Fork Maintenance My Way: The Swap!

Given the bad luck I have had understanding my Fox 34 FIT CTD 2014 140mm fork the past few weeks, I glumly tried to order the parts for a lower form maintenance.

Fox 20wt oil, a graduated syringe, a set actually, and a new SKS sweeps and seal kit for 34mm forks.

I watched YouTube of Fox mechanics unbolting the lowers and cleverly using hammers to break loose the lower legs of what I hope is close to my fork. I read charts on the levels of fluid I need to add for my exact fork, confused over the 20wt gold and something called "Fox Float Fluid" sold in pillows. Okay, so order one of those too.

The seals arrive Monday, giving me 2 days to actually do the work. I imagine myself Tuesday midnight learning the next lesson in the Fox fork game. Enough!

I got up and went to measure the length of the trusty Rockshox Pike RCT3 140mm 46mm offset (huh?) on my son's Scout 290. 180, no 190 mm, maybe 5 mm shorter than the Fox. Also, this fork is newer, works with plastic (vs oil) volume spacers and has 35mm stations, which is more than 34mm. SOLD, we are gonna swap em!

So tonight, I did the deed. Smooth transplant accept for getting the Cane Creek headset bearing race off the Fox, the Rubber mallet again proved its worth.

The resulting Hightower - besides steerer length, the color is good!

And the Scout, with the Fork sorta on but cable not committed:

After Downieville, I will build a box to send the Fox to Sparks Nevada, unless I decide to acquire more Pike's in my life.

I'll do a test on dirt in the AM - hopefully I will enjoy the results and worry about the non-riding bits of the upcoming trip - woohoo!

Nukeproof Scout Framesets at Chain Reaction! Got a 26" NS Bikes Frame for M Upgrade

Arg, prompted by daily Chain Reaction spam, I browsed the Scout 290 (29er) hardtail frame sets - so tempted to pick up an XL, cannot justify it - got one already. Go pick one up, I highly recommend it.

I asked M if he could fit Z's - maybe M could get the Large, and I put Z on the XL so we can "share" that one too. Z's bike is my favorite of the fleet, it always puts a smile on my face, and it inspired the Hightower which has been a struggle to relate.

M's little Trek is loaded with sweet parts. Wheels we hand built together, nice SLX brakes, etc. I've been shopping for a 26 frames upgrade that's a bit larger. CR had a deal on a NS Bikes sized Medium AL frame for $169 that I could not refuse, we will see how that might work (or not). The frames looks to be all QR too.

Hightower gets a 46t, new chain and cable housing + cable

As in the title, the prep on Santa Creme the Hightower continues.

The best "deal" I got on SLX chain and cassette was from REI - better than Amazon. I went SLX after not seeing a big weight advantage with XT, and in fact there exist forum chains claiming to GO SLX all the way, and spend money on the SHIFTER, XTR if possible. Hmm.

Also, to match the weight of XT, use the XT cassette binding/threaded ring. Done!

The next issue was making sure my 11speed XT could run the big 46t gear. Barely, so barely, I was
losing the tiny gear or the 46t when adjusting the B-screw. Then it seemed to actually be the tension.
After much struggling, I noticed the housing sort of jumping out of the shifter, on a mangled metal furrel. Doh!

I got to Sports Basement just before closing to get a new housing and cable, slapped it in to make the Saturday early AM ride. Worked so well that I forgot I had upgraded until I got to the trailhead.

46t was sweet, I almost made it up JM's nasty "Big Trees" climb, the closest in years. The cable did get pulled/fell out somewhere down Chaparrel, requiring a stop, tool unpack, and even reading glasses from the backpack, but overall, a success.

The Fox 34 left all sorts of black gooeyness on the "Kashima" coating, hope it survives Downieville. Maybe swap out Z's Pike for the trip?

Fox 34 pre 2016 don't use volume spacers

I finally got all the 28mm Fox socket to open up my Fox 34 CTD FIT so I could add my collection
of Fox 34 volume spacers, and....no where to connect the spacers!

Nice smooth top, no way to connect. Looking into the left fork-leg and a reflecting pool of oil stared back. Hmm.

Internet, and I found pictures of the "Top Cap" air assembly for 32's that were hacked for spacers, but reading I finally found other clods like myself who were surprised to learn that volume spacers were NOT for their forks. We get to use OIL. Not sure I want to get into that.

