[trailville]

Well let's just say I had some problems doing maintenance on my Marathon XC and ended up with a hole in the rubber bladder that encapsulates the TST damper. I'm not sure I want to invest in repairing this, but was wondering how rideable the fork will be in this condition. I'm well aware I won't have lockout or adjustable compression, but will the fork operate as though the compression adjustment was in the open position, or will it do something else. I'm in the middle of winter here and even though I can (and probably will) go out and ride it, I really won't get a good feel for it under these conditions (wisconsin winter) so I'm kind of wondering if I should just start looking for a replacement fork now while there are still some decent clearance deals out there, but if it will operate like it did with the TST in the open position, that could hold me for a while.

 

[the-one1]

Where is the hole in the bladder? If it's close to the ends, you can cut it out and shorten the bladder. Of course this will change the characteristic of the bladder, but it will at least make it function.

 

[trailville]

Where is the hole in the bladder? If it's close to the ends, you can cut it out and shorten the bladder. Of course this will change the characteristic of the bladder, but it will at least make it function.

Thanks. It is near the lower end. If you can give me any quick pointers about how I'd go about shortening it, I'd appreciate it. To be honest, I'm not sure I understand the functionality of the bladder anyway. Obviously it keeps the damper oil in place (which surprised me since I was under the impression this was an open-bath fork), but why they used a rubber bladder that's connected to an aluminum sleeve that can move along the outside of the damper cylinder is a mystery to me. The fork is currently reassembled and on the bike ( I rode it today, but kind of hard to tell performance when riding on snow/ice/frozen ground), but if I feel like a have a reasonable chance of success I'll pull it back apart and give it a go.

This is my only Marzocchi fork (other than a simple spring/elastomer one) and I'm more familiar with Manitou and Rock Shox semi-bath forks. I think I probably need to decide on one or two brands and limit my purchases to those brands in the future just to make the maintenance a little easier.

 

[the-one1]

Try these older posts. I've cut the bladder and re-inserted into the ring. It has worked so far.
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=295023
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=574802

Here is the ring that holds the bladder on.:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showpost.php?p=3229481&postcount=119

Here's my post about removing the bladder:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showpost.php?p=5900105&postcount=157

Same post but with more replies.
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=139827&page=2

Hope that helps.

So far so good since I've done this. But I also don't ride this bike at all, it's the wife's bike that sees maybe 5 miles per year if at all.

 

[trailville]

Try these older posts. I've cut the bladder and re-inserted into the ring. It has worked so far.
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=295023
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=574802

Here is the ring that holds the bladder on.:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showpost.php?p=3229481&postcount=119

Here's my post about removing the bladder:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showpost.php?p=5900105&postcount=157

Same post but with more replies.
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=139827&page=2

Hope that helps.

So far so good since I've done this. But I also don't ride this bike at all, it's the wife's bike that sees maybe 5 miles per year if at all.

Thanks much.