Teach me - fork oil

Well

I like saving money (YC corner)

and

I like knowing old bits have been replaced by new bits (Spannerman corner)

but

which do I prefer more?

there's only one way to find out.....




...fiiiigggghhhhttt!!

[yorkie_chris]

I just reused my old ones, but that was because I'd revalved forks and chances are I'll want to do some other fine tuning which will require their removal at some point anyway.

[Spanner Man]

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

I agree, but you did compare it to knocking bearings out with a punch

& of course the seals wont distort due to them being stuck in the fork slider Tightwad!!!

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

I just reused my old ones

There is nothing wrong with reusing seals, if they don't leak there is no need to replace them. You will not hurt them by taking them out.
If you want to take them of the tube make sure you clean tube first.

[phi-dan]

nothing the beats the sight of fork oil spraying over the top yoke [1] the first time you hit the brakes with re-used / distorted fork seals, except maybe the sight of a bike scudding through traffic as the oil coats the brake disks and the rider is screaming like a girl [2]

[1] yes, it did actually get that high - some drops even hit me in the face
[2] well wouldn't you? with a face full of fork oil and no brakes???

@phi-dan : Lmao Quite unique, I must say! Did you crash?

Originally Posted by phi-dan

nothing the beats the sight of fork oil spraying over the top yoke [1] the first time you hit the brakes with re-used / distorted fork seals, except maybe the sight of a bike scudding through traffic as the oil coats the brake disks and the rider is screaming like a girl [2]

[1] yes, it did actually get that high - some drops even hit me in the face
[2] well wouldn't you? with a face full of fork oil and no brakes???

If you take seal out, whack it with hammer and put back in than it is operator error, not seal.
No seal will do what you describing by simply taking it out and putting back in unless there are other issues.

[phi-dan]

only issue was they were cheap pattern ones (with a lifetime guarantee - yeah right) and on inspection afterwards the inside of the seals were in a sorry state. They were also the ones without the solid washer in "to prevent distortion"...

btw I didn't "whack it with a hammer", I've changed many seals without having to resort to that and since then I have only bought OEM with no repetition of the above (much to my relief)

[Spanner Man]

Originally Posted by zadar

There is nothing wrong with reusing seals, if they don't leak there is no need to replace them. You will not hurt them by taking them out.
If you want to take them of the tube make sure you clean tube first.

Another Tightwad!!

[yorkie_chris]

Just economically aware...