Suspension Forks Stiffen

slowmatt
slowmatt Posts: 3
edited February 2011 in MTB workshop & tech
Hello I’ve got a Trek 6500 which has got Manitou Axel Elite forks. For some reason the forks work fine initially and compress when I put load on them but after a few minutes of riding they become very stiff and have very little movement. I have completely stripped them down and rebuilt them but still have exactly the same problem. When the bike is left for a while (over night) the forks again are fine for a few minutes then stiffen up. If anyone has any ideas on what could be causing the problem and what I could do to fix it would be much appreciated. Many thanks

Comments

  • jairaj
    jairaj Posts: 3,009
    Im not much of an expert on forks but maybe there is some sort of hydro lock going on. oil going somewhere its not ment to be and locking the fork out. but when left overnight the oil drains back to where it should be?

    check all seals are in good shape? and check you have correct oil amount?
  • cavegiant
    cavegiant Posts: 1,546
    what kind of stiffness.

    If a hydrolock it will be 100% solid, no give at all.
    Air will stiffen, but still be springy.
    if something is heating and seizing that could be a third (rarer, but was an issue on one of my forks).

    Most manitou have very effective but simple dampers, one of the reasons I like them so much.
    Can't stress how awesome my Dorado is, but event the old black was stunning.


    One other thing to check is pour the oill out of the damper leg into a clean jug and go for a ride.
    Why would I care about 150g of bike weight, I just ate 400g of cookies while reading this?
  • cavegiant
    cavegiant Posts: 1,546
    http://spoke-n-word-cycles.com/Technica ... Manual.pdf
    Why would I care about 150g of bike weight, I just ate 400g of cookies while reading this?
  • Fenred
    Fenred Posts: 428
    I had Manitou forks on a previous bike and had exactly this prob. I found that in the winter it got noticably even worse, like you I tried everything from stripping them down , fiddling with pre-load every 5 mins....Drove me nuts, apparently its a common finding with the cheaper Manitou forks....i ended up swapping out for Rockshox, never had a prob since, there are plenty of good deals around at the moment, you wont have to spend a fortune and you'll notice the benefits immediately.
  • cavegiant
    cavegiant Posts: 1,546
    Manitou H8r ;-)
    Why would I care about 150g of bike weight, I just ate 400g of cookies while reading this?
  • Fenred
    Fenred Posts: 428
    LMAO :lol:
  • slowmatt
    slowmatt Posts: 3
    Many thanks for your comments. I took the lock out valve mechanism out of the right fork, disassembled it and put it back in again, seemed ok in the garage but I will go for a ride this weekend and report back if it has cured the problem.

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