Judy SC 1997 refurbish

[albystarvation]

A friend of mine is currently restoring an old Alpinestar.
This very bike fork (Spring VLS) is shot beyond any chance of recovering, due to spare parts lack.
He's asking me if a '97 NOS Judy XC ( the cream/red one) would be a worthy candidate, and what he should be aware of.
Since it's my knowledge that this fork has an hybrid spring/elastomer system, and the latter are surely shot, I dare to ask here if anyone would be so kind to steer me towards a pair of spare elastomers, or even a full spring setup, or dare i say an air cartridge ( Englund if i'm not totally wrong)????


Ta,
alberto.

 

[Thias]

The problem with the non-oil-filled Judys is, that they are often corrode on the inside due to water/moisture coming in and having no way out. (ok, that shouldn't be a problem with a NOS fork)
At the moment I am trying to decide witch kind of Judy to use on my build - old version Judy (tc) versus newer version (hydracoil). The newer versions don't have the corrosion problem, the dampening works better and they are easy to service. New seals cost 15 Euros and are still available new. There are no elastomers. BUT they are longer. So you might have to travel/modify them to fit to the frame. That's, what I am working on right now.

The Judys elastomeres can be swapped by springs. I did that, too. I would not bother trying to find new elastomers, they cost more than the springs and are not better imho. (they weight less but wear and are not functional in low temperature conditions)
But before investing any money into such a fork, have a look inside. The dampener should be the metal version, not the plastic one. The plastic versions had the tendency to "explode".

The air cartridges are hard to find these days.

cheers
Matthias

 

[albystarvation]

thanks, Matthias.
I'm confident that the damper is alu, not plastic... any idea on the dimensions of the needed springs ( I moght be able to have them custom-winded)??
Alberto.

 

[Thias]

If you have they custom winded, you also need to know the compression rate you need for your weight.
Should be easier to find a set of used springs. I got mine for 8 Euros a pair

I don't have this exact version of fork, so I can not help you with the correct size. But if you place a search in the wanted section, I am sure, someone will have what you are looking for.