Got a ton of helpful replies from my last post about my tires thanks guys! Got a lot of people mentioning my fork and I wanted to see what you guys think, can I clean this up? Bike is a "2017 Hardrock Disc 650b" with "SR Suntour M3030 650b, 1-1/8"" steel steerer, 75mm of travel, 9mm axle, coil spring w/preload adjust" I originally put the covers back down to the bottom but I don't think I "clicked" them into place so they came back up after a ride.
I've only ridden it on pavement so far and that was my original intention when I bought the bike. Should I keep it that way? I don't really have the money right now to take it to a shop to get inspected. Also, I paid $100 for this bike in this condition how badly did I mess up?
Thanks everyone!
by mtnb1ke
6 Comments
It is bad.
You may be able to find a method to get the majority of surface rust off, but any pitting that has also occurred will make it very hard for the fork seals to continue keeping oil inside.
ok, so, this is a bit messed up, i have good and bad news, bad news is your stantions are really rusty and messed up, as well as the seals, good news is, it’s a coil fork, it will probably still work, and since it is for light ride, it should be fine, though some stuff you should try fixing.
Since you are short on money, depending on your confort level, you could try disassembling the fork and cleaning it up, as well as replacing the seals.
If you can’t do that, at a bare minimum, grab some aluminum foil, and clean up all that rust on the stantions, aluminium foil should be able to take out the rust without damaging the chrome, it’s a neat trick for cleaning up chrome parts in old bikes, not magical, but you will notice major improvements…
after cleanup, put some vaseline on the stantions ond put the dust seals down, if you have no major dents on the stantions, it should be able to be kept down, since it’s the rust that is making it stick up…
now, my major concern: that amount of rust makes me think there is probably water on the inside, one big reason to take apart, clean and inspect to check the damage, to check if it is still safe to ride, if water has been inside for long, it may have corroded some internals of the suspension. Usually there are youtube tutorials for most forks, spring forks are easier, but still generally require special tools to disassemble some parts. Do experiment with caution, learning sometimes means making mistakes, and when you’re short on money, that’s not the best, been there.
It’s a cheap fork but if it’s a last ditch effort before upgrading (ex: kids bike on its last summer), read below.
You can flip it upside down on the handlebar/seat, remove the wheel, unbolt the 1 bolt on each side of the lowers, unscrew the top caps on the uppers. A spring on each side will slide out. Take off tge lowers. Pop out the seals too. Degrease it all.
You can now sand the chromed parts with a green pad until they’re clean of rust..or near..it’ll be dark grey beneath the worst parts.
Regrease and put it back together.
It’s a 30 minute job, but unless you put some clear or slam some varnish on it, it will rust back fast. It will feel better. Not Dorado better, but better.
You could probably get one of those pretty cheap. Ive got 3 of them in my basement and nothing to do with them. Idk if theyre worth money for scrap or something but i havent had the heart to just throw them out. Post on your local fb or whatever local mtb group, you can probably find one for cheap or free.
Don’t worry about the fork.
Go ride.
Either an appropriate-length rigid fork or a name-brand suspension fork will be a big upgrade when you’re ready.
Not great, Bob