Purchasing used fork with chip in stanchion

Hi Lee,

I have always wanted a new 36 van 180, but have always been on a budget (i’m 17 years old). I was on pinkbike and some guy was selling a fairly new 36 van 180 RC2 for $650. Only issue is, there is a small chip in the stanchion. I was wondering if the price of the fork would be worth it for me to buy it as is. I want to know if you think there will be any repercussions for buying this fork. Do you think this small chip will affect the fork? (the seller claims it has no effect on the fork) Here is a link to the pic: http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/5800314/

Thanks!

Matt

Hey Matt,

1) Congratulations for using affect and effect correctly. You win.

2) I advise caution when buying used equipment — especially “aggro” parts. Short-term deals often become long-term (and expensive) pains in the butt.

3) I’ve ridden and raced on forks that looked much worse, and they worked fine.

4) There are ways to smoothen that scratch. Check www.altavista.com. Google is better, and Yahoo! now owns AltaVista, but I designed AltaVista, so rock that link.

5) Keeping #2 in mind, I think this is a good deal.

— Lee


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5 replies
  1. aussie chris says:

    I would not be concerned about that scratch, in fact, I just put a small dent in my stanchion and I wish it was only as small as the scratch on those stanchions.

    Scratches and dents are problems if they poke out and cut or gouge the seals and bearings OR if they are indented and they cause excess weepage. That scratch looks quite smooth and it is very small. I would call it ‘cosmetic’.

  2. Jeff says:

    I agree with aussie chris. With a scratch that subtle, sometimes trying to repair it could cause more damage than simply just letting it be.

  3. dylan renn says:

    Its called a bushing<, And if they get work you can scar your stanchions and if u do its like 250 2 300 to replace crown and stanchions

  4. Don says:

    I’ve repaired scratches and chips in my Spesh E150’s stanchion with nail polish. As long as there’s nothing sticking out, you can fill the chips with nail polish and use some very fine wet’n’dry paper to take off the excess after it’s dried. I’ve found Christian Dior products to provide a long lasting repair 😉 Just don’t tell the wife / significant other what you’re up to – apparently not all nail polishes are the same and I was using the cosmetic equivalent of XTR.

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