How To Clean Fork Stanchions

Is this a good idea? surely if the lube is the wrong type than it will displace the oil from the foam rings?

Pike manual says lube every ride though they don't say what with… what should I use?

Posted 5 years ago

Anything containing silicon. In spray form. Cheapo furniture polish has silicone in it.

I've been using this on fork stanchions for years and don't appear to have killed a baby owl by doing so, just yet.

Posted 5 years ago

I've always used GT85.

Sometimes if it's been really bad weather I smear a small amount of chain lube around the seals, action the forks a bit which drags the dirt up onto the stanchions, clean it all up and dab some gt85 on it.

I tend to spray it onto kitchen roll and apply it that way, but I've only got a tiny space to work in and letting rip with the aerosol means it gets on my brakes.

As for the manual, the amount of maintenance they call for isn't real world in IMHO, it's more about exclusions from warranty claims.

Posted 5 years ago

I smear a small amount of chain lube around the seals, action the forks a bit which drags the dirt up onto the stanchions, clean it all up

I do the same with fork oil, after most rides, to keep the fork, shock and dropper clean and smooth. Only takes a couple of mins. Lowers service seems to show it keeps the internals nice and clean.

Posted 5 years ago

Unless you are very careful to clean all the chain lube off the seals / stanchions afterward – it will leave a 'magnetic goo' that will attract grit and trash your stanchions quicker than you can say 'dead baby owl' (I've done this twice now).

Furniture polish / silicon spray doesn't suffer from the same sticky problem (you still have to clean it off afterward, mind).

Posted 5 years ago

Silicone spray is your best bet – I'm 99.9% certain that's what fork juice is.

Posted 5 years ago

I use fork juice, may seem pricey but last ages. I spray it on and pump the forks, clean any dirt off and ride, do the same after I've washed the bike.

Posted 5 years ago

– clean off anything already there..
– gt85 for the seals
– wipe off excess
– maplins (spray) silicone grease

Posted 5 years ago

What about that Fenwicks Frame and Shock Finishing Spray? some guy in a bike shop sold me some as fork lube a long time ago, but it claims to be silicon free. what on earth is it, and do I use or avoid?

exclusions from warranty claims

My lawyer has advised me not to make any statements concerning whether or not I have been riding and if so for how long, prior to commencement of consideration of this topic.

Posted 5 years ago

Don't put oil on them, this will just mean dust / dirt will stick to them. If you put oil on then wipe it off your are pretty much doing nothing.

Spray them with silicone so they are so slippery dust / dirt will find it hard to stick.

More importantly you should change the oil and foam rings regularly.

Posted 5 years ago

GT85 will just degrade the seals or break down the lube oil. Far better to use a silicone spray.

I tend to use finish line teflon lube from the dropper bottle. Its stays dry and shouldn't trap all the crap.

Posted 5 years ago

If I'm going to dribble oil on the seals, I'll use the same fork oil that I put inside the forks – RS 15wt. Mostly I just keep clean and wipe down with a cloth that's had silicone spray on it.

Got Fork Juice at the moment as that's pretty much a can of silicone spray. It was on two for one at Wiggle, previously used the Wurth Silicone spray.

Posted 5 years ago

GT85 will just degrade the seals or break down the lube oil

That was my first reaction, in fact I recoiled slightly from the monitor when I first saw people were putting on forks…

dribble oil on the seals, I'll use the same fork oil that I put inside the forks

This, I bought a bunch of plastic 5ml dropper bottles on ebay, have some oil of the right kind for each fork. Little dribble, let soak in, cycle fork, wipe up from the bottom to the top.

As and when I remember/can be bothered.

Posted 5 years ago

Silcon spray.

Prevention's better than cure so….
If you've not got one fit a Mucky Nutz mud guard.
Other guards are available but I pefer to support the small British business that came up with idea.

Posted 5 years ago

any thoughts on what's in the fenwicks finishing spray and whether to use it for this?

Posted 5 years ago

hmmf… googling brings up many pages saying gt85 is safe for rubber?

Posted 5 years ago

Possibly, but it will likely break down the oil inside.

Posted 5 years ago

The wiper seals on any half-way functional fork will scrape off anything you spray on the stanchions. Think about it: if they didn't, then the fork would fill up with crap very quickly, and the oil inside would leak out. It's a waste of time and money to do anything other than just keep them clean.

Posted 5 years ago

I use Fork Juice and give it a wipe after. I also got some of the blingy TF Tuned stuff, when I ran out of Fork Juice. Haven't used it much and a bit of a faff to apply.

this stuff

Posted 5 years ago

A riding mate of mine used to work for SRAM (he now works for McLaren F1 team) and I've followed his advice. He said never get GT85 near fork seals or a reverb, if you can help it. Silicone spray/fork juice is good though.

