If the steerer is cut too short then the steerer tube can be pressed out & a new one pressed (& loctited) in. Factory fitted steerer tubes often start creaking & need replacing anyway, and the replacement is normally better than the original.
Brilliant! Thanks for the reminder. I've had a fresh seals kit, appropriate oils, and nice tooling on my shelf for a year, and still procrastinate about GETTING IT DONE! Now I'll actually put that job on my calendar.
Nice vid but I'd like to add something; any fork with foam rings underneath the wiper seals will benefit from being stored upside down when not in use as this completely saturates the foams with oil, meaning it's right where you need it between the seals and bushes when you go out for a ride. Some Fox owner's manuals tell you to do this I believe. Forks with sealed cartridge dampers can have as little as 5ml oil per leg to lubricate the seals and bushes so failing to do this can result in worn stanchions like @1:42 even if you get them serviced regularly. I bought a new bike in 2005 with Fox TALAS RLs which I had serviced by TF 12 months later; Tim commented they'd probably find them to be worn out when stripped as they were prone to this but I'd stored the bike USD religiously from day one, and they called me to say the fork looked immaculate with no wear when they took it apart.
Fun strip down on some 2012 reba rlt dual air i bought a while bike for £60 for my "gravel" bike. Dry stored off a bike for years. Foam rings bone dry. But no leaks. All stripped, cleaned and put back together with new fluids and grease. Smooth
Thank you SO much for starting the conversation with regular maintenance. I've been trying to get this message through to people for years. It's an ABSOLUTE necessity, but it can get expensive to regularly service for many people, and others around the world don't have reasonable options to do so. I've recently started a channel with detailed guides on fully servicing shocks, forks, etc. For those people, I'd rather they try and learn how to do their own service jobs, as opposed to completely neglecting their parts, like I've seen so many people do here is the states. With a bit of a confidence boost, I know you can do this! 👍
A lower service costs almost nothing of you but say 1lt of oil minimum. Do that once a year then every few years change the down rings and wiper seals along with a damper service, that's the bit that costs. Reason I stay with Rockshox is ease of home servicing.
Yeah but you also have to send it to them and pay for return shipping, thats another 40, 50 quid right there, So more 200 all in realistically.. Still cheaper than a new set of uppers but certianly not cheap..
Thankfully, when I bought the new forks for my hardtail. I measured the incorrectly. The correct way. So to get the steerer on my forks the correct length. I just needed to cut off another 10mm. I'm just glad I cut the steerer on Rock Shox Domain slightly long. Not a a set of Rock Shox Ultimate too sort.
am getting my first full sus bike and first air fork this coming spring so this is all good stuff to know. not sure on bike maybe a 2024 Trance X SX or a 2025 Reign advanced 2. most likely the trance, just wish I could try them both first but that would be an 1600 mile plus round trip.
I'm trying to decide whether to send mine away for a rebuild or to buy all the tools and consumables to do them myself. I've got some fairly old and beat up 26" Fox 40's, they need new bushings and at least one new stanchion.
I need to do a 200hr service on my RockShox fork but i'm dreading doing it because it seems like it's going to be a pain in the butt. The other alternative though is giving it to my LBS and having them do it for me, which would cost around $150 compared to me doing it myself and only having to buy the 200hr service kit for like $30. I've been putting it off for probably 6 months but I think it's time to get to it and just get it done.
A lot of shops don’t do it themselves but just ship it off to someone else. Ask around and you can skip the middleman and save some money. Here in California there’s a shop called Lonewolf that does good work, you can at least skip the cost of removal/reinstallation of fork/shock.
Servicing is so pricey that unless you’re running mega components the price is almost not worth it. How much does a full service on a dropper cost?!? I bet it’s close to the price of a new dropper. You could probably run a $400 fork till it dies without a service and just replace it and come out ahead vs doing an annual at $150. Even DIY requires a few special tools and oils that if you don’t have will run you $150 the first time; and that doesn’t include the seal kit price.
The CSU doesn't have to be replaced, the steerer tube can be replaced and there are some companies that can do that. It's a pretty common service available in many countries.
