Hanging bikes vertically, good for forks?

[superstar1]

If you hang forks vertically the oil will separate and you will get a build up of sludge leading to serious loss of performance and clunking.
A cure for this is to add two teaspoons of vegetable oil, I find that Sainsbury's brand is the best. When you add it make sure you give the bike a good shake while chanting three hail Mary's and for better results wear your underpants on your head and try to walk around in circles in a clockwise direction.
Alternatively you could always store your bike on a flat level surface like I do then you have no worries and you can use the vegetable oil for frying chips.

 

[ishaw]

If you hang forks vertically the oil will separate and you will get a build up of sludge leading to serious loss of performance and clunking.
A cure for this is to add two teaspoons of vegetable oil, I find that Sainsbury's brand is the best. When you add it make sure you give the bike a good shake while chanting three hail Mary's and for better results wear your underpants on your head and try to walk around in circles in a clockwise direction.
Alternatively you could always store your bike on a flat level surface like I do then you have no worries and you can use the vegetable oil for frying chips.

Cheers for the idea about storing my bike flat. If it was from ikea that would probably work and allow me the space saving in the garage I'm after. Sadly all my bikes aren't flat pack, hence storing them vertically a solution to creating space in the garage. I could always trade them in and get some Bromptons, I'd then have enough scaffold pole for another bike rack, but no bikes to hang from it.

 

[jimo746]

Re:

Does the oil separate in rigid forks too?

 

[The History Man]

Re: Re:

Does the oil separate in rigid forks too?

Depends which way up they are.

 

[ishaw]

If you fit them backwards I think they are fine without oil.

 

[superstar1]

If you fit them backwards I think they are fine without oil.

You are correct, while they are hanging vertically they will be fine if you fit them backwards but you must remember to fit them the right way round when riding the bike.

Incidentally, if you are selling the bike on ebay the forks must be fitted backwards to comply with ebay rules. But I am sure you retrobikers are aware of that.

 

[jimo746]

If you fit them backwards I think they are fine without oil.

Ok, thanks for that. I've just oiled them today as I'd had them fitted frontwards, also oiled the wheel rims as they had been hung upside down too :facepalm:

 

[tufty]

also oiled the wheel rims

No.

Nonononono

I work some of the time on one of these : http://www.wiegandsportsusa.com/alpine_coaster

My job is not only dealing with the knucklehead clients, but also doing the maintenance. This is a job I should be sharing with my colleague, the comically named "Gaylord". However, when I double-checked some "maintenance" he'd done and found the speed-limiting centrifugal brakes on one car generously greased (friction surface *and* drum, just to be on the safe side), I decided that I would stick to doing it all myself.

*shudder*