Where to get White Bros DH3 forks serviced

WolfCreekPsycho

Likes Dirt
Hey guys,

Does anyone have a contact in Australia for White Bros ?
Seems impossible to get these forks serviced at the LBS due to the nitrogen gas hoo-hickey.
If someone knows a store who will service these, then thats even better.


Fanks !
 

Crippler

Likes Dirt
Hi,

Not sure if can help, but Jesse at Bike Bar in Melbourne seems to have a handle on all things weird and wonderful regarding suspension. Worth a call I say - (03) 9419 4955. He may point you in the right direction anway..

M
 

WolfCreekPsycho

Likes Dirt
Thanks dude, will give him a try.... although just found the service manual for them and it says whilst nitrogen is preferable, air will do... thats good enough for me, so theoretically any decent LBS should be able to do this... i will even supply the service manual....

Thanks again !
 

Mo

Likes Bikes and Dirt
i think some car tyres use nitrogen, apparantly it's softer or something like that.
i remember there was a $5 charge to get nitrogen in the tyres.

so i guess using normal air is gonna change the characteristics.
 

Grip

Yeah, yeah... blah, blah.
Welcome to Farkin, mate, but please have a look about and try to post in the correct forum ;) Thanks
 

Red Rocket

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Seeing as the air we breathe is 80% nitrogen anyway, filling it up with 'normal' air isn't going to be a problem. If you have the manual, service them yourself I say!
 

bighitter

Likes Bikes and Dirt
definately service them yourself. WB forks are really straight forward to service/ repair. Its just getting a hold of any spares if you need them !
 

WolfCreekPsycho

Likes Dirt
Thanks again guys,

The forks dont look too hard to pull apart according to the manual.

The reason, as i read, for nitrogen over normal air, is that it is not affected by temperature changes, where normal air is. So setting your bike up in Syd, then doing a run at thredders on a cold cold day will change the setup of your suspension... ya learn something every day.
 

Red Rocket

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Yar but not as dramatically as you might think. I used to have forks that were solely air (EXR pro's I think) as well as a gas rear shock, and I couldn never feel the difference on cold/hot days or in different area's. Just service them yourself, then if you have your heart set on nitrogen, get them filled at a tyre place.
 

S.

ex offender
WolfCreekPsycho said:
Thanks again guys,

The forks dont look too hard to pull apart according to the manual.

The reason, as i read, for nitrogen over normal air, is that it is not affected by temperature changes, where normal air is. So setting your bike up in Syd, then doing a run at thredders on a cold cold day will change the setup of your suspension... ya learn something every day.
Like Red Rocket said, it shouldn't do anything significantly different - all the nitrogen does is pressurise the oil in the damper and allow for the volume of the damper to change as the piston shaft moves into it. It doesn't have any significant effect on the damping forces (other than to help reduce cavitation by upping the pressure) or on the spring rate (compared to what the springs themselves do). If anything, the oil being colder would probably make a bigger difference.
 

Cave Dweller

Eats Squid
There are two main reasons for using nitrogen.

1. It is totally inert. Air has a bit of oxygen in it (obviously) which can make things corrode.
2. For shipping by air mail. If you use air in your shock it needs to be depressurised before flying. Don't quote me on this, but this is what i was told by the person who makes the shocks.

The thermal characteristics are so close its not funny. You might feel a difference riding the bolivia super DH's, but doing local runs will result in zero difference.

My avalanche uses nitrogen. I have been told that if i want to rebuild it myself and recharge with air it is no problem and will result in zero performance degradation. BUT, my shock has a bladder and not a floating piston, so no moving parts. If you have a floating piston I would probably use nitrogen to prevent any corrosion problems.
 

S.

ex offender
Cave Dweller said:
My avalanche uses nitrogen. I have been told that if i want to rebuild it myself and recharge with air it is no problem and will result in zero performance degradation. BUT, my shock has a bladder and not a floating piston, so no moving parts. If you have a floating piston I would probably use nitrogen to prevent any corrosion problems.
On the corrosion note, Avalanche shock bodies are hard-anodised aren't they? So corrosion shouldn't be much of an issue? Not trying to argue, just curious.
 

Cave Dweller

Eats Squid
S. said:
On the corrosion note, Avalanche shock bodies are hard-anodised aren't they? So corrosion shouldn't be much of an issue? Not trying to argue, just curious.
Yep, but there is still some steel parts, such as the valve mechanism, plus whatever else.

Like i said, in my shock it is no problem as its a big rubber bladder. If its a floating piston you need to be more careful as the piston may use steel parts etc. But, at the end of the day, if you service your stuff then it will never be a problem.

The corrosion also comes about from the water content in the air.
 
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