Slick and Slide MTB Suspension Servicing

More of this today.

Do you have a fork with a creaky CSU? Out of warranty? We have you covered.

Not all suspension is created equal. The Storia V4 is an absolute banger of a shock and the back up from Jack is always next level. It is my personal go to shock on each of my bikes. The adjustable HBO works brilliantly allowing the use of an ultra thin bottom out bumper and the build quality of the shock is amazing. With the improved range of damping adjustment and the lighter weight of the V4 it’s a win win.

If anyone is interested in a demo of one jet us know and we can work things out.

A bit of Saturday surgery happening today!

Fox 38 in the workshop for a full service and silent treatment on the CSU.

This one needed a few new parts, the Grip2 pressure tube had started to fracture at the bleed hole and the VVC compression shaft had become scratched. Both are becoming something we are seeing quite a lot now due to the age of some of these forks. We always keep parts in stock so downtime is limited and the fantastic VVC compression shaft really keeps costs down along with the added benefit of being hard anodised to increase durability.

This week was one of those weeks where we saw lots of suspension that had either gone a long way between services causing expensive damage or suspension that had been serviced by places that just used whatever seals they had in stock and didn’t care about the final look.

Luckily we carry quite a lot of parts in stock and when we don’t have the part in stock our great suppliers usually do!

So let’s talk Podium. I don’t recall a fork dividing opinion so much, it seems to be very much a love or hate fork.

Most people who hate it, hate it for a number of reasons:
1. It’s made by Fox,
2. It’s expensive,
3. It’s inverted,
4. It’s heavy,
5. They look different,
6. They have never ridden one,
7. They believe everything on the internet (and the internet is always right, right?!)

Oh and then we have that mudguard!.

Having ridden one since the launch I can say I am firmly in the love it category. Since the first ride the feel of the fork has really impressed, it tracks the ground like no other fork I have ridden, how much of this is down to the inverted chassis and the flex characteristics it delivers I am not sure, Fox have updated the 38 and 40 chassis to give them similar flex paths so it’s a desirable feeling for sure. It manages to be composed across all different terrain and it doesn’t feel anywhere near as fatiguing as a traditional 170mm 38mm fork, in my opinion 38mm stanchioned forks are just too stiff and a lot of the harshness people feel is from the actual chassis itself.

Has it been perfect from the start? No it’s not. After the first ride mine leaked oil from the wiper seals, it’s. Nothing a new set of wipers could not fix but it’s not something you expect on a fork costing so much.

Overall currently I don’t see any other mass produced fork I would rather have on my ebike, the Flash 38 looks nice and is definitely a for on the radar for sure. Would I say I’m a convert to inverted forks? Yes however would I put a Podium on a normal bike? No probably not, the weight of it would possibly stop me doing that however the performance might change that…

Let’s see what’s on the horizon and if more main stream brands join the inverted trend.

Remember this is just my opinion and experience of them.

peakdistrictmtb