Special tools or bike mechanic

[ShinySideUp]

After much messing about with my forks (see the thread 'Are my forks faulty') I'm thinking of upgrading them. After watching a few videos on how to do it I can see that to make the job much easier a few special tools might be needed if I didn't want to risk damage to, or poor shortening of the tube or pushing the star fangled nut in too far. Now these tools are expensive and it's unlikely I would use them more than once so I was wondering that if I bought the new forks and then took them to a bike mechanic how much would he/she charge me? I like to think that he might charge about £100, would that be a reasonable guess?

 

[Richridesmtb]

Sam Pilgrim is your man. Watch his upgrade videos for detailed mechanical instructions.

A mechanic should be able to swap them in under an hour.

 

[RustyMTB]

You don't need special tools. The star nut just needs knocking in with a little care & if you get it wrong, you can just knock it through & start again. Steerers can be cut with a £5 plumbers pipe cutter & deburred with any old file.

 

[z1ppy]

As above you don't need special tools, but they do make it a lot easier and if you buy it now, you'll have it ready for next time!

I'd expect to pay an hours rate for the mechanic to do the work for you... which could work out similar to the cost of a couple of tools.

 

[steve_sordy]

When it comes to cutting the fork steerer to length, remember the cautionary phrase "measure twice, cut once". But still take care!

I was chatting to the owner of Bike Skills UK owner Tony Doyle on the topic and he told me this tale.
He was fitting a new top end fork that had cost him almost a £1000. He was assisted by his good mate and team mechanic. "Measure twice, cut once" was their mantra. They set up the bike and fork combo, then Tony measured twice. Then called in his mate to check his work. He did the same and measured twice. They both agreed on the cut mark, but checked again just to be sure. The cut was made and the fork inserted...... and came to the top of the top tube!!!

The moral of the story is: By all means get someone else to check what you have done, but it is far better for them to start from scratch so that they don't just confirm your error. And don't do it under the influence of alcohol!!

 

[Tankboy]

I always put the fork in uncut with the headset, spacer then mark the cut just bellow the top cap? Also I like to leave it tad longer - say 25mm - then use more spacers on top of the stem? You can always cut the steerer tube again at latter stage and you've got options for mounts, increasing the stem height etc in the future (plus easier to resell the fork in the future with a longer steerer)? Hope headset Doctor is better than a star nut - much more civilised and removable!

 

[RustyMTB]

As above you don't need special tools, but they do make it a lot easier

Just to add, I agree. Any job is easy with the right tool. You can fit forks no problem without stocking up on park tools specials but it is right that the correct tools make life easier.

 

[ShinySideUp]

I think with my arthritic hands it might be best to let someone else do it and reading the above it seems it might not be that expensive.

All I have to do now is to find the right forks to insert as an upgrade. It seems there are a lot of things to take into account before forking (geddit?) out any money. I'm thinking of some model of Rockshox (up to £500) as that's what is on my other (26er non-ebike) bike and they are lovely. My travel at the moment is 100mm and I want to go up to 120mm which I believe is fine without compromising handling.

 

[RustyMTB]

The gotchas to think about first on forks are the wheel size & width. You need to work out whether your front wheel is non boost (almost certainly not), boost or super boost. Then wheel size - you don't want to buy a fork made to fit a 27.5" wheel if your wheel is 29" or vice versa.

After that, the travel is a consideration, most people swap like for like but you can shorten or lengthen fork travel depending on your desire & then after all that, the level of tech in a fork determines its character eg. on Rockshox forks, charger damper forks are sweeter than motion control damper ones etc. It's a big subject but the main thing is don't buy something that won't fit.

Helpfully, Rockshox have a page where you can input the serial number & it tells you all the critical deets of an individual fork.- Google Rockshox trailhead. Fox do a similar thing too. Or just get your bike shop to advise you

 

[Hardtail]

@ShinySideUp I would be interested in which fork you go for. My Mondraker came with a Rockshox Judy Silver, it is a low end air fork in the grand scheme of things but has been totally adequate for my riding, even on big mountain rides.
Especially compared to a mates bike who ended up with a coil fork on his Trek, that thing weights a tonne!
I am looking to upgrade just to have something stiffer and lighter, still in 120mm travel. I’m looking at the Rockshox Sid… maybe too pricey, then there is the Reba?? I would be happy to buy 2nd hand…
I can also recommend the Judy silver or gold, very capable air fork for the type e of riding you will do.

 

[Hardtail]

R2-bike has some discounts on!
I’ve purchased for them in the past, expect to pay import etc.

 

[Hardtail]

Chain Reaction have a 130mm travel recon on sale…