A few weeks back, I went to the Park Tool Tech Summit, here in Atlanta. Several major manufacturers were in attendance, offering tech clinics to mechanics, to educate them on their products and show them all the new goodies for 2012. Some of those manufacturers included: Park Tool, Cane Creek, FSA, Shimano, Mavic, Campagnolo, SRAM, and Fox Racing Shox.
Of the manufacturers in attendance, one of the most informative and most hands-on, was the clinic by Fox Racing Shox. Mechanics had the opportunity to disassemble a TALAS fork, learn to service the fork, and re-assemble it. All that information was great, but it wasn’t the MOST important information that was passed down to us. The most important thing we were taught was toINFORM OUR CUSTOMERS ABOUT THE MANUFACTURER’S SERVICE INTERVALS FOR THEIR PRODUCTS.
With Fox Racing Shox introducing their Evolution series of forks, and more manufacturers switching back to Fox for their 2012 bike spec, it becomes extremely important that the user services their fork properly. The schedule listed below is Fox’s service intervals for their air sprung forks. Pay special attention to the RED column, for service that is required after EACH RIDE/RACE:
Air Spring Forks (All 32, 36: F-SERIES, FLOAT & TALAS)
|
service procedure item |
new |
each ride/race |
every 30 hours |
every 100 hours or annually |
|
set sag |
X |
|||
|
set damping adjustments |
X |
|||
|
clean exterior of fork with mild soap and water only; wipe dry with soft towel |
X |
|||
|
inspect dropout thickness (9 mm) |
X |
|||
|
inspect bushings |
X |
|||
|
Visit the FOXHelp service site for service procedures information. |
X |
|||
|
X |
||||
|
service damper: 32 FIT, 36 FIT,Terralogic® |
X |
|||
|
X |
Another great bit of knowledge is the Fox Upgrade Area on their website. If you visit http://www.foxracingshox.com/upgrades.php?m=bike&ref=topnav, and type in the model and year of your fork, a list of possible upgrade parts and their part numbers are listed for you. For example, if you’ve got a Float 80 fork from 2009, and your new wheels require a 15mm through-axle, you would find two 15QR lowers, black or white options, for you to choose from. They also have a FIT cartridge upgrade for that fork, as well. For that particular fork, the page would look something like this:
These are very important things to know. If you properly maintain your fork/shock according to Fox’s service intervals, your fork will last much longer than if you neglect it. With the upgrade list, you can take your Fox fork and use it on a new bike with new technology, and not necessarily have to replace the entire fork. For more information on Fox Racing Shox, their products, service intervals, or upgrades, contact me or visit http://www.foxracingshox.com
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