Really? Cause I've been hammering my Lefty Max since 2005 (only bike but only light dh) and only had to rebuild it 3 times (around $100 each time). No failures of any kind, just routine stuff. I've heard of much more frequent maintenance with other forks.
They are a superior design to the "traditional" fork. People just don't like they way they look.
The Lefty was really revitalized in the 29er boom.
For one thing, initially it was just a stock 26 inch fork that was shimmed down from 110mm to 80mm, which made it easy for Cannondale to refit it. The archless design is a natural for larger wheels.
I've rebuilt one, it wasn't much harder to do than any other fork. The high end Lefty weighs as much as a SID and look at the picture I have been saving for years, Cedric casing a backflip. No wheel deflection at all.
Really, ask the haters these two simple questions to find out how baseless their claims are: "Ever ride a Lefty?" and "Ever rebuild one?"
I had a MAX 140 and didn't like it, but it was FFD and the bearings needed to be reset badly, as it topped out hard. Wish I had known that at the time, but it was on a prophet which was just such a horrible idea it's not funny. Bad shock, too long eTT, too long stem, turned me into a dummy.
I'm looking at a rush with a lefty to convert to 650b. Supposedly you can do so without mods to the fork or frame, and it gives you BB clearance to boot.
I dig the new leftys, I think the internalized rollers are a great idea, but I'm anxious to see how bad the stiction is with the new bushing and seal, as that was essentially headshok's claim to faim (no bushings, no friction). I really dig the bearing auto-locator though. Rockshox **** scares me though, I don't want that in my high end fork. I expect a major recall within a year after release.
Really? Cause I've been hammering my Lefty Max since 2005 (only bike but only light dh) and only had to rebuild it 3 times (around $100 each time). No failures of any kind, just routine stuff. I've heard of much more frequent maintenance with other forks.
They are a superior design to the "traditional" fork. People just don't like they way they look.
I had a MAX 140 and didn't like it, but it was FFD and the bearings needed to be reset badly, as it topped out hard. Wish I had known that at the time, but it was on a prophet which was just such a horrible idea it's not funny. Bad shock, too long eTT, too long stem, turned me into a dummy.
I probably could do it myself. I've reset the bearings a couple of times (it uses a bb tool to remove the cap), but I would rather an expert do it. The first two rebuilds were done by a shop (Landrys and Providence bike) but the last rebuild was shipped back to Cannondale and they did a much better job. That rebuild was over two years ago and its just now showing signs of needing another rebuild. I think this time I will send it off to Mendon Cycles to have a Fox PBR put in.
I probably could do it myself. I've reset the bearings a couple of times (it uses a bb tool to remove the cap), but I would rather an expert do it. The first two rebuilds were done by a shop (Landrys and Providence bike) but the last rebuild was shipped back to Cannondale and they did a much better job. That rebuild was over two years ago and its just now showing signs of needing another rebuild. I think this time I will send it off to Mendon Cycles to have a Fox PBR put in.
Not that the prophet is a bad idea, MY prophet was a bad idea. It was a large and those bikes were ENORMOUS. Add to that the 120mm stem and radium shock...and yeah, it wasn't very good.
One is the castle tool. It is like a bb removal tool.
The other is a large black implement which pushes out the steering column. I don't know what it is called, but it looks like a personal servicing device.
However, most non-Cannondale shops do not have them. Most shops, even Cannondale ones, send the forks back for service.
New Lefty looks pretty neat. I used to run a Lefty Max 140 on my Prophet...I liked the performance enough, but working on it was not as fun. Bearings had to be re-seated somewhat frequently and my fork eventually developed a top out and knocking noises that I could not seem to fix. Rebound adjustment stopped working too. The basic rebuild was more difficult than just about anything else I've worked on. I got rid of it and bought a TALAS and have been happy with that. The Prophet is still going strong; I still have the bike and it has been pretty great.
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