2015 road bike blows fork seals

[Maddog Reynolds]

It blew a seal ("No, it's just frost on my moustache!" ) at about 3,000 miles. Both sides replaced by dealer, but they wouldn't cover it under warranty!

Now one side is just starting to go again (one side has a ring of light dust on the stanchion, the other side has dark dust, which I think is oil starting to leak past the seal. I clean them frequently with a cloth, so I'll keep an eye.

Is it a known weak spot? I have standard forks, which are a bit harsh under compression.

I'm told the harshness is due to the holes in the internals being too small. Could that also cause excessive pressure on the seal during compression? Or does the seal only deal with the air pressure as the fork compresses?

Any opinions, please?

 

[OldVet]

Mine went 13,932 miles before one started weeping...

 

[Fangfactor]

It blew a seal ("No, it's just frost on my moustache!" ) at about 3,000 miles. Both sides replaced by dealer, but they wouldn't cover it under warranty!

Now one side is just starting to go again (one side has a ring of light dust on the stanchion, the other side has dark dust, which I think is oil starting to leak past the seal. I clean them frequently with a cloth, so I'll keep an eye.

Is it a known weak spot? I have standard forks, which are a bit harsh under compression.

I'm told the harshness is due to the holes in the internals being too small. Could that also cause excessive pressure on the seal during compression? Or does the seal only deal with the air pressure as the fork compresses?

Any opinions, please?

I have been messing with oil volume as I believe and also another forum member have found that with the standard 460ml volume of oil per leg the forks are Hydraulic locking before full travel is achieved. This would put huge pressure on the seals. With the standard 460mls of oil I was only getting approx 105mm of travel from the full 125mm. I now run 400ml of oil and get 123mm of travel with the last 2mm under hydraulic lock which is a softer stop than the rubber bump stop.

The standard oil is 4wt. Im not sure what you weigh but Im 100kg in gear and have just gone to 15wt and for track riding Im liking the setup.

This is just my opinion, just trying to help

 

[Maddog Reynolds]

I'm a bit lighter, but not much.

Too much oil would explain everything, but it doesn't explain why the dealer couldn't replace seals under warranty!

I might play with oil weight/volume and maybe springs as well, then. But 15wt sounds a bit heavy, especially in cold Cumbrian weather. I might try something around 7 to begin with. I don't know what the standard front springs are, so I shall do some research

 

[isaac_]

I can see them making an argument that seals are part of maintenance. Granted... at 3K street miles, I would not think these would be an issue.


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