RST Forks maintenance

[Cd]

Hi

Recently got a Hybrid with RST forks on it. I'm reading the manual regarding the maintenance which
says I should disassemble the forks every 4 weeks or so & clean & lubricate. This all seems fine,
but part of the disassemble requires removal of the brake arch, seeing as it's welded on I don't
fancy removing it.

What maintenance can I do without removing the arch? Will a bit of oil do the trick?

Cheers
CD.

[Jim Price]

CD wrote:
> I'm reading the manual regarding the maintenance which says I should disassemble the forks every 4
> weeks or so & clean & lubricate.

That really depends on what sort of riding you do - if you ride six hours along the bottom of river
beds every day, once a day would be advisable, if you only ride from one end of a NASA clean room to
the other, then don't bother. I do mine when they show signs of needing attention.

> What maintenance can I do without removing the arch? Will a bit of oil do the trick?

You can do all the maintenance required without removing the arch, but you may need to
re-interpret the instructions a little, as it sounds like you have the wrong instructions for your
fork. You may need a special tool, depending on the fork. You could look here to see if you can
find the right manual:

http://www.rst-europe.com/f-list.htm

As for oil, the first time you service them, clean _all_ of the original oil/grease out and replace
it with something you know you can get your hands on. Mixing oils is not a good idea. Your choice of
oil will depend on your fork, and possibly the manufacturers recomendation (unless they recomend
hens teeth oil). I couldn't recomend a particular oil/grease without knowing what model of fork you
have, what sort of riding you do and possibly even how heavy you are if its a more sophisticated
fork. However, any lubrication is better than none at all. If you stray away from manufacturers
recomendations, try to use a neutral grease which will not react with any of the parts in the fork.

--
Jim Price

http://www.jimprice.dsl.pipex.com (http://www.jimprice.dsl.pipex.com/)

Conscientious objection is hard work in an economic war.

[Cd]

On Sun, 15 Jun 2003 15:20:23 +0100, Jim Price <maxxard@hotmail.com> wrote:

>That really depends on what sort of riding you do - if you ride six hours along the bottom of river
>beds every day, once a day would be advisable, if you only ride from one end of a NASA clean room
>to the other, then don't bother. I do mine when they show signs of needing attention.

10 miles to work & back, mostly road, with a little light off-road. Plus the odd weekend excursion.

>You can do all the maintenance required without removing the arch, but you may need to
>re-interpret the instructions a little, as it sounds like you have the wrong instructions for your
>fork. You may need a special tool, depending on the fork. You could look here to see if you can
>find the right manual:

>http://www.rst-europe.com/f-list.htm

Thanks for that link, I should have found that site before I posted. The manual I have is correct
for my model of fork - 791-TL, it does however lose a little in translation ;) You can see a pic of
the fork here:

http://www.rst.com.tw/English/Spec/22.htm

> I couldn't recomend a particular oil/grease without knowing what model of fork you have, what sort
> of riding you do and possibly even how heavy you are if its a more sophisticated fork.

See above for type of riding, & I'm 16 stone.

Cheers

CD