Hi.
I have a 5 year old Decathlon hybrid with front suspension. A few thousand miles, with lots of weight on it.
Recently I have noticed some front and backwards play where the pistons go into the sliders.
How worrying should that be?
If it's worrying, and I decide to replace the forks. How feasible is replacing them with a rigid fork as I really don't need suspension?
TIA.
Andy
Play in suspension arm
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NATURAL ANKLING
- Posts: 13780
- Joined: 24 Oct 2012, 10:43pm
- Location: English Riviera
Re: Play in suspension arm
Hi,
Even from new there would of been some play.
I have to regrease mine (not same bikes) say every six months or so.
Even with lots of play (you will see the play if you apply brake and rock the bike) it wont affect handling any.
Not sure on your bike forks but some don't service easy and you might even find a new fork is cheaper than paying someone to service it.
Have got lock out?
Check the head race for play......
Even from new there would of been some play.
I have to regrease mine (not same bikes) say every six months or so.
Even with lots of play (you will see the play if you apply brake and rock the bike) it wont affect handling any.
Not sure on your bike forks but some don't service easy and you might even find a new fork is cheaper than paying someone to service it.
Have got lock out?
Check the head race for play......
NA Thinks Just End 2 End Return + Bivvy - Some day Soon I hope
You'll Still Find Me At The Top Of A Hill
Please forgive the poor Grammar I blame it on my mobile and phat thinkers.
You'll Still Find Me At The Top Of A Hill
Please forgive the poor Grammar I blame it on my mobile and phat thinkers.
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gregoryoftours
- Posts: 2240
- Joined: 22 May 2011, 7:14pm
Re: Play in suspension arm
Dirt grit and water get past the seals over time, especially if you don't wipe the stanchions off very regularly, also if they are steel and rust, it sandpapers the seals and lets even more get in. Then the bushings inside the forks get worn down by the dirtly sludge and you get increased play/movement. It's unlikely to be unsafe though.
They'll almost certainly be fairly low end forks - not worth servicing or even possible to in terms of replacing worn parts. You can buy new ones, or replace with a rigid fork which will be a lot lighter, but you need to buy one that is suspension corrected.
If rigid fork is not a suspension corrected model (i.e. designed to replace a suspension fork of a similar amount of travel to yours) it will be 'shorter' by a couple of inches because it doesn't have to allow for up/down movement of the wheel. The front end of your bike will in that case be dropped by a couple of inches, leaving you with a bike that handles differently (probably a bit more sharply) and with lower bars unless you change your stem/spacers etc.
They'll almost certainly be fairly low end forks - not worth servicing or even possible to in terms of replacing worn parts. You can buy new ones, or replace with a rigid fork which will be a lot lighter, but you need to buy one that is suspension corrected.
If rigid fork is not a suspension corrected model (i.e. designed to replace a suspension fork of a similar amount of travel to yours) it will be 'shorter' by a couple of inches because it doesn't have to allow for up/down movement of the wheel. The front end of your bike will in that case be dropped by a couple of inches, leaving you with a bike that handles differently (probably a bit more sharply) and with lower bars unless you change your stem/spacers etc.