Soft forks

[Nige_B]

MY Claud Butler Arc has been sat for about a year and the front forks have gone really soggy and soft! I’ve taken the bungs off the top of the fork and there’s a triangular shaped socket in there. I can’t seem to find the tool I need to undo it. I’m assuming it’s a allen key type tool that I need?

I’ve looked for a name stamped on the forks but nothing.

[Gunner]

Just a breif answer to try and get some more information, but do you mean they feel “soft” and you haven’t ridden the bike yet, or have you ridden it and they are “soft”.

Of the top of my head I’m sure some forks, my Rebas included, need to be “primed” or “pumped” several times after a period of bike inactivity, to bring the suspension effect back to full working order.

Could this be the case with yours.

I’ll try and confirm this later. 😉

[Nige_B]

It’s a possibility but I’ve ridden it for a while the other day and they didn’t seem to stiffen up any.

I’ve basically had it for a few years but it’s barely been ridden, it definately wasn’t as soft as it now. It seems to hit the bottom of its travel on the smallest of bump (riding off kerbs etc.)

At the bottom of the forks there’s some oily residue like it’s been leaking too. If I have to I’ll just buy new forks but considering the amount of use they’ve had I would’ve thought they’d be serviceable 😕