A wipe of the seals after every ride and a spray before each new one and my forks work a treat on the 3 mountain bikes I own.

Posted 5 years ago

GT85 also causes fork bushings to swell, in case anyone was tempted to use it inside the fork for any reason. Go on, ask me how I know!

Posted 5 years ago

pretty sure ive seen a vid on bikeradar where tim flooks recommended using teflon chain lube and a zip tie to open up the seal, bounce a few times and wipe off excess
thats what i do anyway

Posted 5 years ago

😕

as in lift up the stanchion in a sliding way, or as in pry away from the stanchion?

Posted 5 years ago

^^^^ I've seen that too, but surely the zip tie just stretches the seal and eventually lets crap in where otherwise it would be tighter and more dirt resistant ??

Posted 5 years ago

That there is what caused my eyebrows to furrow deeply in fork based concern.

Posted 5 years ago

same as craig24, use juicy lube, and a mudguard to keep the worst of the muck away

Posted 5 years ago

The wiper seals on any half-way functional fork will scrape off anything you spray on the stanchions. Think about it: if they didn't, then the fork would fill up with crap very quickly, and the oil inside would leak out

Well worth cleaning off dried on mud before you ride though as it can get pulled into the seals. Silicon spray definitely has an effect on the car park feel so does something.

I'm dubious about lifting the seal – you'd want the fork really clean before you did that or you'd almost inevitably make things worse.

Fenwicks is defintely Silicon spray
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/fenwicks-suspension-lube-spray/pid=25656?currency=GBP
and isn't a bad price given Screwfix own brand is nearly £3
http://www.screwfix.com/p/floplast-silicone-spray-40ml/3290f#_=p

I'd guess fork juice is the same but twice the price again.

Posted 5 years ago

Ok, in GT85, its probably the solvent / propellant for the lube that degrades stuff rather than the lube itself.

Posted 5 years ago

Silicon spray definitely has an effect on the car park feel so does something.

Maybe for a few cycles of the fork, before it all gets cleaned off. Like I said, wiper seals scrape off pretty much anything on the stanchions (provided you've not mangled them by, say, sticking zip-ties down there). If they weren't then you'd have to change the oil in your forks every fifty miles or so. But you guys feel free to carry on **** up your fork seals and/or wasting money on goop that does nothing if it makes you feel better… 🙂

Posted 5 years ago

there was an interview with the guy from jucy lubes ages ago who basically said. Yes its just silicone but the reason its so expensive is because it contains much more actual silicone than anyone else.

quick squirt with muc off (spits) bike spray or other silicone may help.

Posted 5 years ago

Anything containing silicon. In spray form.

Posted 5 years ago

IIRC Juice Lubes is a window glazing product with a different label on.

Which is fine tbh- you can complain about cost but a tin lasts so long that the cost per application is basically nothing.

Posted 5 years ago

This is a silicone spray, would this do?

Yes, that's the stuff I've got.

I've never actually sprayed it on my forks but it's good for spraying on any rubber seals where you don't want a lot of gunk (silicon grease where you do).

What I've found silicon spray *really* good for is seating tyres. Spray some on a bit of rag and wipe round the rim and the tyre. Makes it much easier to get on and get seated for tubeless and a lot less messy than soapy water.

Posted 5 years ago

i give my stanchions a little wipe with some slick honey every couple of rides, this seems to keep them running smoothly.

As an emergency I will use chain lube and pry the edge of the seal with a plastic glue spatula.

Posted 5 years ago

What about a Molybdenum disulfide oil?

I remember reading before about MoS2 being the 'Magic' slippery component of 'Kashima coatings' so surely splashing a bit of that all over my old Marzocchi's will imbue them with similar low-stiction awesomeness…. Right?

You can buy it in aerosol form, it does tend to be sold as a penetrating oil, and seems to normally be paraffin based, so would that bollox the wipers or mix with the damping fluid and degrade it?

Posted 5 years ago

Brunox Deo is the stuff you need.

Posted 5 years ago

As an emergency I will use chain lube and pry the edge of the seal with a plastic glue spatula.

Bloody nora.

Right, whatever. I find that if you get a big flathead screwdriver and just honk the seals right out of there you get lovely stiction-free travel. You need a new set of forks every other ride, mind, but what the hell, anyone who can afford to spray stuff that costs more per mL than vintage claret on the outside of their hermetically-sealed suspension can justify the outlay, right?

Nutters the lot of you… 😯

Posted 5 years ago

havent heard that in years. Just pissed myself laughing

Posted 5 years ago