So the excellent Fox site and plugged in my fork ID and its a 2014, and oh, there is an upgrade
to 2016 internals that maybe take air spacers? I can't find the part online/out of stock, so I sign up for an "RA" from Fox. I get a number, and go back and forth asking about a quote on that upgrade, which is supposed to be a sweet deal.

Downieville is next week, out of time, maybe after.

Lesson is, I should have started with Fox first, maybe 2 months ago :)

Fox 34 Air Volume Spacer Upgrade!

After realizing the awesomeness inside the Pike RCT on Z's bike, I decided to review the theory of  volume spacers with Dotty at GMBN

Missing from my toolkit for the Fox 34 is the 26mm socket - ordered the nice one from Park here
Assuming no spacers are in my Fox 34, I ordered 2x spacers for the fork - sold by Worldwide Cyclery via Amazon Looking forward to tuning the Fox up - adding rebound has helped, and the spacers should keep me from bottoming it out/add some subtleness to the ride I am missing.

Fearing the Bonk, and Setting Rebound on the Hightower

I slept in Saturday, fearing the bonk and wasted day of recovery I experienced last Saturday on the Norris Canyon loop from Danville Peets.

This left energy for the afternoon family MTB ride at Stafford Bike Park on Sunday. Some jumps, some optimization of effort to use the Midpoint cutoff to the Kid's Flow Trail - gets me to the good jumps.


I've been getting along better with the Hightower, now that I have been trying to tune the suspension -  the secret has been REBOUND. Increasing this front and rear has made the bike come alive. I took Z's Nukeproof Scout for a spin on the jumps, its a nice comparison.

Speaking of the Scout, the Rockshock Pike continues to amaze. I bled off the air and opened up the chamber to find 2 volume tokens in place, maybe explaining the subtle, amazing handling and fun of that bike. So I added another token.
I then tried to open up my Fox 34 on the Hightower, but was unable to open the airchamber to peek inside because I lack a 28+mm socket. Maybe I should put the Pike on the Hightower.

Psyched by the afternoon at Stafford Lake, I woke up ready to face the road bike again on Labor Day with a 50 mile Zoo Loop:

State of the Fleet 2019

Its been a time since the last update. New house, new bikes arrived, old bikes have left. Ankles have been broken, and healed. Time Passes.

The Focus is gone, traded to my neighbor for yard work assistance. Not a bad deal, as the bike was hurting my back every time I got on it.

The Ridley Fenix disk is now the main road bike. Parts moved from the FM166, carbon wheels and all. Solid and prettier than the Chinese fantastic.

Niner Carbon RDO is SOLD, the frame at least, its parts moved to a Santa Cruz Hightower Carbon C frameset. The Hightower is proving almost too much bike, lots of pedal strikes, but capable of warp-speeds when pointed downhill. Hello Downieville! (see Sept)

That FM166 - a frameset for a while, stripped for the Fenix upgrade after a tangle with CJ, is now a fast commuter with Shimano Saint flat pedals. I rebuilt this rig from spare parts, mostly from the Scott 29er cast offs. I traded Jiro a 26er front wheel for a saddle, and bought a Deity seat clamp, otherwise all recycled. Running old 28's that barely clear the front fork.

Oh, the Scott 29er is still here, and will remain as long as the Hightower is in the house. The contrast is necessary, no required, with a big slow MTB. The Scott has a dropper, a 34.9 Rockshox Reverb, the only native size to fit. The bike is still my "original 29er" rig, still fast, solid and my favorite bike park rig.

The CX, "Old Blue", Raleigh RCX Pro, finally got gears. The Genevalle shifter mod for the TRP Disc brakes finally showed up, allowing me to install a 10 Speed Shimano XT rear derailler on the DT Swiss hubs from the Scott 29er. The WTB Cross Boss 35mm tires have been a nightmare between brief moments of awesome - leaky, crooked, leaky again, they do not like to hold air. 3 has been enough, the WTB guy promised to send me a replacement that never showed. Trying some Schwalbe X-Ones at the moment, but have not tried to make them tubeless yet.

A Nukeproof Scout 290 is the most pleasant surprise - a slacker hardtail built for my son's use, it is a hoot to ride, just defines the word "rowdy". Every ride has been a revelation, the joy it brought inspired the equally slack Hightower. The Big 170mm One-Up dropper is awesome, the seat just goes away.

I am back to The Fleet in order to document and advise, to see if its something I want to re-focus and invest more time in. Part of this will be trying to sign up as an Amazon Affiliate, to highlight the myriad of products I use and so you can easily order, review or debate me on.