Do Halfords service forks?

gt-arrowhead

Hi, i have a pair of forks but one side of the fork doesnt work. The other side is pretty firm. I took the clamps off and pushed the side that doesnt work down and i heard some air leaking out of the top and it doesnt come back up to its original position now. :O

I have never opened up a fork before so i dont know how i could find the problem or even fix it. I got the forks pretty much for free so its not too bad i guess!

Would Halfords be able to repair the forks or at least have a look and tell me what the problem is?

The fork is a zoom 650 so its not the best fork in the world, but it does look the part.

Thanks

cooldad

Nope, they'll send them off if anything. Unlikely to be worth spending money on. .

gt-arrowhead

Ahh, right. I might have a new fork by the time the bikes finished. If not ill ride it one sided until i get something proper It might even handle fine, i dont know yet since i havent ridden with it yet.

Thanks for the info though.

The Rookie

Open them up, dead easy, could be water in the base - a common problem on cheap forks.

You could have them apart, cleaned up and back together in 15 minutes - no brainer.

gt-arrowhead

Really??

Do you know where i could find a tutorial for doing this? Or would it just be like an airshock or something like that inside that i just pull off. Sorry if that sounds really stupid but ive never done it before.

The Rookie

Easy with most of these, loosen the bolts at the bottom of the forks that hold the lowers to the uppers but about 4-5 turns, tap LIGHTLY up with a hammer to loosen the inteference fit, remove bolts, pull lowers from uppers, clean out, grease, refit.

gt-arrowhead

Ill give that a go tomorrow. Hopefully i dont mess it up. Im scared stuff will just fly off and ill not remember how they all go back haha. So will doing this get the pressure back into the fork? As in will the left side will be stiff again like the right side?

The Rookie

What pressure? Not air forks, usually you have a spring one side and a damper the other, but I don't know your specific forks.

gt-arrowhead

They are the forks i posted in that other Chucker build thread. Here they are again. Only info that i have is that they are called Zoom 650.

Photos of them:

supersonic

These are quite well made - but an utterly ridiculous fork for that frame! You can service them as above (there is no damping or oil in them), but I'd get rid and find something more suitable.

gt-arrowhead

Haha, they do look out of place since the fork stanchions are as thick as my headtube They arent heavy at all though since they are all Aluminium.

Its either these or nothing at the moment as these are the only forks i have which fit this frame. I was thinking to get a 29er rigid fork for it eventually.

Im going to try and repair my fork today but i dont see how re greasing it up is going to get it stiff again.

gt-arrowhead

To make it clear what the problem is, i took a photo with the clamps off. I can literally push the left side down with one finger. The right side is still hard as it should be. The left is also slightly harder to pull back up as i think its created some sort of a vaccum inside. It wont return to the same height as the right one.

supersonic

Most forks only have a spring in one leg.

gt-arrowhead

So is it meant to be like this?? LOL

supersonic

Yup.

gt-arrowhead

Ahh. Thanks alot SS. Do you know what diameter the steerer is on these by any chance? The crown race i got is a bit loose on it... i dont know why. I think the previous owner may have used a fork that didnt have a 1 1/8 diameter?

supersonic

SHould be a standard 1 1/8th steerer.

gt-arrowhead

I found my measuring tool. The steerer is indeed 28.6mm

Turns out my crown race diameter was too big. Its exactly 30mm. Wtf? I was wondering why the headset bearings didnt seem to fit onto it that well!

supersonic

Where the steerer meets the fork, the steerer tapers out to 30.0mm ;-). This is so the crown race can squash onto it. A loose fit doesn't make too much difference once the headset is preloaded, it doesn't go anywhere.

gt-arrowhead

Ohhhh ok. On my steerer that bit doesnt exist... haha. Looks like ill have to compress it in once i get the rest of my headset together so it doesnt move as you said.

One last question, sorry im really bad with aheadsets.

Can you buy the "compressoin ring" for the headset separately? i typed in "compression ring" into eBay and tried many other things but i had no luck. Apart from the one i found that was in the USA...lol. What do i have to type in to find it? Or is it just that you cant get them seperately.

supersonic

For some yes - but they can be unique to the model of headset.

gt-arrowhead

I see. Ok. I might just take it down to halfords and they see what they say. Or ill buy a new headset and use that. That will give me all the parts i am missing and fresh bearings. + ill have spare bearing races/cups too.

PashleyRider

You need to push the rest of the steerer up to fit the crown race! It is not sitting in its proper position. Forks only have internals on one side as others have said, don't worry about it

gt-arrowhead

Omg, thanks for that!! After reading that i just looked and saw that little part where it goes slightly wider, haha! Thanks!

Corr i am useless or what. LOL!

supersonic

You can buy new headsets for about 8 quid.

gt-arrowhead

Yep, those are the ones that ill most likely end up getting.

As for raising the steerer up. Its been a right pain in the arse so far. It is a REALLY REALLY tight fit and me and my dad have been at it ever since my last post. Ive been filing away at the inside of the clamp and im almost there now. Just have to file away some more so that the 30mm part of the steerer can come through and that lip at the bottom of the steerer can slot into the clamp. (you can see it in the 2nd picture on one of my previous posts).

Ive also re tapped one of the clamp holes to use an M8 bolt since M7 bolts are like the rarest things on the planet...cant find one in B&Q or Halfords, or online. So far its been pretty fun though trying to get everything how it should be. Going to carry on with the steerer and clamp after dinner. Thanks for helping me out PashleyRider and Supersonic!

PashleyRider

Weird...that steerer moved easily for me! Not that I actually used the forks haha, they have sat in the shed from new

gt-arrowhead

Haha, well its always good to do something instead of sitting around. Been working on it for half the day now...the last 3 hours without the help of my dad since he ended up falling asleep infront of the woodburner....LOL!

Eventually managed to get it up into the clamp... its 99% in so that 30mm section isnt all the way up so the crown race is still wobbly but only slightly now. Thats the best im going to get for it unless i spend a few hours knocking it back out, forcing the clamp open, filing it some more, then hammering it back in. It took ALOT of filing and is still a very very tight fit. The clamp has been bent out so much that i can no longer put the bolt through it because of the angle it is at. It should be tight enough to not even need a bolt! I think im going to get an aluminium welding rod off ebay and weld it in to be sure. (cant re tap the bolt cause of the angle the clamp fastner part is now at)

Here it is... hours of work to get a piece of metal 2 inches higher haha


Heres the bolt that has been added

rockmonkeysc

What are you doing to that Chucker?? It was a good bike once. Please don't ruin it by fitting awful and inappropriate forks.

gt-arrowhead

I dont have any other forks! And i havent even tried this fork yet i might like it LOL. Very limited funds as all the money comes from my parents so i cant exactly splash out...If i dont like the front suspension (which i tend to hate) ill save up for a 29er rigid fork for it instead. This Chucker will get there eventually. Its just gonna take some time.

rockmonkeysc

Why a 29er rigid? It will be too long, the frame is designed for a 100mm fork and a 29er is closer to a 120mm fork.