Mountain Biking - Fork Service - Necessary?

I have been riding my Cannondale F3 alot lately.
Factory says fork should be serviced every 40 hours of riding. Well, I am getting really close to that. Can I just delay it till the end of the season? Everything is working fine still.... and I don't want to have the bike out of commission for 3 weeks waiting for it...

I don't see any reason that I can't! Please correct if I am wrong!

Factory says fork should be serviced every 40 hours of riding.

Seriously? That's ridiculous.

I would expect someone with as much trail savy as 2377 to know the answer to such basic questions.

I would expect someone with as much trail savy as 2377 to know the answer to such basic questions.


I heartily agree with this statement.

(yes, you should service your fork. how often depends on how much/how hard you ride it. the 40 hour thing is a guideline, not like it's a rule. i tend to do do an oil change about every six months +/- depending on how much i've been riding. more in crappy conditions.)

learn how to do it yourself, and it gets pretty easy to do a basic oil change. then you can also forestall further problems - if something is going wrong with the fork, you'll hopefully see it when things are torn down.

I am a little short on the trail savvy thing - my mtb career is a mere 2 months old at this point.

I can't do the fork service myself - it is a cannondale headshok, and you need several "dealer-only" tools. If I had a more conventional fork I wouldn't hesitate to tear it down and change the oil, etc. but I don't.

Unless it breaks, I am just gonna keep an eye on the boot and get it rebuilt at the end of the season.

I am a little short on the trail savvy thing - my mtb career is a mere 2 months old at this point......


Really? Based on your statements in another thread,I would have thought you have years of MTB experience.


People wear baggy, earth colored clothes because they are 1) fat, 2) slow, and 3) can't see dirt from their numerous crashes on them.

If you are gonna wear a flashy kit in the woods you had better damn well be fast, and able to handle your bike. People can't handle that kind of pressure.... nobody wants to look like a fool.

People that say things like this show how clueless they really are.

Factory says fork should be serviced every 40 hours of riding.




Seriously? That's ridiculous.



It's normal. Fox and Rock Shox both reccomend an oil change/bushing inspection every 50 hours. That's about every three months for me. It's not a difficult job on most forks.

It shouldn't hurt anything to extend the maintenance interval a month or two.

I am a little short on the trail savvy thing - my mtb career is a mere 2 months old at this point.

I can't do the fork service myself - it is a cannondale headshok, and you need several "dealer-only" tools. If I had a more conventional fork I wouldn't hesitate to tear it down and change the oil, etc. but I don't.

Unless it breaks, I am just gonna keep an eye on the boot and get it rebuilt at the end of the season.


People wear baggy, earth colored clothes because they are 1) fat, 2) slow, and 3) can't see dirt from their numerous crashes on them.

If you are gonna wear a flashy kit in the woods you had better damn well be fast, and able to handle your bike. People can't handle that kind of pressure.... nobody wants to look like a fool.

Ah, now that is funny. Pot--->Kettle--->black.

Anyone know how to change the oil on a Lefty? I looked at the manual and there's a lot of stuff in there about greasing sliders and oiling air filters and aligning bearings and stuff, but no oil change. Is it possible? (I'd assume that's the type of thing that's "do-able" at home).

Years of CX experience is different than years of MTB experience. People take themselves much too seriously on this forum.... is it not enjoyable to occasionally swap barbs?

Back to topic - Yes, the oil that one changes is in the cartridge. Different weights can be used to change the rebound damping. I personally found that my particular headshok was a little bit short on rebound damping at first, but the amount of rebound damping necessary is also dependent on tire pressure. So, aired the tires down to 32/34 psi, and voila, much better! A heavier oil = increase damping.

So I'm gonna keep riding it.... headed for a 3-day MTB trip up in MN.

Changing the oil in a headshok can be done by a cannondale shop in an hour or so.. not three weeks. IMO, you can go much longer than 40 hours before servicing a headshok. As long as it is holding air, and oil, and the boot isn't ripped.. there really isn't much to do to it.

Getting the oil changed in the space of an hour implies that you have a cannondale shop nearby.... and that it isn't swamped.

I already had the fork fail once - apparently it got shipped from the factory w/o the proper loctite on shock unit, and it proceeded to puke all of its oil out of the top in the matter of a 2 hour ride, lockout ceased to work, made all sorts of squishy noises, etc. Hence my quote for a three-week turnaround...

I already had the fork fail once - apparently it got shipped from the factory w/o the proper loctite on shock unit, and it proceeded to puke all of its oil out of the top in the matter of a 2 hour ride, lockout ceased to work, made all sorts of squishy noises, etc. Hence my quote for a three-week turnaround...

