Fork rebuild set back...bored!
 

Anyone else have an addiction that when you cant ride you start wanting to spend money on bike things? My Pitch is down due to blowing the seals in my Pike and Rock Shox is backordered on the seals so I wont have my bike back for almost 2 weeks. Since the bike is down I started pondering picking up an On One Summer Season frame to build up slowly that way I will have a spare bike so I always have something to ride to cure this.

I can surely sympathize. I am at the point now where I have a spare fork for my favorite mtb and a spare mtb just in case something major happens. It aint easy~! Forks have been an exercise in frustration for me. It seems that since the first RockShox Mag 21's came out, finding someone who can service a particular fork at a particular time is impossible unless the fork is around 2 years old or less and even then it's a crap shoot as you are learninig. I finally gave up on one of my favorite forks, a RockShox Psylo that was still looking great and running OK but had sprung a bad leak (again). No parts available from RS. RS refused to even send me to the parts line due to the fact that I wasn't a dealer. Local bike shops couldn't do anything about it due to "lack of parts availabillity". 2 shops told me to "upgrade" i.e. get ready to spend >$500. This happened on other forks I didn't get so attached to. I'm sick of throwing away a fork every few years due to parts being unavailable. I am also a motorcycle guy and I can still find all kinds of parts for 40+ year old british bikes without too much hassle so what gives on finding parts for our bikes/components. I have heard fox is improving service but it still can be frustrating with too many products changing too fast. It reminds me of early index shifting days when Shimano, Suntour and Campy would come out with something better (more gears, different capacities etc.) every year or so and basically make anything previous obsolete and upgrades required most of the drivetrain to be replaced. I don't think it's intentional obsolescense (sp?)on the part of the manufacturers but they could put more energy into maintaining support for obsolete/discontinued items. Sometimes, it's better to invest a few hundred $ into something you love than buy something new you have no experience with. I hate throwing away a fork because it leaks and seals are no longer available or some other minor issue.
I have read about a couple of privateers offering quick fix and turnaround on many current forks and this is a great idea since a lot of riders want it NOW cost be damned.
All fork manufacturers need to realize that even though they are typically two degrees of separation from the end user, they need to provide support for riders as well as the local IBD's. It's an opportunity to sell service.

Isn't there any way to make your own seals, or seals for something else that are the same size? I mean, there's gotta be somewhere. Anyone?

Ok here's what you do go to your lbs, have them order up the enduro seals for the pike.

Rockshox shipped the seals to the LBS where my bike is at finally. So I should have the bike back in a few days. I would have taken care of all of this myself but since I got the bike from this place just 5 months ago, everything is being fixed and they are tuning everything up and relubing everything for me for no charge. Its not the LBS fault Rockshox was backordered. But I am still considering building up a second bike just in case I ever break anything else while riding. I think it would also be nice to have a hardtail to go along with my FS so I can change it up a bit.

Learn to rebuild your own forks and life is great. +1 on the enduro seals.

I would also suggest that if you really like your forks, order at least a couple of rebuild kits as I am of the understanding that most manufacturers will only support a model for three years. Some of these quick-turnaround guys buy up kits from the manufacturers when the time is coming up. (Reminds me that I need to do just that for one of my bikes...)