Rockshox Pike Stanchion Wear

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Rockshox Pike Stanchion Wear
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flag reazar3
Posted: Jun 27, 2015 at 6:31 Quote
Hello!

This is my first post on Pinkbike. I wanted to get some advice on some wear I've noticed recently on my Rockshox Pike 327 Coil U Turn Forks as my knowledge on these things is very limited.

I bought a second/third hand Specialized Pitch Comp a year ago, no idea if they are the original forks but I have been using it at trail centres all over UK over the last year with no problems at all (not even a puncture!). The forks are still running fine but I have noticed there is some wear on the left stanchion (none on right). I have attached some pictures. Most of it is a bit rough/bumpy to touch but there are no sharp burrs, there seems to be one long indent/bump from which the rest of it has propagated from, this is the only bit that catches my finger nails.

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I am in the middle of doing/learning my first fork service but with a biking holiday to the Alps coming up, I just wanted to know what the prognosis for this kind of wear is. I have seen some similar posts on other forums that suggest its near dead. My plan is to keep running them until they just stop working because they are completely fine at the moment. They are coil instead of air also, I have no idea if that makes a difference. I was looking at getting a new bike in about a years time so if I can make them last until then, I will be happy.

Any advice/experiences appreciated!

Thanks.
flag madmax650
Posted: Jun 29, 2015 at 16:30 Quote
Wow. Service them a lot if you need to wait a year.
flag js-mountain-biking
Posted: Jul 2, 2015 at 16:33 Quote
The problem which you have their Is that there has been no oil in the lowers which has caused the forks bushes to dry up which creates that awful wear unfortunately, by the looks of it the wear Is just cosmetic, but I would say to learn how to pop your forks open and put some oil in them. It takes 5 minutes Is dead easy and there's plenty of videos of how to do so on you tube!
flag mcmbike
Posted: Jul 2, 2015 at 17:13 Quote
Run your fingers around them and see if it's badly grooved. If not then you should be fine with frequent oil changes. If it's pretty deep and you can feel edges, the oil will really leak out quickly and the fork will probably feel sticky.
flag denchy1
Posted: Jul 3, 2015 at 5:57 Quote
Yes this is due to oil starvation or dirty oil. I have suffered the same but not as grooved on my 454 pikes from lots of winter riding. You will have also worn the upper bush as well.

Saying that I used super fine wet and dry and clear nail polish to smooth the surface. Make sure you let the layers of polish dry be for sanding. Once serviced the fork is fine and performs as usual. I get a minor leak by the seal just a small black line. I now just change the oil more often to account maybe 15 hrs rather than the Rockshox 50 hrs which I was well below when the wear occurred. i have ridden on the fork for 18 months since, with the plan to ride until they die.
flag reazar3
Posted: Jul 6, 2015 at 4:40 Quote
Thanks for the advice guys. I find it slightly odd that the wear is only on the one side. According to the rockshox manual the oil in each lower leg is 15ml so I would have thought it would be evenly starved. Anyway, I have now cleaned the lower legs thoroughly with Isopropyl alchohol, changed the dust seals, foam rings and oil. I polished the wear with Autosol to smooth it off and cleaned it. The biggest groove I can still feel running my fingers across it but it is pretty smooth so hopefully wont cause a problem.

Took it out for a ride yesterday and seemed fine so I assume I have put it back together right! Ill make sure to change the oil more often.Smile

Thanks.
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