How to ID my Lefty

[firechicken]

I bought a Rush 800 new (in 2006 I believe). It has a lefty speed with lockout and rebound control knob. I know it's not the Lefty carbon. It says speed on the side of the lefty and I believe I remember the salesman saying it had 110 mm travel. Any idea what model lefty?
Can I reset the bearings in this model?

[Dan Gerous]

Yup, you can reset the bearings easily, all you need is the tool (same tool as Shimano outboard bearing bottom brackets) to unscrew the top and some small hex to take off the lockout lever. It's a Lefty Speed DLR2 110mm, alloy with bonded clamps. There's a thread on how to do resets but the manual also explains it. Just follow the procedures, it takes a couple of minutes.

[firechicken]

Thanks for the fast response. That helps me a lot. I have the correct BB tool and already have taken the rebound and lockout knobs off to replace a broken rubber O ring. Looks like I will do the bearing reset tomorrow evening.

[firechicken]

Update
Bearing reset was so easy. Took it for a 4 hour ride and it felt like a new bike.

[Nigel 13]

I have the same year rush 800. What did the fork feel like before the bearing reset? I've never done it since the fork never felt weird or odd in anyway.


Jon Kohler
sent from my iPhone

[firechicken]

It felt normal to me before the reset. But after reading the forum thread and hearing about the results, I figured I would give it a go. Turns out I didn't realize how different it felt from when I bought it. I'm guessing it was a gradual change. Try it and see. You won't be disappointed.

[Dan Gerous]

Well, when a Lefty needs a reset, it has less than it's full travel and it effectively gets shorter so the front of your bike gets lower, but most of the time, it never gets to a point where it's that much (unless it has migrated waaaaaay much). Also, it can develop some looseness/clunkiness, especially during the rebound (after it compresses, when it extends back)... But if you don't really know or can't see/feel nothing wrong, I'd still do a reset at least once a year, it just takes a couple of minutes anyway.

Also note that not all Lefty's bearings migrate as fast or as much. It depends of the bearing preload (tighter bearings don't migrate as much, they make for a less plush ride though) but also to how you set it and use it. If you rarely use it's full travel, either because of the terrain you ride is too tame and/or because you have more air pressure than you should, it wont migrate as fast. Bottom outs are when the bearings migrate the most.