So I bought a 2011 Specialized Rockhopper Comp and it came with the XCR fork. The thing seems fine, it moves, it has dampening, 30mm stanchion diameter, hydraulic lockout but it never gave me the 80mm travel that it said it would. Today I pulled the thing apart to see how it works and maybe get some more travel from it.
SF-NRX7500/NCX-D-LO suspension fork. SR SUNTOUR Aug. 6, 2004 SR SUNTOUR CONTENTS. Witch King Rapidshare there. See the maintenance manual of SF-AXON-D-RL.
Jan 15, 2008 Manual 1: How to replace the Remote-Lock-Out+Damping(RLD) cartridge. Aug 08, 2014 SR Suntour NCX Fork MarksCycleRepairs. SR Suntour NCX D LO Lite 700c Fork. SR Suntour Tech Manual - Duration. Buy Suntour products online at Bike-Discount Bike Shop. Suntour SF11-NRX D-LO 28' Suspension Fork 63mm black. Suntour SP12-NCX Spring Seat Post 31.6 x 400mm.
I took some pictures in case anyone else out there wants to pull apart the forks. To get to the spring, unscrew the cap where the 'preload' knob is. You should use the tool from suntour to unscrew it but I used pliers When the cap is off you can see the top of the spring right there.
Push down the forks and the spring comes right out. The spring has some heatshrink on it and a rubber elastomer inside of it. I wanted more travel out of the fork so I tried removing the rubber elastomer then put the spring back in.
To remove the stanchions from the fork, for cleaning/servicing, turn the fork upside down and unscrew the allen bolts. The spring side might need the bolt loosened about 5mm, then softly tapped with a hammer. I used a piece of wood to be extra safe. These two allen bolts are the only thing holding the stanchions in. The lower part of the fork now slides off.
With the spring out, this bit will come out the top. The two spacers are used with the right size spring to give you 80mm or 100mm or 120mm of travel. My spring gives 80mm of travel so I left the 2 spacers in. You can get 80mm, 100mm and 120mm springs in hard, medium and soft. Here is one place you can get suntour spares. I cleaned every part with kero and a rag then covered everything with cheap lithium grease.
To put it back together, reinstall the black spacers inside the stanchions and hold it inplace with the white screw cap. Slide the lower fork back onto the stanchions.
Screw the two allen bolts back into the bottom of the lower legs. Flip the bike over.
Reinstall the spring if you have not already. I left the rubber elastomer out and I like the result.
Screw the preload cap back on and you are done.
Whilst waiting for the time when I will purchase a hybrid(i.e. 2nd half of this year), I have been using the time available to me, to drive myself crazy by over-analysing literally every little detail about what my next bike will be and what components I value the most. My current obsessive streak has me focused on the quality of the Suspension Forks which come with a few different Hybrid bikes. I'll list them below and would really appreciate any information people could provide about each Suspension fork and how big a difference there is between models(or your best estimate on the differences). Giant -->SR Suntour NCX-D Air w/ Remote Lock-Out, 63mm Travel -->SR Suntour NCX-D remote hydraulic lock-out 63mm travel -->SR Suntour NCX-D, w/lockout, 63mm travel Specialized -->SR Suntour NCXi Coil, magnesium lower, custom integrated fork crown, hydraulic lockout, 50mm travel Trek -->SR Suntour NRX ATB Rated w/adjustable coil spring, remote lockout, 63mm travel -->SR Suntour NRX w/adjustable coil spring, remote lockout, 63mm travel Now within the brands, the Suspension forks on the higher priced models(i.e.
Roam XR 0 & 8.6 DS) are meant to be an upgrade on the slightly lower priced models(i.e. Roam XR1 & 8.5 DS), but how do the forks compare when one compares one bike manufacturer's offerings to the other? As far as I know, the NCX and NRX series are very similar. Both have hydraulic damping/lock-out, and 2. Both are available either with coil spring or air spring (if the fork has the latter, the bike mfg. Will make a point of saying so -- it's lighter!). The construction seems very similar; I think the main difference is that the NCX can be (factory) set for either 50 (e.g. Weatherization Program Cambria County Pa.