The seal will almost certainly need replacing. Air spring will need doing to. Worth getting the inner of the lower leg looked at too, might be scratched too.

 

You'd be wasting time and money shipping to me anyway.

Cannondale seems to think I'm not capable of taking your money for these. Likely because I didn't charge enough, and was too quick with turnaround, and was too easy to work with.

No, you need a new lower leg.

So, drop your shorts, turn, cough, and get ready to spend at least $400.

Then sell it, buy one with a boot (or, sadly, a non Lefty), and forget the High$brid, corporate income generating ponzi scheme they've created.

 

Darn. I already shipped it.

I included my email and number. I was hoping u could just reseal it and put oil in. I'll pay. If that won't work I'll just pay to ship it back.

 

Yeah, put a banner on my site a few weeks back. Basically, if there's any wear, don't bother, and if you ship it in anyway, you pay to ship it back. I've been paying for the last year if I can't do the work, I can't afford it anymore.

Cannondale won't sell or ship any parts related to Hybrids anymore. They want all the work for themselves.

Honestly? If you can intercept it (UPS has his as an option) and just return it, I would.

That far gone, no question, you need a lower leg, seal, and Cannondale specific ream job on cost.

 

No problem paying for shipping. I knew the risk. I'm attempting to get it turned around. If not u can write return to sender. It's priority mail. Waiting for them to call me back.

Just a few more questions.

Is it 400 total or Is that just the lower then they will charge a ton more for rebuilding.

If I get it fixed can I send to u for maintenance and seals.

im inclined to fix and be miticulous w maintenance.

 

Happy to help if need be.

Well, that's tricky.

They force you into the dealer to send it to them. Dealers can then act as helpers, or profit grabbers. Many just pass on the charges, others add a chunk to it, no telling who does what.

Project 321 is the West Coast "factory tech room" for Cannondale.

They do take consumer direct, no idea what they'd charge, it will depend on what exactly is required. They do good work, and I'd recommend them all day long, as it at least, puts a chunk of that money into a small companies pocket, instead of a mega corporation that views the world as something solely to be exploited for profits.

Happy to do work after the rebuild though, yep. Wish I could do more, but as I said earlier, Cannondale tied my hands and feet behind my back this Spring, and spit in my face.

 

Cost the best part of £400 for an out of warranty lower leg replacement by the equivalent of 321 in the UK.

That included damper rebuild, 2spring retrograde, new bearings / races / seals.

 

Hi,

I am in the same case.

What is the solution ? Are we able to remove the lower leg ?

Thanks

 

$400 to the company that created the greatest scam in suspension fork design, that's how.

Alternatives? See above. They made sure you have none.

Sell it and tell Cannondale why you did.

 

Sorry but I don't agree with you.

I think is just a way to give money to the mafia lefty's workshop. Spare part are available on web. The only thing which is missing is How-to dissassemble the lower Leg.

A tool exist but it seems is the biggest secret for lefty technician, is like the holy graal for them !

 

No matter.

Considering Cannondale dealers can't even get the races, bearings, seals or telescope parts for the telescopes though, I'd be startled if you could order them, as all are in house, at Cannondale only, parts.

Older parts? Sure, you can find those, no problem.

 

No matter.

Considering Cannondale dealers can't even get the races, bearings, seals or telescope parts for the telescopes though, I'd be startled if you could order them, as all are in house, at Cannondale only, parts.

Older parts? Sure, you can find those, no problem.

is HD161 bearing to the old lefty?

 

Before replacing the leg I would like to try a new lower collar. This part is already find.

I think that the lower leg is fixed by a kind of nut, I bought an endoscope in order to confirm that.

 

I have a deal for you, I also find the inner leg for 285€, you help me to remove it and i give you my website

 

I've replaced one lower for $400+ at P321, and I'm glad I did. But damn, that hurts. Especially for a long time Cannondale guy. I have another buddy-bike that will probably need a new lower soon. It's a 2014 that is ridden intermittently ... Mendon/Craig serviced it twice and then during the third time around he recommended I not send it back to him unless I first had the lower replaced. (BTW Craig ... good call on your part to go ahead with the third service... it's looking a little tired on the anodyze but no vertical streak/scratches and has been holding oil just fine. That was about a year and 20 hours ago).

Question: Are the new Lefty 2.0 Hybrids susceptible to this problem just like the 2013-2015 Lefty 1.0 Hybrids ? Or is the design improved?

Question: How come the booted Lefty's are not susceptible to the problem? Does the boot "hold" the oil better?

 

Question: How come the booted Lefty's are not susceptible to the problem? Does the boot "hold" the oil better?

