Can my Rock Shox Judy XC be rebuilt?
 

My early 90's Trek 8700 came with a Rock Shox Judy XC cartridge system front fork. There is no compression / shock absorption left at all. I no longer ride it over rough terrain, so the lack of shock absorption is not that big of an issue, mostly on a paved bike path, but wonder how much that affects the ride quality/ responsiveness of the bike on smooth pavement. Can these be rebuilt? Is it worth bothering with? I really wish I could put a solid fork on the bike since I don't ride it off road, but the short steering tube of the 8700 makes finding a suitable fork problematic.

A few comments-

The Judy was designed to be rebuildable but the suspension fork industry long ago decided to not bother with supplying service parts after about 3 years of a fork's production. So finding said parts will likely be the greater challenge. A number of years ago a small number of suspension tuning "shops" opened to do this kind of work (Hippy Tech is the one I remember), but I doubt they will have stock for so old a fork. Until you ask the actual shop we can't really say definitively.

You should be able to source a rigid fork with a threadless steerer. This avoids the spec of threading and steerer length all together. A threadless headset and stem would also be needed to complete the conversion. Andy

25+ years later,

Time for a new fork.. I you need its suspension
and get the rebuild kit with it for future use.. now, while they can be found..

Aka planning ahead...

Rigid forks are fine Louisiana is not known for its mountains..






....

Fine idea, except new forks don't fit the short steering tube of the 8700 frame, at least that's what my LBS guys tell me. Calling Trek also provided no joy.

Any suggestions on where to start re: rigid fork? I'm pretty clueless and don't even know what to look for.

Search : suspension corrected mountain bike forks

maybe you need to go to a bike shop for hands on help..

I tried, but my LBS had nothing to offer, I think they just want to sell me a new bike.

Looks like Origen 8 may have a contender, just have to make sure that they will work with my current cantilever brakes and 26 in. wheels. I don't want to invest in any more components, such as disk brakes, new wheels on this bike.

There's probably no urgency in getting a replacement fork, so take your time and do some research. As for what to search, what do you want in the fork? Steel, aluminumnumnum, other... Search "<insert material> suspension corrected 1 1/8" 26" fork".

For everyone:
1995 Trek 8700 SHX with RockShox Judy XC-L fork.
Headtube length of 105mm for sizes 14.5-18, 125 for 19.5, 158 for 21. Threadless.
Headset stack height of 26.5mm
Headset size of 25.4/34.0/30.0

Figure shop mechanic time at $50.00 per hour. Add in the cost of the parts you are thinking about replacing. Now factor in who is going to pay for the risk if you aren't happy with the result or just don't bother to ever pick up and pay for the finished bike. I can see why your local shop isn't real excited to take on this job.

@Retro Grouch, it was not so much an issue of doing the job, I think that they just had no suggestions. Perhaps a lack of knowledge on their part? I dunno.

I probably have the parts to fix it, or even another complete fork. Post a picture of the fork, and maybe see if you can find the year stamped in the leg casting.

a comparison measurement.. crown race seat to fork tip .. get the rigid fork, like that,

bring it in and, anything you don't have, they can supply to install the fork you brought in..

headset may be done, so need another..

Too long is better than to short.

Threadless , just cut it to length,,,, Buy spacers And rhreadless stem, and You may like it taller

For what it's worth, Quality Bike parts(aka QBP) still offers a good number of older rock shox retro rebuild kits. I just did my 01 Sid and it was labelled as normal stock even though you can't get it through rock shox directly anymore. A large number of the older series forks were cross compatible componentwise, so if you can find a series crossover you can use that as well. As a mech in a shop, I can attest to the 'is it worth it' camp being the common mantra. Most shops in this area do not even rebuild current era forks because they don't want to soak up the time in it. That was why I found youtube videos and started doing it myself. The kits are essentially just o-rings and a set of special crush washer seals. The o-rings are a little special(metric) and can be found generically but are a little hard to find without a kit.

Thanks fietsbob and mtbikerinpa for the tips.

If it is from the '90s, you can still get the elastomers. https://www.suspensionforkparts.net/eshop/rock-shox/rock-shox-judy-elastomer-refresh-kit-95-96-all.html

There's a place near me that rebuilds any hydraulic setup imaginable, but for the cost I just replaced the Judy on my '97 trek with a Manitou fork. It was rebuildable though. If an LBS can't help, look for a shop that rebuilds hydraulic cylinders.

i have a judy xc on ebay now. fork parts are usually around for 5 years after the end of the production cycle. a lot of the more modern stuff(built in the last 15 yrs) can be retro fitted with newer dampers while reusing your chassis.

Hadn't thought about a hydro shop working bike forks but it makes sense.

That's a pretty cool bike.

That's why they make hack saws, threading dies and cutting guides. Sounds like your LBS guys either don't know this or are pulling your chain.

Unless you are being told about tapered steerer vs straight?

if it has a 1 inch head tube then you are left with something like rst. straight 1 1/8 is still available new

I would not bother rebuilding this fork. At this age it probably needs new elastomers, seals, and maybe bushings. And honestly, even 20 years ago this was an average fork. By 15 years ago it would be considered crap. There are $150 new forks out there now that outperform it in every way.

To find out what your replacement fork options are, first determine whether you have a threaded or thread-less fork/stem. If it is thread-less, measure the diameter of the steer tube. SHould be either 1" or 1-1/8" or possibly 1-1/4".

Then measure the distance from the axle to the top of the fork crown (the part that goes up against the head tube). That is the fork length.

Depending on what you have, there may or may not be some good new replacement suspension options. There are definitely going to be rigid options.