ClarkinHawaii

Hi, Experts--

The bike I'm talking about here is a 1994 Specialized Hardrock FS (hereinafter known as "beater") equipped with SR Duotrack 7001 front shock/fork.

I'm a lightweight (140 lbs) and I get practically no suspension effect from this fork. The bike appears to have been stored in somebody's garage all these years; and the fork appears to be in excellent shape. There are black rubber accordion-style boots protecting the sliders, which are clean and shiny. Grease is visible where the sliders enter the lower/outer tubes.

If I bounce up and down with all my weight on the handlebars, I detect maybe 1/8 to 1/4 inch of depression/rebound.

I cannot find any kind of adjustment setup where I can dial in a more appropriate preload. Information on this fork on the net is very sparce and useless.

Does anybody know if it's possible to make this fork more useful?

Thanks for your help!

Torchy McFlux

I remember that the Duotrack used urethane bumpers, so I'm not surprised they've hardened up after all these years. Replacements are probably hard to find. A trick I heard Pro-Flex riders used to do is drop their hardened urethane bumpers into a pot of boiling water to soften them up again. You could try that or just replace the fork with a modern low-end model from a decent popular brand. It will have more travel and function about 10 times better than your old one anyway.

ClarkinHawaii

Thanks for the info--I had visions of industrial-strength springs in there that, once released, would be next to impossible to replace without some expensive compression tool . . . like a motorcycle fork.

I don't really need a shock--except for a few tree roots, I ride on blacktop and grass that is smooth. I was thinking it might be nice to have some shock effect, but it's usable as is as a rigid fork and I'm not sure it would be if I started screwing around with it! It's my work truck so I'm not going to buy a new shock at this time--maybe the idea will grow on me . . .Thanks again.