SR Suntour disassembly and rebuild question.
10-23-23, 02:45 PM
#1
Newbie
Thread Starter
SR Suntour disassembly and rebuild question.
Hello, I haven't posted a stupid question in a while so here goes. My KHS (Alice) has a SR Suntour M3020 front suspension fork. I don't like it. It's obviously beyond its prime. I've found plenty on videos on youtube showing the disassembly and rebuild. Seems easy enough but does it really do anything. This specific fork doesn't have a lock-out. I'd love to replace the fork with a suspension corrected fork but I'm having a difficult time finding one that is long enough; the KHS has an XL frame.
I'm currently in Seattle right now and I rode down to the Des Moines Marina. The hills here are great but I almost ate **** a couple of times because when I braked, the front nosed down hard and fast because of the weak fork. In the videos, they disassemble the fork, clean parts and reassemble. No parts are replaced. So what good does rebuilding the fork do? Unless I'm going to replace that spring with a solid piece of pipe.
Thanks, Jim
I'm currently in Seattle right now and I rode down to the Des Moines Marina. The hills here are great but I almost ate **** a couple of times because when I braked, the front nosed down hard and fast because of the weak fork. In the videos, they disassemble the fork, clean parts and reassemble. No parts are replaced. So what good does rebuilding the fork do? Unless I'm going to replace that spring with a solid piece of pipe.
Thanks, Jim
10-23-23, 06:03 PM
#2
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Replace the spring with a length of pipe - instant rigid fork
10-23-23, 06:16 PM
#3
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10-24-23, 06:06 AM
#4
Senior Member
Yep, replace the spring with something that makes the fork inoperable, or budget 500-1000 dollars to get a fully adjustable air/hydro fork to replace it.
10-25-23, 10:02 PM
#5
Senior Member
You can usually find shops selling last year’s forks (and sometimes models from 2 or 3 previous years) at a discount, usually less than half of retail. Fortunately, replacing a fork is about has hard as cooking lasagne, and takes less time. There are a lot of videos on YouTube showing how its done.
10-25-23, 10:12 PM
#6
Newbie
Thread Starter
You can usually find shops selling last year’s forks (and sometimes models from 2 or 3 previous years) at a discount, usually less than half of retail. Fortunately, replacing a fork is about has hard as cooking lasagne, and takes less time. There are a lot of videos on YouTube showing how its done.
Last edited by beyerj; 10-25-23 at 10:30 PM.
10-26-23, 02:44 AM
#7
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It’s a bit of a bodge, but if you’re already taking the fork apart, you can insert a short (3/4”) piece of pipe into the spring stack when you put the fork back together.
As you’ve noted, there isn’t really anything you can do to adjust a basic fork like this, with the stock parts, and the best upgrade for it is a full replacement.
This will compress the spring partially, basically increasing your effective spring rate ( makes it stiffer)
It also will have the effect of reducing the overall travel, and since low cost forks like this have very little damping, it will also rebound faster.
On a path-bike like the OP, you will probably notice that the ride isn’t as smooth as before, but you won’t experience the “dive” on descents and braking like before.
As you’ve noted, there isn’t really anything you can do to adjust a basic fork like this, with the stock parts, and the best upgrade for it is a full replacement.
This will compress the spring partially, basically increasing your effective spring rate ( makes it stiffer)
It also will have the effect of reducing the overall travel, and since low cost forks like this have very little damping, it will also rebound faster.
On a path-bike like the OP, you will probably notice that the ride isn’t as smooth as before, but you won’t experience the “dive” on descents and braking like before.
10-27-23, 09:03 PM
#9
Newbie
Thread Starter
Exactly. I prefer rigid. But I can't get a fork that is too short otherwise I be grinding the pedals into the pavement. I'm still looking for a suspension correcting fork that will work for that bike.
