syncrosfan
Senior Retro Guru
Ok, so I took a crack at servicing the shock for my 1st gen Fournales fork last weekend. here are some additional impressions from following the servicing steps I posted earlier.
I did make some plastic vise grips holders for the shock but I think one could get away by using those adjustable rubber strap spanners to hold the shock while unscrewing the top. It didn't seem like the parts were together super tight (I had no problem unscrewing the shock with regular hand pressure). The shock assembly is as simple as it looks on the disassembled pic. On my shock I had the surprise that the spring came out in three pieces, the damn thing was broken! Luckily I had a second shock lying around from a busted one so I cannibalized the spring from that one. The oil was super dirty since it seemed that the shock was never serviced ( I don't think many owners bothered to send in the shock for regular service). The good thing is: this shock is super easy to disassemble and an oil change is a piece of cake! Yes it's that easy. It seems to me like the shock uses an open oil bath (judging by the amount of oil I was supposed to pour in 58cc for the large damper, that's quite a bit compared to other shocks I serviced before).
It does make the shock a little bit heavier but it also does make the service and the oil change a breeze. Since it's an open oil bath system I would advise to change the oil more often since it gets contaminated easier than a closed pressurized system. In my case the seals and bushings looked pretty good so I didn't need any replacements there.
Overall the shock is simple but good quality so with regular maintenance it would last forever (the open oil bath helps lubricate the internals). I used a lighter weight 5WT oil than the regular 10WT what the shock originally had (mainly because I do have a canister of it at home and I couldn't be bothered to buy another one with 10WT). I also heard that the original damper felt a little over-damped in compression so I thought I'll try a lighter weight oil to get a more supple compression and I cranked the rebound screw all the way in to get maximum rebound on the way back. Yes I do feel a difference in the adjustments after the cleanup and oil change so the rebound actually does something. After mounting the shock back and pumping it up a little bit I cycled it back and forth a couple of times to circulate the oil through it (it did make some munchy sounds the first couple of times but it got quiet afterwards, which I would guess it means the shock works as intended quiet shock = good).
After mounting the fork on my bike I went for a test ride. Here are some trail impressions. I didn't pump it up to the described PSI since I thought it was way too high, I went for the regular 12 bar that were usually spec'd for a medium weight rider (I'm much heavier) and the fork actions quite smoothly. Some people might prefer a stiffer reacting fork but then I might as well go rigid... Anyway the forks works really well (doesn't bob as much as the Noleen linkage fork it replaced), very good tracking absorbs trail chatter really well. It still dives under braking (whoever started the myth that it's anti-dive, is full of shit, or pumped it up to factory setting making it very harsh) but it behaves similar to a regular telescoping in that aspect, which I don't really mind. Bear in mind I didn't hit any hardcore trails with it, so I don't know how it behaves under harsher conditions, it is a lightweight short-travel cross country fork after all. Anyways it works better than the Noleen fork and is much lighter.
Bottom line: the shock service and oil change is super simple and there's no reason NOT to do it yourself. You could also experiment with the oil weight in order to fine tune the damping.
I did make some plastic vise grips holders for the shock but I think one could get away by using those adjustable rubber strap spanners to hold the shock while unscrewing the top. It didn't seem like the parts were together super tight (I had no problem unscrewing the shock with regular hand pressure). The shock assembly is as simple as it looks on the disassembled pic. On my shock I had the surprise that the spring came out in three pieces, the damn thing was broken! Luckily I had a second shock lying around from a busted one so I cannibalized the spring from that one. The oil was super dirty since it seemed that the shock was never serviced ( I don't think many owners bothered to send in the shock for regular service). The good thing is: this shock is super easy to disassemble and an oil change is a piece of cake! Yes it's that easy. It seems to me like the shock uses an open oil bath (judging by the amount of oil I was supposed to pour in 58cc for the large damper, that's quite a bit compared to other shocks I serviced before).
It does make the shock a little bit heavier but it also does make the service and the oil change a breeze. Since it's an open oil bath system I would advise to change the oil more often since it gets contaminated easier than a closed pressurized system. In my case the seals and bushings looked pretty good so I didn't need any replacements there.
Overall the shock is simple but good quality so with regular maintenance it would last forever (the open oil bath helps lubricate the internals). I used a lighter weight 5WT oil than the regular 10WT what the shock originally had (mainly because I do have a canister of it at home and I couldn't be bothered to buy another one with 10WT). I also heard that the original damper felt a little over-damped in compression so I thought I'll try a lighter weight oil to get a more supple compression and I cranked the rebound screw all the way in to get maximum rebound on the way back. Yes I do feel a difference in the adjustments after the cleanup and oil change so the rebound actually does something. After mounting the shock back and pumping it up a little bit I cycled it back and forth a couple of times to circulate the oil through it (it did make some munchy sounds the first couple of times but it got quiet afterwards, which I would guess it means the shock works as intended quiet shock = good).
After mounting the fork on my bike I went for a test ride. Here are some trail impressions. I didn't pump it up to the described PSI since I thought it was way too high, I went for the regular 12 bar that were usually spec'd for a medium weight rider (I'm much heavier) and the fork actions quite smoothly. Some people might prefer a stiffer reacting fork but then I might as well go rigid... Anyway the forks works really well (doesn't bob as much as the Noleen linkage fork it replaced), very good tracking absorbs trail chatter really well. It still dives under braking (whoever started the myth that it's anti-dive, is full of shit, or pumped it up to factory setting making it very harsh) but it behaves similar to a regular telescoping in that aspect, which I don't really mind. Bear in mind I didn't hit any hardcore trails with it, so I don't know how it behaves under harsher conditions, it is a lightweight short-travel cross country fork after all. Anyways it works better than the Noleen fork and is much lighter.
Bottom line: the shock service and oil change is super simple and there's no reason NOT to do it yourself. You could also experiment with the oil weight in order to fine tune the damping.
