Fettling elastomer forks

In article <[email hidden]>, Doki
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I've managed to find a bike to suit my girlfriend, which is fantastic.
However, it's got a set of what I suspect are Zoom brand elastomer forks,
which basically add a lot of weight and aren't very supple at all. Pulling
them off and swapping them for a set of rigids isn't an option as they're
custom painted to go with the frame and she wouldn't have it.

You could always lighten them by gutting them and gluing them solid.
:-)

Quoted message said:

Now, I'm familiar with servicing Marzocchi air oil forks, but they're made
to be serviced and have service manuals available. Is there any "usual" way
of doing things with elastomer forks, and is it going to be worth my time
disassembling and greasing them? There's a hell of a lot of stick before the
things will move at the moment.

Just squirting something like GT85 inside the gaiters can relieve the
stiction for a while.

Doki said:

Pulling them off and swapping them for a set of rigids isn't an
option as they're custom painted to go with the frame and she wouldn't
have it.

There's a hell of a lot
of stick before the things will move at the moment.

Just think of them as a colour coordinated pair of rigid forks ;-)

Best you can probably do is grease the stanchions and push them up and
down a few times to get the grease into the wiper seals and if you
disassemble them, put grease over the elastomers. But pretty much you
are stuck with what you have and in cold weather the elastomers will
stiffen up anyway.

Tony

Tony Raven said:

Best you can probably do is grease the stanchions and push them up and
down a few times to get the grease into the wiper seals and if you
disassemble them, put grease over the elastomers. But pretty much you
are stuck with what you have and in cold weather the elastomers will
stiffen up anyway.

Tony

Wot Tony says 😉 The Zoom forks on my Mistral recumbent are quite
supple, and an annual strip and grease (proper fork stuff) keeps them
so.

in message <[email hidden]>, Doki

(') said:

I've managed to find a bike to suit my girlfriend, which is fantastic.
However, it's got a set of what I suspect are Zoom brand elastomer forks,
which basically add a lot of weight and aren't very supple at all.
Pulling them off and swapping them for a set of rigids isn't an option as
they're custom painted to go with the frame and she wouldn't have it.

Now, I'm familiar with servicing Marzocchi air oil forks, but they're
made to be serviced and have service manuals available. Is there any
"usual" way of doing things with elastomer forks, and is it going to be
worth my time disassembling and greasing them? There's a hell of a lot of
stick before the things will move at the moment.

Are they new? Elastomer looses its bounce over time. Furthermore, most
makers of Elastomer forks offer, in theory, different densities of
elastomer for different weights of rider - but bikes in the shops are
mostly set up for heavy riders.

So if the bike is old, or your girlfriend is lighter than average, it may
be worth getting new elastomers suitable for her weight. But where, in
practice, you'd get them from I don't know.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

There are no messages. The above is just a random stream of
bytes. Any opinion or meaning you find in it is your own creation.

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Doki
([email hidden]'😉 wrote:

Are they new? Elastomer looses its bounce over time.

^^^^^^
<Slap!>

--
Ace in Alsace - brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Doki

(') said:

I've managed to find a bike to suit my girlfriend, which is fantastic.
However, it's got a set of what I suspect are Zoom brand elastomer forks,
which basically add a lot of weight and aren't very supple at all.
Pulling them off and swapping them for a set of rigids isn't an option as
they're custom painted to go with the frame and she wouldn't have it.

Now, I'm familiar with servicing Marzocchi air oil forks, but they're
made to be serviced and have service manuals available. Is there any
"usual" way of doing things with elastomer forks, and is it going to be
worth my time disassembling and greasing them? There's a hell of a lot of
stick before the things will move at the moment.

Are they new? Elastomer looses its bounce over time. Furthermore, most
makers of Elastomer forks offer, in theory, different densities of
elastomer for different weights of rider - but bikes in the shops are
mostly set up for heavy riders.

So if the bike is old, or your girlfriend is lighter than average, it may
be worth getting new elastomers suitable for her weight. But where, in
practice, you'd get them from I don't know.

Agreed, the elastomers do tend to die over time. Strip and grease with
expensive grease should have them working a treat. If not, replace with
rigids and get someone to spray them a matching colour for a tenner.