Fork servicing

[bell.cameron]

Bought to strip my 2014 RS Revs and do the lot, just wondering what oils people use. Im obviously going to get the correct weight, and yes we have all seen the article regarding servicing them with water, but do people use the genuine RS oil or moto suspension oil or?... Working at an oil refinery allows me access to deeply subsidized alternatives Also on the topic can someone tell me what kind of grease the genuine RS one is, is it a lithium or silicon base?

 

[Intense1]

Bought to strip my 2014 RS Revs and do the lot, just wondering what oils people use. Im obviously going to get the correct weight, and yes we have all seen the article regarding servicing them with water, but do people use the genuine RS oil or moto suspension oil or?... Working at an oil refinery allows me access to deeply subsidized alternatives Also on the topic can someone tell me what kind of grease the genuine RS one is, is it a lithium or silicon base?

Moto suspension oil will work perfectly fine, you won't notice a difference between that or the genuine stuff.

Steer clear of lithium grease as it's said to be corrosive to seals (from pink bike)

 

[merc-blue]

Bought to strip my 2014 RS Revs and do the lot, just wondering what oils people use. Im obviously going to get the correct weight, and yes we have all seen the article regarding servicing them with water, but do people use the genuine RS oil or moto suspension oil or?... Working at an oil refinery allows me access to deeply subsidized alternatives Also on the topic can someone tell me what kind of grease the genuine RS one is, is it a lithium or silicon base?

working in an oil refinery would also help you understand that oils aint oils.
Get Fox gold or the Sram 0-30wt for the lowers
For your damper RS specify 5wt any high quality damper specific 5wt oil would be OK, you want good anti foaming and temperature stability a particularly slippery oil is not required for the damper
For grease get a tub of slicko from Al at Pushies

 

[Flow-Rider]

I just purchased a heap of parts and genuine Rockshox oil from an online store in the US. I bought 1L bottles at a good price, so that I have spare oil for other services in the future.

 

[bell.cameron]

working in an oil refinery would also help you understand that oils aint oils.

I understand that it depends what day of the week it is that makes the difference

 

[gregp]

I just purchased a heap of parts and genuine Rockshox oil from an online store in the US. I bought 1L bottles at a good price, so that I have spare oil for other services in the future.

Which US store shipped it to you if I may ask? I think I previously got it from Amazon, while a number of US bike stores refused to ship it as apparently putting bike oil on a plane can lead to another 9-11 style attack on America.

Bought to strip my 2014 RS Revs and do the lot, just wondering what oils people use. Im obviously going to get the correct weight, and yes we have all seen the article regarding servicing them with water, but do people use the genuine RS oil or moto suspension oil or?... Working at an oil refinery allows me access to deeply subsidized alternatives Also on the topic can someone tell me what kind of grease the genuine RS one is, is it a lithium or silicon base?

This topic has been flogged to death on MTBR, so run some searches there, you'll find all the info, opinions, substitute recommendations, etc...

There's also a thread there about using oil vs grease in the air chamber.

The factory red grease in the Revs is PM600 military grease.

https://www.sram.com/rockshox/products/pm600-military-grease
http://www.oilcenter.com/ProductInformationSheets/N-Z/PM600.pdf

I couldn't find it easily in Aus so just used what I had on hand (TF2 Teflon grease, at least it was the same colour ha ha). Read some comments that teflon grease can damage the fork glide rings but no logical reasons were given so I ignored them. For the last service on my 2013 Revs I used Slickoleum for all the O-rings, in the air spring chamber and in the dust wiper cavities. This is what SRAM use for the dust wipers. No issues to date. It's the same thing as Buzzy's Slick Honey.

For the oils I've been using genuine RockShox 5W and 15W interchangeably with Maxima 5W and 15W fork fluids. Maxima is available at one of my local moto stores. RockShox oils are apparently made by Maxima. The bottle shapes look the same but the oils don't have the same colour or smell. They may be using different additives but I'm hoping that if they are from the same manufacturer then at least the weight ratings are equivalent.

Until recently most bike shops in my area were using Motorex. It was probably the cheapest and easiest one to get, judging by the fact that virtually every moto store in 100mile radius carried it almost exclusively. Recently I noticed Motorex is gone and replaced by Motul, probably better distro deals. I expect LBS sheep will follow soon. I'm sure those oils are as good if not better than RockShox/Maxima (Maxima=US made, Motorex=Swiss made...) but the issue is that the weight ratings are not necessarily equivalent between different manufacturers, you need to compare viscosity numbers at various temps, etc, but you work at a refinery, so you already know all that. One source often quoted is this - worth having a read but note it has not been updated in many years and some info is obsolete:

http://www.peterverdone.com/archive/bikesuspension.htm
http://www.peterverdone.com/archive/lowspeed.htm

I couldn't be farked comparing viscosity tables or doing subjective ride tests myself, and since I'm able to get hold of RockShox/Maxima I'm sicking with those.

