PreSeason Shock Maintenance for the lazy ass mechanic

[Duffman]

My Ripley AF with Fox Performance 34 and Fox DPS is about 1.5 years old now, but really only one season of riding, and not all that many miles / hours on it. Shock and Fork are working totally fine , but I'm thinking if I want to keep it that way I should do some work to keep it that way. What's the minimal that should be done here before really getting started this season ?

[Roxtar]

Lower service on the fork. Shock can wait till next season.
Add tire sealant. Check headset adjustment (wiggle test).

[VTskibum]

Duff it’s been 70+ last few days here, not pre-season anymore! Heckling aside Roxtars right, but you could get out for a ride on it now and service on a rainy day.

Bet Wiss is rolling really well right now, though cresheim and anything down low is probably still pretty wet.


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[XXX-er]

At this time of year wouldn't it just be called a breakdown ?
I think you want to do post season maintenances

[Duffman]

Listen all, points taken but I don't ever plan ahead. Last week was still ski season, interrupted by godawful 10 yo kid pitch baseball (if you like walks and hit batsmen, you've come to the right place!). Now it's time for biking. Perhaps some forethought would do me well, but here we are.

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[Dee Hubbs]

Just send it.
Fox assumes 75% of their suspension won't be serviced, so they over grease and over lube it so it will last years without issues.
-Will it ride better if serviced: yes,
-Are you doing significant damage by not servicing it: No

Minimal for the rear is an Air Can service. No special tools, and the kit with oil costs $27.
Minimal of the front is a Lowers service. To do it right you need a seal press, and most common garage tools will. get you by. Kit is $25 but you'll need some Some suspention oil for your air side, and possibly different oil for your damper side (depending on Grip or FIT damper)
If you're doing the lower service make sure you serve the air seeing and get rid of the over grease around the air spring seals.

[justo8484]

As VTskibum suspected, wiss is in awesome shape if not slightly dusty already. I just took my bike to the local trek shop and had them do fork lowers service and air can service for the rear. It felt "fine" before but the lack of stiction and increase in small bump sensitivity was immediately noticeable, so even if everything feels good, if you've ridden it hard for a year or so, new seals and oil all around will still help.

[Duffman]

Gonna do the lower service on the Fox 34 just because it's easy enough and everyone talks about the ridiculous over greasing on the air shaft anyway. Anyone have a go to source for the oils / crush washer / seals needed for this job? Also is the fox pusher tool worth it or any good half ass tools to use for the quintessential half assed mechanic such as myself? This is for a GRIP damper

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[Danno]

Just send it.
Fox assumes 75% of their suspension won't be serviced, so they over grease and over lube it so it will last years without issues.
-Will it ride better if serviced: yes,
-Are you doing significant damage by not servicing it: No

I love this.

[Dee Hubbs]

Gonna do the lower service on the Fox 34 just because it's easy enough and everyone talks about the ridiculous over greasing on the air shaft anyway. Anyone have a go to source for the oils / crush washer / seals needed for this job? Also is the fox pusher tool worth it or any good half ass tools to use for the quintessential half assed mechanic such as myself? This is for a GRIP damper

Any seal driver tool will do. A cheap 3d printed one or an expensive one from Abbey Tools, they all do the same thing.

[Core Shot]

What’s more funny?

Lower service?

Or pusher tool?

PS. My son printed the pushing tool. He’s a pro pusher now.

PPS. Lower service is stupid easy. Go for it.

PPPS. Holy fuck is there a lot of grease in factory builds.

[Dee Hubbs]

Holy fuck is there a lot of grease in factory builds.

You'd be surprised how bad a new fork feels coming out of the box, vs how good it feels after cleaning out that grease monstrosity.