jonderdonk

Hey all-
I have an mtb with a Mars1 front fork.
The fork appears to be leaking at the top seals, so I brought it into my LBS and was told to throw out the fork and buy a new one.
I can see that replacements are not expensive, I do hate the idea of planned obsolescence. To trash it, recycle, seems off.
Perhaps the younger folks just don't deal with this stuff, or maybe it can't be fixed.
I know very little about suspension so looking to get feedback as ideally I'd like to keep the fork but can accept if there is no alternative.
Your input is greatly appreciated.

cxwrench

The entire industry is based around this idea.

Nwvlvtnr 

Where is the leak coming from? If it’s from the adjustment knobs or caps on the crown it may be normal and compounded by years of being stored upside down. There may be other variations but yours should only have oil in the right side stanchion. You can check the oil level by unthreading the stanchion cap or knob on the right side and making a dipstick from anything that will fit inside. See factory manual for the procedure for checking oil level along with note regarding oil leaks and recommendations for storage.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/ultracartsf...01mars-svc.pdf

If oil is leaking from the seals where the stanchions fit into the lowers that likely indicates a bigger problem, all of the oil should be contained in the right side stanchion.

Does the fork hydro lock, bottom out harshly or have limited compression? This would result from all of the oil leaking into the lower cavity from the stanchion. Not uncommon and Eduro still sells replacement parts.

If you’re mechanically inclined it’s not a difficult fork to service or even rebuild. Also pictures would be very helpful.

Edit: before you get too far into this is there a Schrader valve on the left side, possibly under by what looks like an adjustment knob? If so do you have pneumatic suspension pump?

Ironfish653

Here's the problem with old MTBs; Old Suspension. Not every bike shop is a suspension specialist, and there are literally hundreds of models currently on the market, let alone all the vintage stuff, and they just may not be equipped to handle everything that rolls through the door.

The Mars in question was a really good fork, in the Y2K era, and as mentioned is fully rebuildable; provided you can find the parts. It's not reasonable to expect that the OEM would have service parts for a 20-year-old model on hand, so your shop is going to have to track them down through a 3rd party supplier, or another, specialist shop. Then they have to find the rebuild manual, because they probably don't have one hanging around from 20 years ago.
All of this time and effort costs money, and by the time it's said and done, they could have you fitted with a modern, mid-range fork for less cost for you and less sunk time for them.
Also, the higher you go on the performance spectrum, typically the more regular maintenance they require. An older MTB that's doing 'light' recreational duty might be better served with a newer, mid-range fork than an old 'race' unit.


*I have a 1996 Cannondale with a Headshok fork. There are maybe 6 shops in the world that will still service one. I also have a 1997 SoftRide road bike. There are no spares left for these bikes; the owners' group is the only support network.
This is the price you have to pay sometimes for keeping the old stuff going.

jonderdonk

Thank you for the comments, maybe I already knew but appreciate the responses. Gives me another winter project... the rebuild. Cheers