Bike front fork - Mineral Oil?

[NickCLotus]

Anyone know if plain Mineral Oil is ok to use in bike front forks?

[ssray]

Atf or whatever the manual/manufacturer says normally.
Why mineral oil?

[NickCLotus]

ssray said:

Atf or whatever the manual/manufacturer says normally.
Why mineral oil?

This is a pedal bike and mineral oil is used in the brakes.

Manufacturer specifies their own oil but I hate getting involved with proprietary fluids when most of the time there are good generic alternatives.

[E-bmw]

Mineral oil is generally the norm for suspension fluids.

Do you know the correct grade you need to use, as that will affect the damping?

[richhead]

Dont know about push bike forks, but motorbike fork oil is graded in weight like 10w etc, from memory the higher the weight the thicker it is,
So you need to know what spec it is as it will massively affect the stiffness of the forks.

[OutInTheShed]

I've used fork oil, because I've got various dregs to use up, from 40 years of motorbikes.

Some motorbikes use ATF.

Fork oil is available in very low viscosities like SAE 2.5, I think it's based on the theory that if it's really thin to start with, it won't get much thinner when it warms up.

[InitialDave]

What fork is it?

Any sign of a service manual online anywhere?

Also, this would be better in the pedal powered section really.

[ssray]

NickCLotus said:

This is a pedal bike and mineral oil is used in the brakes.

Manufacturer specifies their own oil but I hate getting involved with proprietary fluids when most of the time there are good generic alternatives.

Not a clue then

[Shinysideup]

Which fork is it? An old open bath Marzocchi will be less sensitive to oil spec than a new cartridge damped Fox for example.
I use Fuchs fork oil which is cheap and has anti foaming additive. Just get the correct weight for the application (2.5w/5w/7.5w etc)

[NickCLotus]

Forks are Rockshox Revelation RL with dual (top & bottom) air pressure tanks.

Now found a manual online which indicates 134ml or their proprietary (SRAM) 5wt suspension oil.

I am inclined to use just plain mineral oil as I have a pot of this left from bleeding the brakes and see how that works although don't know the viscoscity of this.

[CrgT16]

For the sake of less than 10 pounds you are not using what they recommend? Ok… I would go with the recommended to keep similar performance levels.

[Shinysideup]

NickCLotus said:

Forks are Rockshox Revelation RL with dual (top & bottom) air pressure tanks.

Now found a manual online which indicates 134ml or their proprietary (SRAM) 5wt suspension oil.

I am inclined to use just plain mineral oil as I have a pot of this left from bleeding the brakes and see how that works although don't know the viscoscity of this.

You might find that the operating window of damping adjustment will go off the scale either too fast or slow. If it was me i wouldn't take the risk on it.
You don't need genuine SRAM oil, shop around and it's not very expensive for the correct spec.

If you do try it make sure to inspect the stanchion/lower bushing interface for wear periodically.

[InitialDave]

NickCLotus said:

Forks are Rockshox Revelation RL with dual (top & bottom) air pressure tanks.

Now found a manual online which indicates 134ml or their proprietary (SRAM) 5wt suspension oil.

I am inclined to use just plain mineral oil as I have a pot of this left from bleeding the brakes and see how that works although don't know the viscoscity of this.

This seems like a pointless saving of practically no money.

Unless you're currently stuck in the back of beyond and have no other option to get you home, just get some 5wt oil from wherever's cheap.

[E-bmw]

As others have said above, for the price of it, I would just get some 5wt fork oil.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155878660364?_skw=5+for...


Just don't use this one!!!!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333816736818?_skw=5+for...