Mountain Biking - Quiz Time. What Am I?

Here's a picture of some forks I got.
First the facts.
I got these forks about 3 years ago, and know they were sitting for about a year before that (making them ATLEAST 4 years old now). They have the Specialized "S" logo stickers on the upper legs (looks original), and they have the Specilized "S" logo molded into the lower leg assembly (just above the dropouts). The stickers could have been put on by anyone, but the molded "S" had be done when the material was poured at the foundry. No disc brake mounts, and the fork tubes are bolted together by a removable bridge. These are air forks.

I emailed Specialized Bikes, and they told me they didn't know what they were, but thought they may be Rock Shox Mag 21's. I just happened to come across a Mag 21 on a random bike, and can deffinately say they are not Mag 21's (unless they are a special year/version?) Anyways, somebody shoot me straight here.

That is a mag 21 that rockshox made for Specialized.

probably a different version than the other "future shocks" and RS mag21's. i got one but my lowers have a polished finish.

Since these are different from the normal Mag 21's, where do you guys think I could find rebuild parts for these? Occasionally I see a sporatic ad somewhere where someone has one. The adjusters on the top are different from the normal Mag21, so I'm guessing the seals maybe different aswell. I pulled the upper adjusters out because the original airvalve cap/plug had gotten broken off inside (I never took the air caps off before to know exactly how they worked), so I had to drill out the broken parts with a dremel(there was a small amount of air pressure in both sides). I can pump air into the forks now, but one side holds about 15-20psi, the other just leaks it out (noway to find out the psi inside, but I'm sure it's low)(the rubber seal the needle goes through was looking a little bit worn). So now when I'm riding the forks, one side makes a weazy sound like it's sucking and blowing air through the uncapped hole. Do the air valve holes use a threaded type bolt to hold pressure, or do you think the seals are hashed on this old dog? I can retap the holes on top to fit a hex bolt or something there.

They look like a "Future Shock " to me. They also made a carbon version of that fork. But yes basically a re-badged Mag 21. However Mag 21 's air pressure is typically set at about 40lbs. If yours is leaking that badly then good luck finding parts. A new fork is going to be a descision you need to make.

I'm not really worried about the fork. If I can find rebuild parts easily, then I would probably fix it, but I'm not going out of my way for it ya know. Just wanted to know what it was. Maybe I'll toy around with it and tap the holes and stick a hex bolt in and see if that holds the airpressure. It's on an old second/third bike I have that mostly sits anyways. Any thoughts out there on rigging it up to hold some pressure?

I'm not really worried about the fork. If I can find rebuild parts easily, then I would probably fix it, but I'm not going out of my way for it ya know. Just wanted to know what it was. Maybe I'll toy around with it and tap the holes and stick a hex bolt in and see if that holds the airpressure. It's on an old second/third bike I have that mostly sits anyways. Any thoughts out there on rigging it up to hold some pressure?

New O-Rings on the seals may help ?

New O-Rings on the seals may help ?

The two top O-rings are actually in pretty good condition (they were lubed up, and look good, no dry or cracked spots, felt nice and firm), but the thicker air valve seal (that the needle slides thru) looked a bit worn on (on one leg), it was well lubricated aswell, but I think the hole in the center may have been slightly elongated from the original air cap/screw when It had gotten broken off, therefore leaving the hole double or triple its intended size. I could be completely wrong though about that, because I don't know how long the original air cap needle was. Infact, it may have just been a cap to protect from foriegn things getting inside there, but at some point, I think the rubber seal got jabbed (maybe some ham fisted guy jabbed it while pumping it up? didn't grease/lube the pump needle?) Anyways, I drilled out a small hole where the needle slides through (about the same size as a ball pump needle), so I think I'll pull the adjuster caps off and tap them to fit a small bolt (the adjusters will still work aswell(aswell as they ever did or didn't), I'll just be adding a "slightly" larger dia. bolt there), maybe put some plumbers tape to make sure no oil tries to squirt out.

The parts needed to rebuild that will cost more than a new fork. Seriously. My wife had a Quardra 10 that she loved. The elastomers were worn out and falling apart. I order some replacement parts and my employee discount price was almost $80.00 I bought a used Judy TT for $50!

L8R

I had a fork just like that on my 1992 Klein Pinnacle. They were definitely not Mag 21's because the 21's were not out yet at that time.

I had a fork just like that on my 1992 Klein Pinnacle. They were definitely not Mag 21's because the 21's were not out yet at that time.

You are right the mag 20 and 30 were out then. The Mag 21 came out in 93, however Specialized had Rock Shox building their "Future Shock" in 92.

The thing is, the whole crown area is different then the Mag's, after looking at dozens of pictures of other Mag forks, none were the same as these. I was just curious if the seals and adjusters and such would be interchangable on the two(the adjusters are different styles). I don't plan to put any money into these (unless a rebuild kit falls from the sky and it costs only a couple dollars) Anyways though, they might make for a good experiment or something.

The only thing those would be good for is if you somehow mounted them upside down on a workbench and used them as a trueing stand!

Not to be cruel, but from the sounds of the condition, they're in pretty bad shape.

L8R

Hey, do your worst. I never liked these forks to begin with. Never felt that great to me. I think it was mostly the dampening, it didn't seem to have any, travel wasn't really smooth, etc. etc.. But hey, I think I only payed like $15 for them a few years ago, so no big loss really