doctorchopper Posted August 25, 2019 Report Share Posted August 25, 2019 Which are better for protecting the stanchions, the neoprene slip ons or the carbon look cable tied ones. was out today and put some serious scratches on mine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d2w Posted August 25, 2019 Report Share Posted August 25, 2019 (edited) I don't have any experience with either type on a trials bike, but I used to run neoprene covers to protect the fork seals on my enduro. I don't believe the neoprene covers would prevent a sharp rock from damaging the forks; neoprene is too easy to cut and rip. And I sometimes wondered if the neoprene trapped the grit and prevented it from being blown away to the point that it actually promoted wear on the forks. I'd think the plastic/kevlar guards would be a more effective protection from fork damage on a trials bike. Or simply don't crash. Edited August 25, 2019 by d2w Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leembarnes Posted August 25, 2019 Report Share Posted August 25, 2019 I use full length carbon. Cost about £80 but once you've had to pay out for a tech stanchion well worth the investment. Obvs very light and don't effect front end in any way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cascao Posted August 25, 2019 Report Share Posted August 25, 2019 Or, fork gaiters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2stroke4stroke Posted August 26, 2019 Report Share Posted August 26, 2019 (edited) If you measure the travel of any modern fork I have worked on then it can be seen that the this brings the slider very close to the bottom yoke. That gap is much less than needed to accommodate a concertina'd gaiter. Having always put gaiters on my bikes previously I was a bit annoyed, but not so much as to lose a good bit of the fork travel by fitting them. I imagine the same applies to the neoprene tubes. Edited August 26, 2019 by 2stroke4stroke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cascao Posted August 28, 2019 Report Share Posted August 28, 2019 On 8/26/2019 at 4:49 AM, 2stroke4stroke said: If you measure the travel of any modern fork I have worked on then it can be seen that the this brings the slider very close to the bottom yoke. That gap is much less than needed to accommodate a concertina'd gaiter. Having always put gaiters on my bikes previously I was a bit annoyed, but not so much as to lose a good bit of the fork travel by fitting them. I imagine the same applies to the neoprene tubes. You will not loose any travel on forks with any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2stroke4stroke Posted August 29, 2019 Report Share Posted August 29, 2019 (edited) 13 hours ago, cascao said: You will not loose any travel on forks with any. As it is some years, and bikes, since I checked this and I happen to have a set of gaiters in the garage I thought I would measure my 4RT, which should be fairly representative of a typical modern bike. Distance between top of slider and bottom of yoke 178mm. Space taken up by a compressed gaiter of the type people fit to trials bikes is 60mm (but some seem to fit gaiters that are much longer than necessary so will take up even more space). I don't have access just now to my ratchet straps to measure fork travel to the last millimetre but Montesa claim 175mm so let's use that. 178 - 175 = 3mm. Try and fit a 60mm piece of solid (compressed) rubber in to that and you have lost 57mm of travel. If you've just paid £6,000 for a bike with the latest in suspension then 30% is a significant amount to lose. Now I don't go round using the modern riding techniques but the dirt tell tales indicate that even I use all but a few millimetres of the available travel. Edited August 29, 2019 by 2stroke4stroke 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcgods Posted August 31, 2019 Report Share Posted August 31, 2019 I have fitted both the neoprene gaiters and the full length guards just to make sure nothing gets damaged Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junglejeff Posted September 1, 2019 Report Share Posted September 1, 2019 I run some plastic guards on my GG.After replacing a tech tube in my 1st trials meet was cheap insurance. If I had to run alot of mud I would also use seal savers. I use them on my offroad bike and adv bike and keeps crap out of seals.I have found over 30 years offroad racing that a piece of dirt caused many fork leaks.plastic for hit protection and seal savers for dirt protection on seals.Have not had a seal go out in the last 4 years I have used seal savers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorchopper Posted September 1, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2019 Got sorted with a full length set of plastic/carbon look ones from splat shop. good enough fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan williams Posted September 2, 2019 Report Share Posted September 2, 2019 A wise decision. I've been using the full length plastic covers on my Betas for years. The only time I didn't was riding a brand new bike. I let a friend try it for five minutes and within 60 seconds he slid the fork leg down the side of a rock. Wasn't even necessary, he just wasn't paying attention. Nice big scratches down the aluminum slider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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