@TFTuned > Can you start selling the shim kits for people who work on their own shocks? I had to buy them from Canada before and get them reshipped to my via a mail redirection company last time I needed some. Was a pain lol
Similar to how long shoes last an individual, some make it a few seasons without issue and others every year do maintenance out of necessity. Ya know how it goes
@@mahennaiker5072 research the type you buy and see before hand what it will be like to live with, avoid Rockshock hydrolic droppers like the plague, short usage has a finite number of drops…!?! Then there’s three grades of service, Gold Silver and Bronze..absolute Bulls🤬, it’s just 💸💸💵💰after about a year and half of regular usage..!?
they fact that i can run 60k plus mile on car shock and struts but these need service ever 30 hours which if you ride a lot could be twice a month its a ripoff. think about that every 10-3 hour rides you have to remove the lowers and out new wipers on it fucking stpuid.
Put firmer wiper seals in so it matches the car, but then you'll complain how stiff your forks feel. I go the other way and use SKF dual compound seals, require even more lower service.
The poor person who cut there steerer too short.. I can picture what happened there.. They measured it perfectly to fit in the head tube, but forgot to add the length of the handlebar stem to it.. Such a bummer.. !!
So many pros to owning a simple Hardtail here…!?! Water water basterd water damage…motors seals and bearings don’t like water, full Sus e-bikes don’t do Water very well..
What happened to boot covers on the stanchions of bikes? I have seriously wondered if a fork lasts like IDK FOREVER if it isn't constantly sucking in dirt and crap and relying on a couple of wipers. I feel like its intentional bad engineering. It doesn't make sense. Almost everything he said was the result of dirt in the system. Cover up the thing that's getting dirty!
Because shock boots can not be as sealed as you wish for. There will be air between the boot and the stanchion, that has to get out when it gets compressed and back in when decompressed. Otherwise you would have two funny balloons on your forks, getting inflated with every movement. So, when air gets in and out, dust and probably water will also and being collect under the boot, slowly working off the coating. So with evolving seals and coatings they disappeared, because they had more drawbacks than advantages.
😂 omfg... Don't listen to the peanut gallery comments...🙄 ACERBIS or TUSK style gaiters or just rubber boots have been utilized on dirt bikes for AGES. Best used in wet or muddy conditions. You use them, you remove them to clean like ANY other part...🙄🤦♂️ Unless you're like 99% of all riders who don't take care of their equipment. #boneheads 🤷♂️
Fair point but dirt gets under the rubber boots as others have said. The only way to really stop or reduce this is, if you look at any 80s motocross bike running conventional forks with gaiters, they actually attach to the lower legs about 2" below where the seals are and the ventilation holes are also at about this level. That way any muck/water/grime that does get in is quickly blown straight back out before it reaches the seals. Due to the lower legs' arch there isn't enough space to replicate this on MTB forks.
Servicing sus parts is so easy these days. There's plenty of excellent pdf manuals and videos on the web. Not doing it by yourself is just plain laziness
I want to ride when I want to ride. So I do it all myself. Like they say here, maintenance rather than riding until it breaks, is best. Plus, I trust myself to do a correct job more than someone paid to do as many a day as they can.
I'm a mechanic and mountainbiked for years.I think it's about time that suspension became as maintenance free as possible.It's been here for many years now and nothing has really changed ,in fact many forks and shocks require stripdown more
Oh I have a trick: If damping is too fast put sand in the oil. 😂🤣🤦 Nah seriously don't do suspension service in a contaminated environment, have a clean table and tub.. especially if you're reusing that oil ya cheapskate 😂
If the steerer is cut too short then the steerer tube can be pressed out & a new one pressed (& loctited) in. Factory fitted steerer tubes often start creaking & need replacing anyway, and the replacement is normally better than the original.
I'll just file that bit of knowledge under my "important" category. Thanks :)
Brilliant! Thanks for the reminder. I've had a fresh seals kit, appropriate oils, and nice tooling on my shelf for a year, and still procrastinate about GETTING IT DONE! Now I'll actually put that job on my calendar.
TF has been a lifesaver with a rare to find part in uk (hotdog piston) and advice when fixing & tuning my knocking super deluxe. Helpful company.
