I have a 2003 Rockshox SID and oil/fluid leak at damping speed adjustment knob (buttom right side of the fork). It leaks oil/fluid whenever I set the damping speed at slower speed (by turn the knob counter clock wise). Now I had to turn the knob all the way up in order to stop the leak. But the fork feels stiff now.

Is this something can be fixed at a reasonable cost or I should start looking for a new fork?

It's 80mm travel dual air fork. Can I replace it with something has 120mm travel?

Thanks

Have you tried replacing the seals? These forks do have to be maintained.

It sounds like a replacement may be the better option, but your fork could likely be easily repaired - but that depends on how easy it is to find a rebuild kit for a 2003 SID. It could be as simple as replacing the crush washer on that side of the fork. If you really want to find out, RS dual air forks are quite easy to disassemble.

If looking for a new fork, you may want to stick to 80 or 100mm. Assuming your bike came stock with 80, going to 120 may throw off your geometry too much. You could always get a 120 and space it down to 100, if it doesn't work out at 120. With a new fork, you''re also going to get something that is much stiffer than your SID - a new fork would have 32mm stanchions(instead of the old 28mm) and you would likely want to go with a thru-axle fork that will also add stiffness to the front end.

The fork was serviced two month ago by my LBS. The shop was certified by Rockshox. They replaced the wiper and seal, but the guy told me the fork needs to be sent to Rockshox for service if I would like to have all bushings replaced. I have no idea about maintain a suspension fork, so I had to take what he told me.

Why are the new fork so stiff? Would that defeat the purpose to have a full suspension? The suspension fork supposed to absorb all the bumps and make a ride as smooth as possible.

Lateral stiffness is a good thing. When hitting a bump (or braking or standing or riding in any way), you want the fork to telescope up and down but not deflect left or right. Larger diameter stanchions mated to a stiffer axle at the bottom will resist flex much better.

I couldn't seem to find the serial number of the fork. Where is it normally be located on the form? I want to get some tech support from Rockshox to address the leak, but they are asking for the serial number of the fork even though I told them I bought the bike in late 2003.

I also have been looking for a late model fork (2010, 2011 fox), but they are have 15mm axle, but I believe my bike has 9mm (they dont make 15mm axle bike 10 yrs ago)? My only option is to replace the hub or wheel that has 15mm QR in order to be able to use any late model fork that can work with 15mm axle?

BTW, are there any good deals on tires? My tires are worn out and slippery on hard sandy surface at turns. I like the continental trial king tires, but they are expensive.

My wife has a Giant hard tail mountain bike. I had ridden in the trail once and the bike is stiff and I got backache riding that bike in the trail for an hour. The bike has a Rockshox Pilot fork. It is definitely stiffer than my SID. Is Pilot better than my SID?

How a fork deflect left or right?

The seals and wiper were replace by my LBS. But it wasn't a rebuild, so it fork still leaks the oil. Probably it's worth spend more money on this fork since it is 10 yrs old.

You might want to find out what a new SID or equivalent costs. It might be a whole lot cheaper to rebuild that bad boy. I ride 9 year old Fox F-100 on one of our bikes. Still rides great, but we service it around every two or three seasons. Some guys who ride a lot service theirs every year.

most fork services are in the range of $75-150, and a good quality new fork will almost certainly cost more than $500.

I saw a brand new 2011 Float for $495 on Xbay the other day. How much difference between a 2011 Fox float and my 10 yrs old SID in terms of ride quality and durability?

My LBS doesn't do complete fork rebuild.

right, you'd have to mail your fork off to shockspital, PUSH, or one of those specialists.

the new fork will be a lot better than your stock SID, no doubt about it. but the specialists can do pretty awesome work, dramatically changing and improving a fork (or shock), so I would say you would get your money's worth from either option.