Stanchion tube maintenance

[Mantraguy]

There's always lots of talk about trying out different shocks on many of the suspension wheels, but most of them also have stanchion tubes (often called "sliders"), which are the tubes that allow vertical travel of the wheel (you probably have a rubber o-ring around it, which indicates how much travel you're using). The stanchions are often covered somewhat by power pads or perhaps a fairing; here's a photo of a Master Pro with the stanchion tube circled in red (there's on one each side of the wheel):

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Where the shock provides resistance, the stanchion slides vertically into another tube as the suspension moves up and down, and there's usually some sort of seal there. These seals need maintenance - occasional cleaning (often requiring disassembly) and some sort of lubrication.

I don't see a lot of discussion about what people are doing regarding maintenance of this area, or lubing the seals etc. On a mountain bike, you'd usually drop the lowers from the forks and lube the stanchions (aka sliders) every 50 hours or so of use (depending on the fork). Most top bike brands have very good seals, but I'm not sure what Begode and other wheel manufacturers use in terms of seals and/or lubrication (if any!) here. Has anyone disassembled their wheel to this degree to inspect the seals and tubes? I have an EX20 (very similar design to Master, MasterPro, EX30, T4 and many others) and I'm already seeing some fine scratches on the stanchions from dirt and dust. It doesn't help that this area is often covered by pads etc. and therefore perhaps not noticed, but I could see these wearing quickly - especially for riders that do lots of trails etc. Just curious to see what maintenance others are doing, and if anyone has any photos of disassembly of this part of the wheel.

Edited April 10, 2023 by Mantraguy

[Ser_skele]

Interested on this as Well. Was thinking of disassembling stanchions upon next tyre change

[Mantraguy]

My Facebook post got a lot more input; apparently Begode uses graphite bushings which don't require any sort of maintenance or lubrication other than just regular cleaning (removing sand and grit). Some people seem to use dry lubricants but Begode suggested that no regular maintenance is required.

[Cerbera]

Yeah that's what those brass inserts are doing. We shouldn't need to do anything to those until there is no graphite left, and I don't honestly think it goes anywhere !

[mrelwood]

I would still imagine that cleaned and lubed stanchions would still slide better and offer a bit more sensitive suspension action than without.

[Cerbera]

Perhaps. Mine is doing a slightly odd 'crnking' noise when it gets to its extremes, but only in motion. It's not bottoming out though, so not sure what else it could be.

I can jump up and down on it stationary all I like and it remains utterly silent, but I still get the occasional crnk out in the wild, and don't really know which bit of the suspension it's coming from...

[mrelwood]

13 hours ago, Cerbera said:

Mine is doing a slightly odd 'crnking' noise when it gets to its extremes, but only in motion.

Could the tire be hitting something?

[Cerbera]

1 minute ago, mrelwood said:

Could the tire be hitting something?

Fairly sure it's not - I don't feel the wheel's motion or characteristics change in any way as it happens, and think I probably would feel it if it was tyre rubbing.

Until I get a new GoPro or something I can leave recording all the time I am riding I can't really investigate that further - it is very rare that it happens at all, and if I remember to bend my knees slightly over the bigger lumps and bumps in the terrain it doesn't happen then either !