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What's the best material to use for fork bushings?

ChrisRobin

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2002
3,346
190
Vancouver
I've just been checking out a lot of online 50cc bike parts sites and a lot of their bushing kits are made from delrin. How does delrin as a material compare to what they use in RockShox or Marzocchi bushings?(they use nylon or something?) Is it a question of what the stanction tubes are made of: aluminum vs. steel?

...mostly a question of curiosity.
 

vitox

Turbo Monkey
Sep 23, 2001
2,936
1
Santiago du Chili
normally steel or aluminum backed bushings are used, with some sort of antifriction (teflon-ish to my knowledge) coating

delrin is a plastic that deforms more than metal and i also think its got worse properties when it comes to moisture absortion, read: hanebrink
 

buildyourown

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2004
4,832
0
South Seattle
Delrin is a pretty lousy bushing material. It deforms easily and it wears fast in the presence of dirt.
Most highend forks use a split aluminum bushing with an anti-friction coating on the business side.
 

zedro

Turbo Monkey
Sep 14, 2001
4,144
1
at the end of the longest line
dhkid said:
i thought most busings were ceramic coated?
nooo...that would eat your stanchions alive. You want a soft material that wears away.

I'm pretty sure most bushings are aluminum backed bronze, it's pretty standard as a machine part so pretty cheap.
 

bballe336

Turbo Monkey
Mar 3, 2005
1,757
0
MA
ChrisRobin said:
All those 50cc bike forks are open oil...so I don't know how much they would absorb and swell.
well from what i know they do. i play paintball and most high end guns come with delrin bolts (the part that strikes the ball) and these bolts cannot be exposed to any oil for the mechanical parts of the guns or they will swell and not slide forward in the chamber very easily. thats just my experience.
 

ChrisRobin

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2002
3,346
190
Vancouver
bballe336 said:
well from what i know they do. i play paintball and most high end guns come with delrin bolts (the part that strikes the ball) and these bolts cannot be exposed to any oil for the mechanical parts of the guns or they will swell and not slide forward in the chamber very easily. thats just my experience.
Ah ok...I'll have to look into it.