And people get all lippy with me when I tell them what I think of Cannondale bikes in relation to my riding style, hehe.

It's not like I'm "anti-Cannondale" or anything. I just don't really like them and try to steer everyone in the world to buy anything but...

http://thehostess.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/bush-confused.jpg

And people get all lippy with me when I tell them what I think of Cannondale bikes in relation to my riding style, hehe.

It's not like I'm "anti-Cannondale" or anything. I just don't really like them and try to steer everyone in the world to buy anything but...

I totally understand you there. I won't touch them for that reason. If I can't work on my bike/fix it quickly, what's the point of having it? I would personally hate having to send it to a dealer each time it needed a tune-up.

the easy diy service you can do on a headshock is to inspect/relube the bearings. cut the lower ziptie that holds the boot on (clean it off really good first), lift up the boot to expose the bearing races. make sure they are clean, clean them if necessary and smear some good grease on them. pull the boot back down and put a new zip tye on and you're done.

i'd recommend having a good shop do your oil change.

My last bike i replaced the oil once in 2years the headshock and had it rebuilt after 2 more years most due to a ripped boot and deep water crossings. i had it sent out mid july 10 days later rebuilt fork in the bike and i was riding the cost was $165 not to bad. My lefty i try to get new oil in once a year.:thumb:

hmmm I have a used rock shox reba that I have about 75 hours on plus probably 20 or so from the person that had it before me. I haven't done jack to it. At what point will it explode? and about how much will the stuff cost me to change the oil myself? I think I have a manual for it, but it doesn't give any instructions on how to disassemble. any help is apprreciated.

in response to why someone would buy something that is not user-serviceable, you gotta remember that the headshok really is a pretty good unit. Stiffness is much better than other similar light forks (ie sid) and after the initial snafu, is being pretty durable. Not to mention it is friggin' light, and I got a screaming deal on the bike.

i may get ambitious and try to source some of the special dealer tools. a buddy works at a shop that recently started carrying cannondale, and some strings may be pulled..... he did a rebuild yesterday and tells me it is not bad.

I have not serviced my fork sense new. That was 8 years ago. Guess that's why i don't have a Dale.

the easy diy service you can do on a headshock is to inspect/relube the bearings. cut the lower ziptie that holds the boot on (clean it off really good first), lift up the boot to expose the bearing races. make sure they are clean, clean them if necessary and smear some good grease on them. pull the boot back down and put a new zip tye on and you're done.

i'd recommend having a good shop do your oil change.

On a Lefty I find it easier to cut the upper zip tie. The larger diameter of the boot at the top gives you a little more working room and you really don't need to grease to the very bottom (since the fork doesn't travel down that far).

How about an oil change on a Lefty? What's involved that requires a shop to do it? Is it a special tool thing?

I haven't done jack to it. At what point will it explode?

Probably never, it'll just gradually stop working. Sram.com has PDF versions of the service manuals on their site.

any good place to source the seals and tools I'd need to rebuild it online?, I shop all the online shops, but never came across fork parts

fork oil breaks down, which in turn, increases friction on parts, which in turn wear out faster. Forks need to be serviced.

ok last question,, I have the manual it looks pretty easy to take apart. I see I will need 2 different weights of fork oil and a air seal kit. My question is do I even need an air seal kit?? or can I just clean it and dump in some new oil and go with that.

my rockshox manual says service after 100 hours of riding.

i need like 10cc's of oil yet all I can find online is a quart? what's up with that.

ok last question,, I have the manual it looks pretty easy to take apart. I see I will need 2 different weights of fork oil and a air seal kit. My question is do I even need an air seal kit?? or can I just clean it and dump in some new oil and go with that.

my rockshox manual says service after 100 hours of riding.

i need like 10cc's of oil yet all I can find online is a quart? what's up with that.

if you are just doing an oil change, no worries about messing with the air seal kit, unless you are having air leak issues. don't even need to remove the lowers unless doing a full service. a biasic oil change is super easy, unless you're having other problems with the fork. should be able to do it with fairly basic tools. i did a basic oil change to my lyric two nights ago in under 15 minutes.

the smaller oil volume going in the fork lowers is primarily for a bit of lubrication - not as critical to have the absolute correct weight. the upper oil for the damper is more volume and weight critical.

tip on the oil: go to a local moto shop and get it there. you can get the same or better quality oil, for far less money than "bike specific" stuff. you'll have plenty for later. be sure to get stuff without seal sweller agents in.

Thanks scrub!!!