rosefarts

Was it today or a couple days ago? Honestly I’m not sure. It’s at about 60-70% of my travel, so it’s not going to run over my seals every time.

Its a tiny nick with no major burr. I might go over it with something really lightly to smooth it a bit more.

Moving forward, is this going to accelerate my service intervals? It’s the right leg on a Helm MK2, and the air is in the left if that matters.

My new location has some of the finest dust I’ve encountered, tons of riding too. Based on this, I was already considering something like a Lizard Skin shock protector.

I had these in the 90’s. I can’t remember if they were useful at all.

They’d almost certainly protect against minor damage like today. I worry that they would trap dust and actually cause more wear. They certainly aren’t in style but I’d try them. I’m not worried about my little travel indicator, I’m pretty happy with where my fork is currently dialed.

Are there other options to protect stanchions on a modern fork?

I liked good old shock boots back in the day but I’m not taking my fork apart for them.

Kinda bummed about the nick but quite happy to be in a place that miles are so easy to get.

eshew

I've used small modeling files to remove any burrs. If it's big I've also filled with jb weld. But chances are you'll to completely fine. Do your lowers services and Sarah's at the proper intervals and ride on!

biker128pedal

I saw this but have not done it myself. I have heavy steel fork tubes.

Kapusta

I would think that far into the travel won't matter much. I would just make sure there are no burrs. Just my guess, though.

Air vs damper side does not matter, as the the air piston and damper are inside the upper legs, no the lowers. So this does not involve the air seal like it could don a rear shock.

DMC707

The Lizard Skinz fork boots produce enough stiction on a 240 lb motocross bike to be noticeable. However, most of our mountain bike's suspension is nowhere near that sophisticated or sensitive, so i would say -- it wouldnt hurt to try

That said - when i was rebuilding my downhill bike a few years ago, the stanchions were scratched to the point that my shop wanted to send them back to Fox -- i said - "lets just roll with it and see what happens" (older model 42mm Fox Vanilla DH spring fork) --

Its been fine. no leaks , after about 5 weekends out . The bike is now retired, but i suspect it would have gone as long as i needed it to

Kapusta

I think lizard skins dropped out of favor because they generally cause more harm than they prevent by grinding in any trapped dirt.

The accordion style boots that came stock on many forks were different and that they didn’t rub against the stanchions as they compressed.