I bought a Gary Fisher MTB somewhat recently and haven't really done any tuning or anything to it however I noticed that my manitou fork is leaking and now it won't hold any air. I was kind of looking for some advice on repairing it as I currently don't have the money to just replace it with a better quality fork. I am assuming the easiest way to see what is going on is to just take it off of the bike and take it apart to see if it is just the seals that need replaced? I would also be interested in knowing what kind of replacement oil/grease I will need? And lastly, I am curious about what might be a recommended chain to get for the bike as I think it is the original chain that came on the bike and it seems like is is pretty stretched out at this point.
Thanks for the response. Any advice on the fork? I was thinking of just taking it apart and inspected the fluid levels and seals when I get home from work and go from there? From watching a few videos online, it appears that it is a fairly straight forward process..
If it's leaking enough that it won't hold air, and you're already taking it apart to look at things, just put in new seals and fluid while you're at it. Depending on the fork, it's usually a pretty straightforward process. Try to find a service manual online for that specific fork, to get the torque values, fluid types and volumes, air pressure, etc.
Like Anthony said, I would try to find the service manual for your fork online. I would also just buy everything new so you can replace it when you take it apart. I wouldn't want to take it apart and then forget how it goes back together once you get the parts you need. I'm sure it needs new fluid since it won't hold air.
About the chain. If the chain is severely stretched you will probably need a new cassette too. Measure it with a ruler or tape measure. You can google how to do this and they can explain it better than I can. Good luck.
Sounds good. Thanks for the input guys. I am going to see if I can find a LBS that has a rebuild kit for my fork so that I can get all of the parts in one shot. If not, I guess I will have to order online and wait till it arrives..
Although, now that I think about it, I saw some posts from people saying that if I need to replace the seals I might be able to take the seals to a hardware store and find some there and will be able to replace the rubber seals right away.
Guess you saw the link to manitoumtb in google for the service manual. Before you tear into it too much, you may want to see what happens when you add some oil to air piston. Pretty simple..... Let any air out. Remove the cap on the left leg (where you add air). Pour enough oil in to cover the piston. The man. techs told me any oil is fine for that. I've used regular 30w and some heavier gearbox oil at different times on my r7.
Bet it could use some new cables and housings if the chain has never been changed.
I tore into the fork and checked all of the internals and actually all of the seals still looked good and there was no damage inside to I bought some new shock oil and cleaned everything up, filled up with new oil, put some air in and it is all set.
Now that I have that done and it is all tuned up, I think I may actually sell it and buy a new bike. Not sure if I should start a new topic but any recommendations for a new mountain bike that would be an upgrade to this one? I have $600 that I can allocate to the new bike.
i dunno if you'll actually upgrade from that bike with $600. yeah you can get disc's but component wise most will be a wash or downgrade. and you'll probably lose ground on the fork. i'd keep riding it till you get around $1k saved up. then look for something with a nice fork and decent components. like an airborne goblin or something.
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