Hello! New user and new mtb’er. I bumped into Eric and Janet (I think … I’m terrible with names!) at Nine Mile River and they pointed me to this site.
On my ride with my new to me bike I noticed that whenever I would unload the front end (wheel off ground) the forks would droop out and bang - like they would “top out” (the opposite of bottoming out under compression). You could hear it and feel it in the bars.
I’ve done a bit of research and this seems to be a low oil or wrecked fork condition. The fork is a basic Suntour XCT 80mm. I know it’s not worth anything, but wondering if this is something simple that could be fixed or perhaps if I should look at a replacement?
To be honest - part of me wants to replace it for something new, fun, learning … but that would cost more than I paid for the bike!
@autumnwalker, that fork is a simple coil fork and is topping out and clunking due to a lack of damping. That fork has a lockout rod and a preload for the coil. There is no rebound damping so the fork just springs back as fast as it can. Make sure the preload knob is twisted fully counter clockwise. This will remove any preload and may help with the top out noise.
I’ve opened up a couple of those and they tend to not have any oil and just some grease on the coil and lockout rod. As this grease breaks down the internals will start to rust and make the fork useless. They can be taken apart, but it doesn’t tend to be worth it and it would make more sense to put the rebuild money towards a replacement.
But unfortunately the only way to truly make the noise go away is to replace the fork with something that ideally has an air spring and a rebound adjuster. Rockshox makes a couple wallet friendlyish forks and you may be able to find something decent in the used market.
I’d need to find a 1-1/8" straight steerer for a 29er with QR axles. Suntour has an upgrade program with the Raidon or the Epixon, but not sure if they’re worth it.
Any specific recommendations for something new (to me)? Realistically I’m currently well below the capabilities of even a basic bike and my aspirations are for trail riding, no huge drops and bike parks and the like you see on YouTube (as fun as that is to watch!).
Finding a straight steer 29er with a reg QR isn’t going to be an easy task these days. Your best bet is to just start scouring the buy and sells and seeing why you can find.
I believe that both of those suntour upgrade forks are tapered steer tubes with thru axles, but I could be wrong as I’m not overly familiar with the suntour lineup.
I’ve bought many parts from the Pink Bike buy and sell and sold multiple bikes all over North America. A friend of mine just bought a 2021 Rockshox takeoff from Pink Bike.
PB buy and sell is a pretty good place to find stuff. Buyer beware though. I’ve never had an issue with anything I’ve bought. Right now I’m running a RS Lyric that was a take off. You have the opportunity to ask questions of the seller and get a feel for why he’s selling.
Hey @Rockhopper! Question - did I get the right grey SUV? There were two parked side by side after my ride and I was trying to recall which was yours so I could leave a note!
