Let’s disassemble the front fork.
It’s refreshingly simple and I’m grateful for that. Since I haven’t disassembled modern bike forks in a while, I sometimes worry about them.
There’s some runout, so I’ll correct it. We can’t achieve zero here, so even with our best effort, the bend will be around 1/100 to 2/100 of an inch—please understand that’s the limit.
It’s hard to see in the photo, but the bent fork has a line on the underside of the lower bracket. You’ll notice it when you pull it out.
This time we’re replacing the bottom case. If it’s going to leak, it’s quicker and more affordable to replace than to cosmetically repair it.
We’ll bleed the air and we’re done. While we’re at it, we’ll replace the wheel bearings.
The front grease hadn’t leaked out either—it was in good condition.
When will this mysterious grease buildup finally go away?
The rear side had quite a bit of wear.
People ask me when to replace wheel bearings, and honestly they can last quite a distance if you use them.
But the sweet spot is to replace them while they’re still good, and then they start to wear. I think replacing them every 20,000 to 30,000 kilometers is reasonable. Even if you ride 100,000 kilometers total, that’s only 3 to 5 replacements—not that many at all.
It’s kind of like socks. Sure, they don’t have holes yet, but a pilling, dirty, shabby sock doesn’t lift your spirits, does it?
The POP nut is still okay, but I’d really prefer to use steel for steel.
I welded the nut in place to secure it.
It’s good to know how the shaft moves when you tighten it.
Still waiting on parts.
