Teenage Budget Fork Dreams..

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spacehopper

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So, as a teenager back in the 90's like a lot here i couldnt afford the latest and greatest..

My bike when i started uni was a Rigid.. bright red Specialized Rockhopper that if i closed my eyes and squinted a lot.. was just like JMC's Stumpy.. ules.. and a budget Club roost riser bar..

the first student loan payment came in... yep.. suspension forks.. the RST 461 was all i could stretch to at the time..

'reasonable for their time..' I rode those for a couple of years... races a few nambs DH Races.. and student champs on them too..

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471508671_10160729723591937_7198595913528345822_n.webp


They eventually met their demise riding down the aptly named 'death hill' under conisbrough viaduct in doncaster... crashing into the wall.. dislocating my shoulder.. and turning the brace into a banana...
 
Rockshox Quadra 21R. They cost £280, which was (still is!) a lot of money for 16 year old me. They were yellow so could be mistaken for a £600 Judy at 300 yards. I was expecting motorcycle style suspension, that's not what I got. I think it was my first MTB purchase that was disappointing. Still it wasn't far away from the Marzocchi Z1 which did work how I expected and thankfully completely changed the direction of suspension forks. Even more cash though.
 
Throughout the years of ownership they rode ok... but rebounded quickly and topped out with a massive THUNK..

after seeing the triple clamp DH version i had dreams of transplanting the air 'Dampers' from a DH into the 461 like a mini Mozo.. but cheap, easy ordering and information on the internet of things like thread taps on the internet (and also money..!) didnt exist back then..

and everyone knew back then if you fitted a triple clamp fork to a hardtail... the headtube would rip off.. and the bike would explode.. the first pebble you rode over... so that was a no go..

I kept the crown from the original fork for some reason.. and that dream flickered in the back of my imagination for years everytime i found it in the spares bin... until a battered single crown 461 was purchased on ebay a couple of years ago... then a NOS DH fork appeared too about a year ago..

dismantled them both hoping the damper would be an easy swap.. but nope.. the stanchions in the DH where completley different to the single crown version... the damper wasnt going to fit. DAMMIT. Dream over. or was it...
 
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the elastomer stack in the DH fork had a huge plastic spacer... if i could cut the stanchions down to the right length remove the spacer... then tap threads into the end.. of the stanchions.. the dream might still be on..

lots of measuring.. learning about threads.. inches.. millimetres.. what size where these flipping RST top caps...?!

a tap ordered on Ali-Express.. took weeks to arrive...

slightly too small. DAMMIT.

another order.. more weeks of waiting.. weird fractions of inches size.. its bang on!

stanchions cut down.. threads tapped.. :D

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20250930_234550.webp

 
100mm travel was too much for a single crown set of retro budget bouncers.... so the damper shafts where cut down too... and the base of those re-tapped with a more sensible M5 Size..

travel.. settled on just under 85mm...

time for a rebuild..

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20250930_232527.webp


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20250930_232534.webp


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(the red and yellow springs are some old judy ones ive had knocking around for ages i thought i might use.. but decided to stay true to the RST setup and stuck with a cutdown elastomer stack..)
 
I'm already loving the pointlessness of this, and I mean that in the nicest possible way. Everything we do on this site is pretty pointless, but it's great, and living out childhood dreams and plans is about the best of those pointless activities.
 
Dampers rebuilt..

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20251004_114442.webp



Dampers installed with some bottom out bumper elastomers...

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20251004_120857.webp



Crown repolished.. and rebuilt with new stanchions..

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20251004_115237.webp



Regreasing the lowers with oodles of Pace Fork Grease..

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20251004_122620.webp



Seals installed..
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20251004_123155.webp



Seals Removed again because i forgot to install the Flipping circlips that hold the bushings in place...

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20251004_155145.webp



Seals RE-installed... and fork boots cut down..

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20251004_122434.webp



Lowers on.. fork boots installed... brace installed.. elastomer stacks prepped

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20251004_161938.webp



elastomers greased and installed..

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20251004_162101.webp

 
Cloverleaf said:
I'm already loving the pointlessness of this, and I mean that in the nicest possible way. Everything we do on this site is pretty pointless, but it's great, and living out childhood dreams and plans is about the best of those pointless activities.
Click to expand...

Thank you! :) that's EXACTLY how it felt whilst completing the project!

Wonderfully pointless..! :)

To compound the pointlessness... they might not even get ridden..! i don't have a v-brake front wheel at the moment...
but hey... they might be an excuse to finally get those spokes in the right size and rebuild the radially laced specialized front wheel for another pointless project..

ive had a bounce on them and they rebound nicely... and dont top out like the damperless version of old... and they make me go all misty eyed and rose tinted when i look at the mounted on the garage wall..
 
First was an rst 381l. Swapped out for a second hand pair of z5 flylight airs from Harry Halls, bought with student loan for hundred quid when they moved shops.
A night and day difference. They got replaced a year later with a set if jnr T from winstanleys. Another student loan purchase. Both the marzocchi are going strong and still on my ownership. The 381l, they did the rounds to get friends on the road on various stupid bike builds, then got sold to a bloke at work for 40 quid and a bag of dime bars (this makes sense if you know where we worked).
 
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