RS Recon fork stanchion wear (black)

[Mojoman]

I have a RS Recon, 2019 model, it has the black stanchions. I've noticed that these are now marking up quite easily (had it since Aug 2018). Its the first fork I've had where I am now getting wear marks on the uppers. I'm pretty good with the lower service (pull the lowers off, clean seals and wash and re-oil foam rings etc) and unless I'm caught out I don't ride in mud at all...None of my other forks have had a black upper section, just the normal metallic look. The fork has done a good few thousand K's now though.....its not a broad band of wear, just the odd few scratches on it...

Anyone else having this issue? Bit miff as it looks like I don't give a toss about the fork!
I

[BaGearA]

Fast black stanchions or or the just dark ish ones?

 

Fast black are very dark and deep with gold print to indicate travel and sag.

 

The normal "performance" black ones have a slight Grey tinge to them and no printing

 

The fast black is high grade alloy AFAIK and the other is made of cheaper heavier alloys

[Jewbacca]

Have you changed the seals? 

 

If the rubber perishes or gets hard then it doesn't matter how often you lube it up, they will damage the stanchions.

[Mojoman]

Have you changed the seals? 

 

If the rubber perishes or gets hard then it doesn't matter how often you lube it up, they will damage the stanchions.

Seals were changed about 8 months ago. I also bought a handful of the foam rings and change them quite often for the sake of R10 or whatever they cost me. I wasn't keen on the black uppers but its the only 29er fork I could get with a straight steerer and QR to replace the Suntour that had failed twice on me....most of my riding is done on dusty roads and paths though....

[Mojoman]

Fast black stanchions or or the just dark ish ones?

 

Fast black are very dark and deep with gold print to indicate travel and sag.

 

The normal "performance" black ones have a slight Grey tinge to them and no printing

 

The fast black is high grade alloy AFAIK and the other is made of cheaper heavier alloys

No markings on the uppers so I have the cheap ass one! Fork still performs well and there is no leakage so I guess I'll just have to suck it up...! 

[Jewbacca]

Seals were changed about 8 months ago. I also bought a handful of the foam rings and change them quite often for the sake of R10 or whatever they cost me. I wasn't keen on the black uppers but its the only 29er fork I could get with a straight steerer and QR to replace the Suntour that had failed twice on me....most of my riding is done on dusty roads and paths though....

Meh, that's balls. I'm sorry.

 

You definitely did your due diligence! 

[BaGearA]

No markings on the uppers so I have the cheap ass one! Fork still performs well and there is no leakage so I guess I'll just have to suck it up...!

Sorry

 

New age is black for rockshox

 

Fast black is new version of the old gold stanchions

 

And

 

The greyish black is the new version of the old silver ones

 

Recommendation(this just from my side, I can feel the keyboard warriors already warming up)

 

Next time you take the lowers off, very very gently try to polish out the scratches with super fine sand paper, then get some slick honey/sram butter lube your new seals and try to rub some on the bushes in the lowers as well.

 

Then put 30ml FOX 20wt gold in each leg, I don't care what the recommend quantity of their sh#t 0wt30 oil is, the fox is better and the extra oil wont do anything to to the damper or air spring (bladder dampers tend to suck some oil if the lowers are over filled but your fork doesn't have one)

 

This should keep everything very smooth and sealed up

 

Changing the foam rings often is A fantastic move on your side, skf seals will be even better.

 

Good luck

Edited February 15, 2020 by BaGearA

[Mojoman]

Sorry

 

New age is black for rockshox

 

Fast black is new version of the old gold stanchions

 

And

 

The greyish black is the new version of the old silver ones

 

Recommendation(this just from my side, I can feel the keyboard warriors already warming up)

 

Next time you take the lowers off, very very gently try to polish out the scratches with super fine sand paper, then get some slick honey/sram butter lube your new seals and try to rub some on the bushes in the lowers as well.

 

Then put 30ml FOX 20wt gold in each leg, I don't care what the recommend quantity of their sh#t 0wt30 oil is, the fox is better and the extra oil wont do anything to to the damper or air spring (bladder dampers tend to suck some oil if the lowers are over filled but your fork doesn't have one)

 

This should keep everything very smooth and sealed up

 

Changing the foam rings often is A fantastic move on your side, skf seals will be even better.

 

Good luck

Thanks, you can hardly see the wear but you know how it is, we like to keep the bikes looking good!

[droo]

If it's just the colour fading, you'll be ok for a while still. A few points though:

 

1. 150 hours, full rebuild. "Several thousand km" sounds to me like you're well over interval at least once. A lowers oil change is an intermediate service and just helps keep things feeling smooth in between rebuilds. RS even recommend that you change wipers at the intermediate service as well, but to me that's overkill.

 

2. Replacing foam rings will achieve nothing except making you feel better. Wipers are what keeps the outside world out. By the time the foam rings are dirty, wipers are done. Replace them.

 

3. Water paper works on stanchion damage from rocks etc. by taking the sharp edges off which would otherwise damage seals. On stanchion wear you're just accelerating the process. The only way to repair this is to replace both the uppers and the bushings, which on RS means lower legs. Once the stanchions are worn, bushings are damaged as well and your new stanchions won't last long.

 

For intervals, either do a rough calc of how much you ride and extrapolate - 150 hours / 5 hours a week = 30 weeks = about 6 months, or download an app called Shockpro - it links to Strava and will send you an alert when you reach your intervals. If you ride more than once a week it comes up a lot quicker than you think.

[tikki]

Measure your lowers were the wheel fits in to see if its 100mm and not 97 /98 mm , they had a bad batch that could cause that wear .

[Koos Likkewaan]

I see mention made of 2 types of black stanchions. 

If I have the "cheaper" version and the black is coming of, is there a way to remove the black completely and have "silver" stanchions again ? No real wear, just the black coming off.

I see all these solutions like oven cleaner etc..., but would that in any way impact the integrity/strength of the stanchions ?

[droo]

41 minutes ago, Koos Likkewaan said:

I see mention made of 2 types of black stanchions. 

If I have the "cheaper" version and the black is coming of, is there a way to remove the black completely and have "silver" stanchions again ? No real wear, just the black coming off.

I see all these solutions like oven cleaner etc..., but would that in any way impact the integrity/strength of the stanchions ?

If it's the black steel stanchions you'll probably be able to strip the colour off without damaging the stanchions, but you'll need to take the lowers off to do it properly and without damaging the seals. The colour on those ones doesn't last all that long before it starts to look a bit scruffy.

 

What model fork is it?