Repairing or replacing forks?

[jorgemartin]

Hello!
I have a 5 year old Scott Reflex 20. It came with Rock Shox Judy 2 forks. These basic quality forks have never been serviced and now the lockout feature doesn't seem to work. My question is... is it worth having these serviced/repaired or should I get new forks? I'm going on a 25 day bike tour and would like to sort this out before then. Also. One problem that I have at the moment is that the handlebar is not level with the saddle and this causes discomfort over the long haul so I was considering raising the handlebar a few centimetres. If I get a new fork, can I cut the steerer longer and use spacers and thus bring the saddle and the handlebar to the same level?
Thanks!

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

IMHO it depends on whether you are planning to service it yourself or using a pro, since the latter generally charge about £75 (plus p&p if required), and which is not a whole lot different to the price of a new one of similar spec. (e.g. a Dart 3 in CRC's current sale). Depending on how handy you are you might also have to pay to get a new one installed, but then yes you do have the option of keeping a longer steerer tube.

If you are planning to doing it yourself, ime assuming no component damage servicing such spring/oil fork is usually not particularly difficult. If there is component damage you might find it hard to get specific parts.


The other thing is if you don't need a suspension fork then you can get a rigid mtb fork which could be lighter, cheaper and low maintenance.

 

[jorgemartin]

Thanks! I was planning to do this myself with some assistance at a self-help maintenance workshop. I guess what I'll do is to see if it can be serviced and if not get a new one installed, which will have the benefit of a longer steerer. the rigid MTB fork option does look attractive too, have you had any experience with these?

 

[I like Skol]

If you decide to get rigid forks (nothing wrong with this, suspension isn't right for every person/situation) make sure you buy a fork that is suspension geometry corrected to keep the bikes angles right otherwise you will end up with a very lively/twitchy front end. A suspension corrected rigid fork is longer to match a suspension forks height.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

In case you haven't seen it I think this document covers the servicing of your fork. Secondly this is quite a useful chart for oil selection. I have a particular interest in 2001 Judy Race/SLs hence collect such things.

Hope your servicing works out (it is often a great feeling to be able to diy). If you are keeping the fork you can always get a different stem to raise the bars a few cms. After using a calculator like this as suggested by MacB recently you can then pick one such as these (I happen to have the 40 degree one, it seems reasonably well made).

 

[jorgemartin]

Thanks for all the tips. After looking at the manual for servicing the forks, the rigid fork option looks more attractive. On the other hand, it's nice to have the suspension... Oh well, I'll try to service the forks first and take it from there.