Rock Shox rebuild inquiry

[bigbadbrad]

Just curious . . . I've got a Rock Shox Judy Hydracoil, put in service in August '99, so it's either a '98 or '99 . I've read (albeit just recently) that a shock should be rebuilt after like 40 or 50 hours of use (which is kind of a funny way to measure; only things I know of w/hour-meters are aircraft and motorboats). ;)

Anyway, I have to admit I've never had it serviced. (I haven't necessarily noticed any significant decrease in performance, so have followed the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" rule).

Am wondering if anyone has experience w/these, if it's easy enough to do it myself (I have a container of "Judy Butter"). However, I've also noticed it appears the "hydracoil" shows signs of possible leakage, i.e. it may have leaked at some point. If I'm not mistaken, that's the oil cylinder that slows rebound (haven't studied the manual lately).

If this is not a good idea to work on myself, any recommendations of shops that do a good job with this would be appreciated. In prior research, I've found that some shops don't seem as good/experienced with it as others. Also, if anyone knows what's a fair price for this service; I think I've seen quotes ranging from about $40 - $80.

Thanks,
--Brad
Ride on!

[EJensen]

I moved a Rockshox Pilot SL from my Trek 6700, on which it was original equipment, to a Santa Cruz Superlight frame I bought at the Bike Lane. I decided to overhaul it both to investigate a strange clunking sound that developed as well as to take it from 80 to 100 mm of travel.

The clunking sound turned out to be caused by a broken spacer. Instead of waiting around for a replacement part to be shipped from Rockshox, I prowled the plumbing aisles of Home Depot until I found a piece of PVC that had approximately the same dimensions after some hacksaw surgery.

Aside from the 5 wt shock oil I had to purchase, I don't recall the overhaul requiring any specialized tools. Make sure, however, that you have something to accurately measure out fluid amounts in cc's for refilling the various baths with the new shock oil.

Brian at the Bike Lane mentioned that shock oil stains concrete something awful, so you might want to bear this in mind in the event you have any spillage. During disassembly, the existing oil is going to come out, and not necessarily in an entirely controlled manner. At least have a big bucket ready, and perhaps a plastic tarp beneath that.

The illustrated instructions provided by Rockshox in the form of downloadable .pdf's do a pretty good job of guiding you through the sequence of steps.

If you have issues with seals, you may wish to scout out where you can get replacements before you begin the job.

Once you get started, it is probably only an hour or two of work. I enjoyed seeing everything apart and gaining a better understanding of how the whole fork worked.

Best of luck,
Eric Jensen

[mark w]

Most forks you can service with a basic array of tools (snap-ring pliers are required sometimes). Judys in general are pretty easy forks to get into. Finding the small parts to replace broken or worn out ones is sometimes a little more difficult, especially since some companies only support their gear for ~2 years before calling it "obsolete". The only real concern with a fork that old is the bushings. Lock the front brake and rock the bike back and forth with your hand around the stanchion (upper) and slider (lower) tubes. Noticeable play (like a loose headset) here is a bad thing. Bushing service is best left to the factory.

Good luck