 

[bell.cameron]

Which US store shipped it to you if I may ask? I think I previously got it from Amazon, while a number of US bike stores refused to ship it as apparently putting bike oil on a plane can lead to another 9-11 style attack on America.



This topic has been flogged to death on MTBR, so run some searches there, you'll find all the info, opinions, substitute recommendations, etc...

There's also a thread there about using oil vs grease in the air chamber.

The factory red grease in the Revs is PM600 military grease.

https://www.sram.com/rockshox/products/pm600-military-grease
http://www.oilcenter.com/ProductInformationSheets/N-Z/PM600.pdf

I couldn't find it easily in Aus so just used what I had on hand (TF2 Teflon grease, at least it was the same colour ha ha). Read some comments that teflon grease can damage the fork glide rings but no logical reasons were given so I ignored them. For the last service on my 2013 Revs I used Slickoleum for all the O-rings, in the air spring chamber and in the dust wiper cavities. This is what SRAM use for the dust wipers. No issues to date. It's the same thing as Buzzy's Slick Honey.

For the oils I've been using genuine RockShox 5W and 15W interchangeably with Maxima 5W and 15W fork fluids. Maxima is available at one of my local moto stores. RockShox oils are apparently made by Maxima. The bottle shapes look the same but the oils don't have the same colour or smell. They may be using different additives but I'm hoping that if they are from the same manufacturer then at least the weight ratings are equivalent.

Until recently most bike shops in my area were using Motorex. It was probably the cheapest and easiest one to get, judging by the fact that virtually every moto store in 100mile radius carried it almost exclusively. Recently I noticed Motorex is gone and replaced by Motul, probably better distro deals. I expect LBS sheep will follow soon. I'm sure those oils are as good if not better than RockShox/Maxima (Maxima=US made, Motorex=Swiss made...) but the issue is that the weight ratings are not necessarily equivalent between different manufacturers, you need to compare viscosity numbers at various temps, etc, but you work at a refinery, so you already know all that. One source often quoted is this - worth having a read but note it has not been updated in many years and some info is obsolete:

http://www.peterverdone.com/archive/bikesuspension.htm
http://www.peterverdone.com/archive/lowspeed.htm

I couldn't be farked comparing viscosity tables or doing subjective ride tests myself, and since I'm able to get hold of RockShox/Maxima I'm sicking with those.

Basically the final properties of the oil is dependent from where the crude is from in the beginning, oils made in the US/UAE are MUCH more consistent, because they refine the same crude day in day out. The thing about any oils made in Aus is that we take the SHIT oil that nobody else wants, so one day we could be making awesome diesel, the next day the bitumen is our high point, however this also applies for the US in a way, depending where your oil is made. If it comes from a refinery where their crude makes awesome lubeoils, lucky you, if it comes makes shitty equivalents to bad to sad. Im not overly concerned with the slight changes in viscosity etc. as the RCT3 forks have plenty enough adjustibility for me and I'm not too anal about it. My main concern was the grease and warranty issues and etc later on. I would use silicon grease above all on the o-rings and seals and shit above all, bar bearings which lithium grease is the shit, just wondering what the legit stuff is in case im wrong.

 

[gregp]

The thing about any oils made in Aus...

What would be examples of oils made in Aus???

My main concern was the grease and warranty issues and etc later on. I would use silicon grease above all on the o-rings and seals and shit above all, bar bearings which lithium grease is the shit, just wondering what the legit stuff is in case im wrong.

http://forums.mtbr.com/shocks-suspension/rockshox-factory-lube-671196.html

http://forums.mtbr.com/shocks-suspension/first-rebuild-rs-revelation-big-glob-grease-918274.html


==

 

[bell.cameron]

What would be examples of oils made in Aus???

Cant speak for over east, but bar fuel, I dont think there is a huge amount..

 

[Flow-Rider]

Which US store shipped it to you if I may ask? I think I previously got it from Amazon, while a number of US bike stores refused to ship it as apparently putting bike oil on a plane can lead to another 9-11 style attack on America.

Had no problems with them, whatsoever. Sorry! I cant get the image resolution any better on the invoice, its in us dollars also.
http://www.niagaracycle.com/