R7 Fork Service

[Oracle]

Was riding my trusty steed on the road Monday afternoon and wanted to lockout my forks, since I was about to get out of the saddle. Anyhow, clicked the lockout button with my thumb and thought they felt a little light, and of course the forks (Manitou R7) didn't lockout. Did this a few times but to no avail, so aptly pulled off the road to inspected the forks. I soon found that the inner cable had somehow snapped at the base of the lockout button so had to replace the cable.

Well, I had some Enduro Seals stashed away when I first bought the forks and figured now was a good time to do a full fork service whilst I was at it. Already downloaded/printed the Manitou R7 Service Manual from Enduro so I pulled the forks apart Friday evening to get to the TPC lockout device to replace the cable, and to inspect/clean all parts should I need to replace them when I went to get replacement fork oil Tuesday Morning, since I had a club race Tuesday evening - no pressure considering I've never done a fork service before!

Anyhow, all parts were fine, and I must admit the Enduro manual was spot on, as there were no surprises in stripping the forks and draining different oils at any stage. Got up early (thank god) Tuesday morning only to waste half a day driving around to Hobart bike shops to track down Prep M (or equivalent) grease and the correct weight fork oils as per the Enduro manual. Not only was tracking down a few oils and grease more of a problem than I'd thought it would be, I must admit I was ready to strangle the next salesperson to say "you shouldn't service Manitou forks as they need to be sent to Melbourne etc and you're certainly not going to get it done yourself in an afternoon".

In the end got the shits and drove over to Repco but they didn't have the synthetic oils in the weights I required in stock either. So drove away and by chance past a motorbike shop and thought what the hell, I might as well go there and tell them the same story I've repeated half a dozen times already. Bingo they had all the oils I required in the correct weights and at reasonable prices. So raced home around 2pm and spent the next two hours watching shit on TV and getting the forks back together and onto the bike - no problems.

Must admit I was quite concerned Tuesday evening, prior and during the dirt crits, if I'd done everything right and that the forks would operate as per previous races. Well no problems Tuesday and riding to uni earlier today feel as though the forks are a little plusher (not as much stitchen on/over small bumbs) even though I've ~ 5-10 psi more air in the forks. So overall I'm wrapped and would have no hesitation stripping and rebuilding the forks every few months.

So two thumbs up to Enduro and the friendly staff at the motor bike shop, and I'd recommend anyone that wants to service their own forks to the links above; and finally a thumbs down to the LBS's I visited in Hobart that I was trying to support, but got annoyed at the lack of available products on hand. Reminds me of the time I wanted some rotor bolts (as I accidently stripped the head of two) and no Hobart LBS had them, so in the end had to get some through eBay. No wonder people get the shits and buy OS!

disclaimer: I'm not sponsored nor receive any benefit nor do I know anyone that works for Enduro! Just thought I'd share this experience with other Farkin members.

 

[udi]

Like you, I too choose to support the shops that give me the best prices, quickest service, and least bullshit. Funny how customers would actually want those things hey?

As for suspension fluid, moto shops always have the biggest range - especially if you are after a specific brand of fluid. On greases, any off-the-shelf silicone grease (designed for o-rings and seals) is a perfect alternative to Prep-M. You'll find that in reality, Judy Butter and Prep-M are just repackaged silicone-based greases likely made by bigger companies.

Cheers, and good to hear you got it sorted out in the end anyway.

 

[Oracle]

Like you, I too choose to support the shops that give me the best prices, quickest service, and least bullshit. Funny how customers would actually want those things hey?

As for suspension fluid, moto shops always have the biggest range - especially if you are after a specific brand of fluid. On greases, any off-the-shelf silicone grease (designed for o-rings and seals) is a perfect alternative to Prep-M. You'll find that in reality, Judy Butter and Prep-M are just repackaged silicone-based greases likely made by bigger companies.

Cheers, and good to hear you got it sorted out in the end anyway.

One shop (Cyclingo) was really good/helpful with advice and said similar to above, but just didn't have any of the items I was chasing for sale. Makes it hard to be loyal/support them with my wallet in that case.

 

[Pebble]

Good on ya, nothing like doing something for the first time & getting it right.

I serviced my fork for the first time not too long ago, you learn something and save money at the same time. Good Stuff.

 

[AngoXC]

I reckon. Im servicing my SIDs next week...depending on how the ol' seals are, I would really like to put in those Enduros as they really do the job well.

Oracle, Just a question about your R7s...did they have any teething trouble? Ie. lockout not locking, varying plushness or anything? Talked to a few people and they had these issues but i think it might be just a rumor as all new forks require a break in period right?

 

[Oracle]

Oracle, Just a question about your R7s...did they have any teething trouble? Ie. lockout not locking, varying plushness or anything? Talked to a few people and they had these issues but i think it might be just a rumor as all new forks require a break in period right?

No problems locking out the forks on the road, other than cable snapping the other day. However, they need to be at least 3/4 to fully extended to lockout. Therefore no use hitting the button when you're in the rough or going downhill etc; not that I'd understand why you'd want to lockout the forks in that situation, as I really only do so when getting out of the saddle or long climbs on smooth ground etc. Although you can pull up the handlebars to extend the forks if you need to lock them out and your already out of the saddle.

The Manitou R7 do require a bit of a break in period so to speak. I've seen it mentioned (mtbr.com forums etc) that they can take up to 20 hrs to feel right, but I'd suspect that may be the case if they are only used on the road or really smooth XC trails etc. My first rides were: (1) to uni down a fairly rough bitumen road and I must admit thought I'd made a huge purchasing mistake as they felt almost rigid, then (2) a dirt crits race that night - which I was I more concerned whether I'd put everything together to correct tension etc considering the bike was only 3 days old, then (3) a rough as guts trash in the scrub for about 3 hrs, and finally (4) riding the same rough bitumen road to uni and the forks felt completely different, i.e. much more plush than they did three days ago. IMO changing the oils last week has made a significant difference (and their less noisy - the air oil slurp sound) so I'll probably do this every few months now considering I've the tools and heaps of spare oil.