Nice vid but I'd like to add something; any fork with foam rings underneath the wiper seals will benefit from being stored upside down when not in use as this completely saturates the foams with oil, meaning it's right where you need it between the seals and bushes when you go out for a ride. Some Fox owner's manuals tell you to do this I believe. Forks with sealed cartridge dampers can have as little as 5ml oil per leg to lubricate the seals and bushes so failing to do this can result in worn stanchions like @1:42 even if you get them serviced regularly. I bought a new bike in 2005 with Fox TALAS RLs which I had serviced by TF 12 months later; Tim commented they'd probably find them to be worn out when stripped as they were prone to this but I'd stored the bike USD religiously from day one, and they called me to say the fork looked immaculate with no wear when they took it apart.
Fun strip down on some 2012 reba rlt dual air i bought a while bike for £60 for my "gravel" bike. Dry stored off a bike for years.
Foam rings bone dry. But no leaks.
All stripped, cleaned and put back together with new fluids and grease. Smooth
Thank you SO much for starting the conversation with regular maintenance. I've been trying to get this message through to people for years. It's an ABSOLUTE necessity, but it can get expensive to regularly service for many people, and others around the world don't have reasonable options to do so. I've recently started a channel with detailed guides on fully servicing shocks, forks, etc. For those people, I'd rather they try and learn how to do their own service jobs, as opposed to completely neglecting their parts, like I've seen so many people do here is the states. With a bit of a confidence boost, I know you can do this! 👍
Your channel is great!
A lower service costs almost nothing of you but say 1lt of oil minimum.
Do that once a year then every few years change the down rings and wiper seals along with a damper service, that's the bit that costs. Reason I stay with Rockshox is ease of home servicing.
There are companies that will replace the steerer tube for you, around £120. Definitely no need for a complete csu especially on a new part.
Exactly 👍
Yeah - just my thought! I find it pretty misleading to not point that out in the video.
Yeah but you also have to send it to them and pay for return shipping, thats another 40, 50 quid right there, So more 200 all in realistically.. Still cheaper than a new set of uppers but certianly not cheap..
@@petrokemikal Not sure who you use for postage but it won’t cost that much but yea worth taking into consideration
@@piersbickerton-jones6231 Yeah I live In ireland, id have to send it overseas you see..
Thankfully, when I bought the new forks for my hardtail. I measured the incorrectly. The correct way. So to get the steerer on my forks the correct length. I just needed to cut off another 10mm. I'm just glad I cut the steerer on Rock Shox Domain slightly long. Not a a set of Rock Shox Ultimate too sort.
am getting my first full sus bike and first air fork this coming spring so this is all good stuff to know. not sure on bike maybe a 2024 Trance X SX or a 2025 Reign advanced 2. most likely the trance, just wish I could try them both first but that would be an 1600 mile plus round trip.
I'm trying to decide whether to send mine away for a rebuild or to buy all the tools and consumables to do them myself.
I've got some fairly old and beat up 26" Fox 40's, they need new bushings and at least one new stanchion.
I need to do a 200hr service on my RockShox fork but i'm dreading doing it because it seems like it's going to be a pain in the butt. The other alternative though is giving it to my LBS and having them do it for me, which would cost around $150 compared to me doing it myself and only having to buy the 200hr service kit for like $30. I've been putting it off for probably 6 months but I think it's time to get to it and just get it done.
A lot of shops don’t do it themselves but just ship it off to someone else. Ask around and you can skip the middleman and save some money. Here in California there’s a shop called Lonewolf that does good work, you can at least skip the cost of removal/reinstallation of fork/shock.
Servicing is so pricey that unless you’re running mega components the price is almost not worth it. How much does a full service on a dropper cost?!? I bet it’s close to the price of a new dropper. You could probably run a $400 fork till it dies without a service and just replace it and come out ahead vs doing an annual at $150. Even DIY requires a few special tools and oils that if you don’t have will run you $150 the first time; and that doesn’t include the seal kit price.
Exactly why very few people get suspension (fork and rear shock) service. Or, they do it once then the price sticker shock scares them away forever.
The CSU doesn't have to be replaced, the steerer tube can be replaced and there are some companies that can do that. It's a pretty common service available in many countries.
I measure 2 times but make it to long anyways which means I can cut another time if I want to.
I always do that cut it with 20mm spacers under the stem and 10mm above. Means it's long enough should I get a frame with a larger head tube as well.
