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winterizing forks / suspension

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,850
9,556
AK
Yep, in winter I keep my suspension bikes inside and I ride my fatbike.
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,850
9,556
AK
No humpy forky?
Lefty seems to be quite popular around these parts. :hmm:
Nope, never seen one on the trail in winter. We see a few blutos, but IME a suspension fork doesn't do a whole lot for you if you are riding on snow on big tires. First there's the low pressure, the high TPI casing, then the fact that the snow compresses a bit (even when it's pretty packed) which absorbs even more energy, and lastly you just aren't going that fast where you get a lot of those sharp amplitude impacts where you'd want a suspension fork. Sometimes it's -20 and you are crossing a frozen lake in the wind, other times it may be +28 and you are rocking the bermed packed trails in town, hitting the doubles and tables. In both cases, the fork doesn't do a lot for you and in some it's simply a liability and something that'll fail.

I'll ride my RFX down into the 20s and teens if it's dry and I have good traction, which we usually have a good little period in November, but otherwise, I hang the suspension up when it gets real nasty/cold. Pressurized seals holding in air/oil don't like the cold very much.