Fork Protectors

[Fred W]

Ok, so how do I determine if my fork brace is causing stiction?

That's a great question!

Spoiler

Great 'cause I know the answer!

1 ) Sit on your bike and put the front brake on. Rock the bike forward and down and feel how much effort you need on the front before the fork begins to move. Note: There will be some amount of stiction. There always is on a telescopic fork.

2 ) Next remove the brace, loosen the lower fork pinch bolts and bounce the suspension a few times to let it find its happy place.

Retorque the pinch bolts.

3 ) Now repeat step one and see if there is any difference in the stiction without the brace.

In my case the experiment showed a significant difference. When you are riding the bike, increased stiction will make the fork not able (or willing) to respond to smaller irregularities in the road surface. To me, it makes it feel like you are riding the bike with really hard tires all of the time. Of course in the back of my mind I also realize that this means that the fork will not be responding as well as it could be.

I rode the bike Friday and Saturday and was mostly trying to feel if there was any negative to having had removed the fork brace. I rode over all sorts of varying terrain, including beat up pavement and some dirt roads. I don't feel the forks wanting to twist or flex without the brace, so either I am too numb to feel it or it isn't happening.

(PS - you can do the same test with the rear shock, but due to the much lower surface area of the shock's rod, there is usually very little stiction in a shock).

 

[donaldb]

I have a pretty dumb question related to this topic.

I had Ashe rebuild my front forks a little less than 2 years ago and one of them is now weeping a little. I have placed an order for a seal mate which should arrive next week. I say remove, but I actually mean move them up or down out of the way....not actually take them off. I have never moved them before and I assume it's a simple task of just popping them up with a screwdriver, but I don't want to gee when I should haw. Can someone please help me out with this little issue?

Thanks!

Regards,

Bruce

 

[escapefjrtist]

Bruce, all you need to do is gently pry up the dust seal, slide up the fork leg and the seal is exposed. Work the Seal Mate around the slider to clean out any accumulated goo.

Good luck.

--G

 

[SeattleTy]

I did the same thing as Escapefjrtist is recommending to you by using "Seal Mate" when I thought I needed new fork seals.

Ahchiu, gave me the solution to the problem I was having with my forks leaking.

After using Seal Mate my forks has been working perfectly since.

I agree with Escapefjrtist "Seal Mate" would be beneficial to use or just have around in case you need it someday

 

[donaldb]

Bruce, all you need to do is gently pry up the dust seal, slide up the fork leg and the seal is exposed. Work the Seal Mate around the slider to clean out any accumulated goo.

Good luck.

--G

Thanks!

I have tried to pull it up by hand, but could not get it to budge. My next step is to try and tap it up with a flat screwdriver. Just wanted to try and make double sure I would not bust it somehow by doing this. From your reply, it sounds like I just need to give it a bit more encouragement!

 

[donaldb]

I did the same thing as Escapefjrtist is recommending to you by using "Seal Mate" when I thought I needed new fork seals.

Ahchiu, gave me the solution to the problem I was having with my forks leaking.

After using Seal Mate my forks has been working perfectly since.

I agree with Escapefjrtist "Seal Mate" would be beneficial to use or just have around in case you need it someday

I have 2 on order....should be here late next week. Thanks for the reply.