@TFTuned > Can you start selling the shim kits for people who work on their own shocks? I had to buy them from Canada before and get them reshipped to my via a mail redirection company last time I needed some. Was a pain lol
Have a collab with Paul Aston and Rulezman those guys have brutal opinions about companies BS
How often does one service the suspension or dropper
Similar to how long shoes last an individual, some make it a few seasons without issue and others every year do maintenance out of necessity. Ya know how it goes
@@mahennaiker5072 research the type you buy and see before hand what it will be like to live with, avoid Rockshock hydrolic droppers like the plague, short usage has a finite number of drops…!?! Then there’s three grades of service, Gold Silver and Bronze..absolute Bulls🤬, it’s just 💸💸💵💰after about a year and half of regular usage..!?
You want to service your lowers every 50 riding hrs
And do the full service every 200 riding hrs, brother
Thanks for the info, guys. much appreciated 👌
One word... TriFlow
they fact that i can run 60k plus mile on car shock and struts but these need service ever 30 hours which if you ride a lot could be twice a month its a ripoff. think about that every 10-3 hour rides you have to remove the lowers and out new wipers on it fucking stpuid.
Put firmer wiper seals in so it matches the car, but then you'll complain how stiff your forks feel.
I go the other way and use SKF dual compound seals, require even more lower service.
The poor person who cut there steerer too short.. I can picture what happened there.. They measured it perfectly to fit in the head tube, but forgot to add the length of the handlebar stem to it.. Such a bummer.. !!
Dang this is bad.... its been a while since I tuned in and this is a reminded why.
Did you see the White Horse?
So many pros to owning a simple Hardtail here…!?! Water water basterd water damage…motors seals and bearings don’t like water, full Sus e-bikes don’t do Water very well..
Aaron Gwin's British cousin? Just me?
Just you
Guilty on all charges.... 😢
What happened to boot covers on the stanchions of bikes? I have seriously wondered if a fork lasts like IDK FOREVER if it isn't constantly sucking in dirt and crap and relying on a couple of wipers. I feel like its intentional bad engineering. It doesn't make sense. Almost everything he said was the result of dirt in the system. Cover up the thing that's getting dirty!
Boots kept the dirt in, and people didn't clean under them. Hence they are worse.
Because shock boots can not be as sealed as you wish for. There will be air between the boot and the stanchion, that has to get out when it gets compressed and back in when decompressed. Otherwise you would have two funny balloons on your forks, getting inflated with every movement. So, when air gets in and out, dust and probably water will also and being collect under the boot, slowly working off the coating. So with evolving seals and coatings they disappeared, because they had more drawbacks than advantages.
Omg...😂 please IGNORE the comments below your post 🙄
Silly Muppets who NOTHING about forks, suspension or apparently bikes in general 🤣
😂 omfg... Don't listen to the peanut gallery comments...🙄
ACERBIS or TUSK style gaiters or just rubber boots have been utilized on dirt bikes for AGES. Best used in wet or muddy conditions. You use them, you remove them to clean like ANY other part...🙄🤦♂️
Unless you're like 99% of all riders who don't take care of their equipment. #boneheads 🤷♂️
Fair point but dirt gets under the rubber boots as others have said. The only way to really stop or reduce this is, if you look at any 80s motocross bike running conventional forks with gaiters, they actually attach to the lower legs about 2" below where the seals are and the ventilation holes are also at about this level. That way any muck/water/grime that does get in is quickly blown straight back out before it reaches the seals. Due to the lower legs' arch there isn't enough space to replicate this on MTB forks.
Servicing sus parts is so easy these days. There's plenty of excellent pdf manuals and videos on the web. Not doing it by yourself is just plain laziness
Or your time is used more profitable on other things/people/projects 🤷♂️
It is easy, but is it easy to achieve a professional service?
Until you need to recharge a shock with nitrogen
I want to ride when I want to ride. So I do it all myself.
Like they say here, maintenance rather than riding until it breaks, is best.
Plus, I trust myself to do a correct job more than someone paid to do as many a day as they can.
Would love to see you service a CC double barrel at home. Rockshox especially are easy at home, not all brands are though.
I'm a mechanic and mountainbiked for years.I think it's about time that suspension became as maintenance free as possible.It's been here for many years now and nothing has really changed ,in fact many forks and shocks require stripdown more
Oh I have a trick: If damping is too fast put sand in the oil.
😂🤣🤦
Nah seriously don't do suspension service in a contaminated environment, have a clean table and tub.. especially if you're reusing that oil ya cheapskate 😂