owners_manuals/07/eng/service_intervals.htm#32MM_Fork_Service_Interval

50 hours would be 10 weeks on the XC bike for me and I don't even ride that much (IMO)!

Set of Showa USD forks off a Ducati 916, bit of wear 😉

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8466/8434727379_e4a993d3eb.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8466/8434727379_e4a993d3eb.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/55204994@N03/8434727379/ ]showa stantion wear[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/55204994@N03/ ]Loco Tuning[/url], on Flickr

Remember the GSXR forks with the gold coating... It all fell off, Suzuki's response "Yeah but it doesn't do anything anyway, don't worry about it" Think those were KYB... I reckon if I was a fork manufacturer I'd use silver, at least that way it's not so obvious when it wears.

TINAS, proves my point really! They change their intervals like I change my pants- once a year whether they need to or not.

chiefgrooveguru - you dont need to "pull them apart". Dropping the lowers off is a case of two bolts. 15 mins. You can then change the oil and pop in new foam rings. Quick clean of the seals and quick inspection.

Honestly, its really not that hard. Not worth paying someone to do it, or skimping on servicing.

LoCo - Member
Set of Showa USD forks off a Ducati 916, bit of wear

you of all people should be looking after your forks

EDIT: Instead of building bloomin' fixies!

😉

Only have the forks (another thing i found when tidying) not the bike they came off, unfortunatly 👿

chiefgrooveguru - you dont need to "pull them apart". Dropping the lowers off is a case of two bolts. 15 mins. You can then change the oil and pop in new foam rings. Quick clean of the seals and quick inspection.

15 minutes, really? Every time someone on here tells me a job takes 5 minutes it takes 50! Do I need an accurate torque wrench when reassembling? Do I have to hit something with a mallet just hard enough to make it come apart without hitting it so hard that I break it? I tried that with the Rockshox on my old bike and gave up because I got scared.

Can't speak for Fox but Rockshox really is very quick. Though it's a bit more hassle with the forks in the bike, hoses get in the way etc (*) and you need to be careful about dirt. Undo bolts, slide legs off, clean, squirt, rebuild.

(was easier with IS mount! Just remove brake and remount after, no need to realign)

hora - Member

This isn't unreasonable: http://www.ridefox.com/fox_tech_center/owners_manuals/07/eng/service_intervals.htm

😯 Never mind the fork: according to that link, if the conditions are wet and muddy, you need to do [url= http://www.ridefox.com/fox_tech_center/owners_manuals/07/eng/rear_shocks/air_sleeve_maintenance.htm ]Air Sleeve Maintenance[/url] on a float shock every eight hours, including replacing the quad ring even if it looks ok. Does this mean you can invalidate your warranty three times over in one 24 hour race?

I'm getting seriously pissed off with oil settling in the top of my 36s, even with the new wiper seal. Makes them feel terrible.
Don't want lyriks, so there's not a lot of options for strong, light forks. Devilles maybe? No 150mm flavour though.

Hmmn, despite regular servicing of my talas 36s the stanctions have still worn, I think the op has a valid point, I have now switched to marzocchis although heavier, the chrome type finish does look a lot more durable. time will tell.. 😐

The sellers haven't looked after their forks properly, not really Fox's fault is it

Agreed, liberal use of GT85 is NOT maintainance

Spraying gt85/wd-40 etc around the stantions will do more harm than good as they act more as a degreaser than a lubricant and will wash all the oil from the foam rings.

I've seen 4month old Kashima fox forks in the shop with wear on the left hand stantion (air side) so great that they only option is total rebuild with new upper crown and legs along with new bushes (£400), we've got a wall of shame in the shop with three set's of uppers all showing ridges worn in the stantions - every time we sell a bike with fox forks (or any fork to be fair) we stress the fact that they need servicing at least every 3 months if ridden regularly - ie a few times a week. i have a set of Fox FX-80 Terralogic from 2004 on my Juan Solo SS and these are in A1 condition, purely because i have serviced them, sometimes i needed to service them on a fortnightly basis depending on the conditions and amount of riding i was doing at the time.

It only cost £35 for a fork oil change/service so either pay up every few months or learn how to do it yourself.

What oil/grease/lube is in the seals?

Without reading every post,this has probably already been mentioned
but there are probably 1999 bombers still in use and without the kind of wear we see on fox forks.Admitedly they arent receiving the same sort of hard treatment but still you would think after 12 years they'd show some signs 😕
One thing obout bombers was to keep the stanchions pristine you kept the boots on and replaced the ptfe coated 90mm bushing every couple of years
I used my Z2's from when i bought them new in '99 to when they were wrecked by halfords 'trained' mechanics which was approximately 2008.I used them on a near daily basis.

I'd love a set of Fox forks and for the first time in my life, I could go online and buy them right now without fear of grief from the wife (tax return not quite as bad as expected)!

But I'm put off for the same reasons as the OP. I have a set of Rebas right now. Never been serviced. In fact I've barely looked at them and they just keep doing what they're supposed to. They're four years old.

I suppose that Fox forks might give a measurably better performance but if I'm not racing for pleasure, or to stoke my ego, then I honestly couldn't care less.

Pays yer money, takes yer choice.

Why is it that car shocks can do so much without stantion wear or internal services ?

I just wonder why nobody else makes replacement CSU's or refurbs the knackered ones.

Wouldn't touch them with a worn out stanchion.