The booted Lefty's have no oil bath like the hybrid forks. They don't need one. Hybrid forks - including all the new forks (anything with a bushing) will eat themselves alive in no time without an oil bath to keep things lubricated.

The new Lefty's are sweet as a nut when they work but they are a maintenance nightmare and you must look after them.

I had a 2013 hybrid fork for one season. I kept up the maintenance routine on it like clockwork. It still ended up with a worn lower leg after only 1 year.

My 12 year old booted Lefty Max Carbon is still going strong. I can disassemble and service it myself & for that reason I don't see myself ever getting rid of it.

I was going to try disassemble my Supermax at one stage but I soon realised there are no spares parts available so if something breaks... I'm screwed.

Its such a shame. I was once a dedicated Lefty / Cannondale fanboy but definitely not anymore. I loved the old Lefty's - they performed beautifully. The 'new' Cannondale has completely ruined the Lefty experience as far as I'm concerned. The only thing it has going for it now is the looks.

I'll be looking for Rockshox for my next build. All service details and parts available openly & online anywhere - wins my vote every time.

 

Yesterday, again ,I dissassembled my lefty !

There are a nut, on the top of the leg, I have to build a specific tool n order to remove it.

I will take some picture when it will be done !

 

Yep, no oil bath in the booted forks.

And owning/riding both? Sorry, that company is on crack if they are trying to tell us the Hybrids work one ounce better than the booted ones did, they just removed the boot from the equation, effectively cut at the knees, all their dealers who were mechanically inclined enough to service them themselves and provide good service to their customers, while making themselves a lot more cash by virtually requiring a $400+ influx every two or three years from every fork owner they can get one over on.

Anyone ever tells you the company is just as awesome as ever, plainly isn't paying attention.

The only fork that does anything better is the SuperMax, and that's mostly due to a bit more clearance so you can run + tires, and gained 20 extra mm of travel for 29, both of which were easily doable, in the booted variety, had they not gotten greedy AF.

 

I wonder how long the 'new' cannondale will last with this approach...

After 15 years of loyalty, I'm done with them for now..

 

Not long, you have no idea how many times I hear, "this will be the last Cannondale I ever buy" when talking about build quality, frame warranty issues, crappy design issues (love the special FD mount that strips easily and moves when you breathe on it) lack of support products for things older than a month (I hyperbolated a smidge), stupid proprietary rear shocks that are impossible to set up well, and of course, forks that cost $500 a year to keep running.

 

I'll keep sending my Leftys to Mendon every year, but as soon as the anodizing wears I'll be trashing the fork and getting a Fox or Rock Shock. 400 to replace the tube is insane.....

 

Hey guys !

I am here :

Finally, what I have seen isn't a nut but a kind of wahser, I broke it during the dissassembly :/

Oil seal is defintely died :

Needle bearing seems to be ok but rolling track is a relatively used :

Next steps :
Find a way to reassemble the lefty, any help is welcome !
Find a hydraulic specialist, rechroming on hydraulic cylinder seems to be possible, why not on our lefty ?

 

Good luck with that dude.

The only thing you've done there is open up a huge can of worms for yourself..!

 

I know but honestly I don't care.

The initial cost of the revision was 500e.

Lefty's workshop are totally crazy for that price I can find an used lefty carbon or a rockshox Rs1 !

 

One thing more, if I did it, it is not in order to save money, I know that the chance of my lefty are poor ! In my world, the knowledge must be share instead of trade.

So, I prefere loose 1200$ in trying myself than give 200$ to a man who seems to protect he secret of god (He knows how to repair the lefty wahhhaa hallelujah )!

Guys, take a break, is Only a bicycle fork !

Now, Any help is welcome at worst I will use my lefty as a coat rack !

 

I wasn't try to criticize. I just wouldn't have attempted to open up the fork without knowing how to disassemble and then re-assemble correctly.

From my own experience with Lefty's - You should have used an inner race retainer tool to keep the inner races in position - they can all be different sizes - you now have them all mixed up.

Same with the outer races, you should have taped them up or labelled them to keep them in their correct positions.

The clip you broke - can you get a replacement for it?

No doubt there's a special tool(s) needed to put it all back together - this tool(s) and the knowledge to use it isn't available to the public?

All credit to you if you succeed in getting it fixed yourself though.

 

Yeah. Once the lower has gone the only way you can make it worse is by damaging the outer or the damper. But basically it's nearly ready for the bin.

With a blown lower all the races and bearings will be replaced anyway; the procedure is like pretty much getting a new fork; everything is new except the damper and upper. Maybe Cannondale should just sell pre-built upper/lower assemblies and save the techs and user the hassle of having the thing rebuilt.