Pumping up bike suspension forks
 

Hi,
My current mountain bike forks need the air topping up in them as i have too much sag in them.They are fox forks and in looking on their site i roughly need to put in about 80-85psi.
Question - instead of buying a dedicated fork pump at approx £20-£25 that will only be used once every say 3 years will the tyre inflater/compressor that you get in some cars instead of actually having a spare tyre pump up to that psi?
By tyre inflater/compressor im thinking of the one in the girlf's ka that plugs into the fag lighter and not one of those aerosol tins that is supposed to mend punctures.
If not will a cheapo any brand suspension fork pump work as well as a more expensive fox pump?

Thanks in advance.

Every one that I've seen has been a schrader type so in theory any shock pump would fit. Likewise a 'car' pump would fit, would it get to that pressure, I doubt it. A garage, proper actual garage, would probs have a compressor that would do the trick but beware, it'll reach pressure fooking quickly!

A pal uses nitrogen in his, dunno what it's like...

in looking round on net i cant find what psi the 12v car tyre compressor will reach-and i aint going routing round in back of her car this time of night outside.

Can you not borrow a pump from someone else? Ask around I’m sure you'll find someone that has got one in the garage. Offer thing might be to take it to a bike shop and see if they can inflate them for a lesser fee than the cost of a pump?

Also i really wouldn't advise using anything but a dedicated pump. Being Fox shocks they aint going to be cheap. For the sake of £25 i really wouldn't risks over inflating them and possibly damaging the seals etc. A standard bike pump won’t get up to 80-90psi and a car pump would not offer enough control and could over inflate the shocks very quickly.

Chris

Try your local bike shop, they'd do it, only takes a second.

Where are you?

staffs

Hmm, cycle up to North Yorks and you can use mine :D

just a tad to far im afraid but thanks for kind offer :thumb:

That's only 6 Bar, most commercial use compressors run at about 7 Bar, so any tyre place should be able to do it for you. If you do it with a mains compressor though, make sure the line has a pressure regulator and a decent gauge on it ;)

PS: The most I've ever managed to get out of one of those portable compressors is about 4.5 Bar/65psi, and it struggled to do that

This pump is excellent and can be found on eBay new for under £15 inc delivery;

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/catego...-shock-x-31616

Just search for 'beto shock pump'.

Just buy a proper shock pump, mine was £13 on ebay.

I adjust mine depending on what i am doing with the bike, if i`m out doing more jumpy stuff then it is pumped up a little as i have bottomed it out a few times.

Beto pumps are good, I have a track pump by Beto.

Infact my track pump does both Shrader and Presta valves and will go will over 100psi, bought it on ebay new for about £10, why not by a track pump instead then it will have more than one use?

I've got a Topeak shock pump, don't remember it costing a huge amount of money (£20 tops?). You need one that doesn't need to move alot of air just generate a lot of pressure. The one I have has quite a thin barrel for this purpose. Can put 160 psi into my rear shock no problem.

I'd buy one, you'll find it useful and it allows you to experiment with different shock pressures.

From experience the Fox shocks need checking / topping up every month or so but it depends how much you've been riding.

A track pump will reach 120psi+ but is moving too much air to accurately set the shock pre-load. I wouldn't even consider a garage type compressor!

As with most things, the proper tool makes any job so much easier. If you've spent £100s on a bike, why risk damaging it with the incorrect pump? :Whatever_

I used to have one somewhere, i'll have a dig around as i'm not too far from you. Just a question of if i can find it.

front forks may need up to 150/200 even

don't be a tight wad and buy a pump !

the other thing, is you may want to adjust the pressure when yr riding.

you'll also lose pressure over time.

I think you'll probably damage it using a garage air line.

I don't think you can use a car/track pump.

mine actually screws down onto the valve, as oppose to clipping on, so can't see how you can use other types.

Been on fox website and for my weight etc i only need to get to about 80-85 psi-never adjusted it whilst riding i couldn't be arsed if truth be told to be that finicky-i like to just ride once riding not be stopping to adjust fork pressures cos im going down a hill or to lower saddle etc-i just ride with what i have and if because i have slightly too much psi in my tyres for a downhill section then tough i loose a few seconds in time-im more then capable of making the time back up on the next uphill section :D

That would be fantastic thank you-will pm you :thumb: