lefty fork service

M

Myxamatosis

Member
Hello all, I am new to the site and mtb ing but I have a serious road habit about 6000-7000 miles a year. Anyway I just picked up a cannondale caffeine 29er 2 from 2009 but the lefty is leaking. Does anyone know a local shop that can replace the seals for me? I called halters today and they said 100 bucks but won't guarantee it won't leak when I get it back. The next choice will be sending into mendon cyclesmith but that is a week or so with no bike. It seems these forks are prone to leaking. Can I just replace it with an regular two leg fork provided the axle to crown and steerer tube dimensions match up?

Thanks
James
 
The Lefty is the best fork on the market, hands down. Keep it.
Send it to Mendon, I think he's like $65 to fix anything normal and like $5 to return ship, he splits that with you.
I sent mine to him a few months ago after oil cartridge unscrewed itself and I didn't feel like buying fork oil and all the crap to fix it. I got it back in like 5 days.

I love my lefty to death.
The "regular" forks break just as often. I've busted my fox fork, my recon race, and the recon 351 lasted seriously 2 days before I broke that.

You have to do a bearing reset on the lefty's every dozen hours or so of riding.
I just did mine on saturday, you let all the air out, take the top cap off with an external BB spanner, take off the 2 clips and yank up o the fork 5 or 6 times real hard until you hear it start bottoming out. Put it back together and pump it back up to pressure.
I did that in the parking lot while waiting for my friends to finish putting on their riding gear, took like 2 minutes.
 
Thanks for the reply. Mendon is only 45 plus shipping for my fork which is a great deal. I would have preferred to support my LBS but it looks like none are interested in doing this type of work.
 
Most shops don't do this work, they just send the fork to cannondale and they fix it and return it.
 
We are indeed interested in doing this work. I didn't speak with you on the phone, but I will tell you that a service that requires special tools and more than an hour of service time will cost you at least the price quoted in any shop. (don't get me started on the similar costs when done on my motorcycle)


I can't imagine anyone telling you that it might still leak after a service has been completed. I will simply blame this on a communication failure.

Many times we send Lefty forks back to the C-dale factory tech center, because they go above and beyond what we (or anyone else) can do. They charge more than I would like, but when you are talking about a complicated suspension part there is no better source than the mfg. They take extra steps and do more testing and inspection than we (or mendon) has the capability to do in house. I have been to this facility in Bedford and it is very impressive.

I have had this same experience with Fox and Rock Shox too.




Medon has a good reputation and I know that his rates are very low. Give him a shot.

As a FYI from c-dale:

"Prior to 2005, we (cannondale) can rebuild telescopes, change oil and seals but that is it. If it requires damper parts, we are out of luck and should consider the fork exchange program and get one of the new ones."
 
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I have an '08 DLR that came on my Caffeine 29er. It had a leaking cartridge that was swapped out and replaced with a Solo Air cartridge when the LBS sent it to Cannondale. Don't remember the cost. It has the air negative spring instead of a mechanical negative spring. Seems to perform better and have not had any leaking since. I probably just jinxed myself.

JD
 
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jimvreeland said:
This could be the least true statement ever typed on this forum🙄

-Jim.
Click to expand...

High gear warrantied two rock shox for me!
Marty's my fox fork twice now.
It's why I got the lefty, I was sick of breaking crap.
If I ride my fox the way I ride my lefty bits and pieces of it would be all over the trail.
No to mention its lighter AND stiffer AND rides exponentially better.

Cannondale needs to take advantage of the lefty more. There are no bikes they make that I want, but i'd put the lefty on any bike over a fox or rock shox
 
gtluke said:
Cannondale needs to take advantage of the lefty more. There are no bikes they make that I want, but i'd put the lefty on any bike over a fox or rock shox
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+infinity

Did I ever tell you how much I miss my jekyll? :cry: 😀
 
Jdog, The way it was explained to me was that c-dale had another machine that could check the surface of the fork leg for small scratches that might be tearing up the o ring. I wasn't balking at the price but if it may need to be repeated within a few months then I would rather go back to c-dale. I bought the bike used so it is out of the warranty period.

I would be interested in the Air cartridge conversion if the price wasn't too high. I guess I need to contact c-dale to see what my options are.
 
Halters

Myxamatosis said:
Jdog, The way it was explained to me was that c-dale had another machine that could check the surface of the fork leg for small scratches that might be tearing up the o ring. I wasn't balking at the price but if it may need to be repeated within a few months then I would rather go back to c-dale. I bought the bike used so it is out of the warranty period.

I would be interested in the Air cartridge conversion if the price wasn't too high. I guess I need to contact c-dale to see what my options are.
Click to expand...

Jdog and the crew have serviced several Lefty forks for me over the years and have always delivered. Only once did he send it back to C-Dale.....came back like new. I wouldn't split hairs about a couple bucks. Get it done right the first time.
 
xc62701 said:
Agreed...My Fox has been bulletproof since I got it out of the box last March. All I've had to do to it is flip the lockout when I'm on pavement 🙂
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I'd hazard a guess and say that most people had better fork performance and reliability this season compared to last just based on the lack of rain, mud and muck this year.
 
xc62701 said:
Agreed...My Fox has been bulletproof since I got it out of the box last March. All I've had to do to it is flip the lockout when I'm on pavement 🙂
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Ride harder stuff, the lockout mechanism will spin inside itself and prevent you from unlocking it. I have to take mine apart and rotate it around every few months. Happens to Utah as well on his fox.
 
gtluke said:
Ride harder stuff, the lockout mechanism will spin inside itself and prevent you from unlocking it.
Click to expand...

Maybe the second most untrue statement ever. Either way it doesn't matter, once Luke gets on a roll about something he'll rant regardless of any actual facts. It's how he rolls!!🙄

-Jim.
 
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You're just butt hurt that you can't fit a lefty on your bike the way you want 😉

Until someone comes out with a 29er 120mm through axle fork that weighs less than 3 pounds, I'm riding a Lefty.
 
I took all the zip ties and moved the dust boots around and it appears that it is leaking through the vent/ weep hole on the inside of the upper tube.

Is my face going to die?
 
That's just where any oil would come out. There is a seal inside that is leaking into the main chamber.
In my case, the cap to the oil cartridge unscrewed.
 
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