# Spinner Air 20" Fork



## Demo9 (Nov 20, 2006)

I finally got a fork from Spinner Taiwan. The fork spec is 50mm of travel, air on one side, non adjustable rebound with lockout on the other side.















I first weighed the fork. It came in at 1500 grams
I then checked the travel, only to find out it only had 38mm of travel.
I decided I needed to take the fork apart to see what was limiting the travel.















I found the large spring to be the problem. This spring is used to control rebound. 
I took the spring off, reassemble the fork and now it has 60mm of travel. 








I am going to make an elastomer rebound stop to take the place of the spring. The stop only need to be about 3/8" long to still get the 60mm of travel.
I pulled out the rebound cartridge just to see what it looks like. Nothing too fancy.








I can order these fork in batches of 50 if there is any interest. I would need at least 25 people to commit to make it worth my while.

I currently use the White Brothers RC80 fork in my kids bike builds. I was hoping this would be a good alternative with a lower cost. Unfortunately it falls short on travel for my builds.

I think over all this would be a great fork for most kids applications. Its light weight, air sprung and the rebound actually works. It would make an awesome upgrade for all the little kids bikes with the crappy stock forks.

Cheers


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## veelz (Jan 12, 2004)

What type of cost? How much to mod it with the elastomer?


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## kosayno (Sep 7, 2006)

I'd be interested in two of those. How much?


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## NYrr496 (Sep 10, 2008)

That's awesome. My youngest is about to step up from his 20" to 24" wheels or I'd be so in.


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## Demo9 (Nov 20, 2006)

They do offer this same fork for 24" wheels, but again I would have to order 50 forks. I would want to get 25 presold before I placed an order.


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## kosayno (Sep 7, 2006)

My kids are riding 16" right now and I'm about to build them some 20" disc wheelsets.


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## jjaguar (Oct 6, 2011)

I might be interested in one, what sort of price would one be? Also, does anyone know how much the crappy Suntour that comes stock on the Hotrock weighs? I'm curious how they compare


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## NYrr496 (Sep 10, 2008)

Demo9 said:


> They do offer this same fork for 24" wheels, but again I would have to order 50 forks. I would want to get 25 presold before I placed an order.


Would it have to be 50 24's or 50 total?


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## Demo9 (Nov 20, 2006)

[QUOTE=NYrr496;9082208]Would it have to be 50 24's or 50 total?[/QUOTE

I will find out if I could split the order. If I'm lucky I will get an email back in a week.


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## mullen119 (Aug 30, 2009)

That spring is a top out spring and does not effect travel or rebound. The reason it is only getting 38mm travel is because that is what it is set at. If you move the plastic piece up a hole, the fork will be set at 50mm.


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## roadielawyer (Mar 11, 2012)

*Im interested as well*

I would be interested in 2 forks. However, I need to know the price you expect.

Thanks!


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## Demo9 (Nov 20, 2006)

mullen119 said:


> That spring is a top out spring and does not effect travel or rebound. The reason it is only getting 38mm travel is because that is what it is set at. If you move the plastic piece up a hole, the fork will be set at 50mm.


Good call. I will move the plastic piece. My son has been using the fork on his Dj bike. I would have to say so far its a pretty good fork.


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## abeckstead (Feb 29, 2012)

Looks like the manufacture sells a 20" w/remote lockout version on ebay for $170. I'd expect buying a large quanity w/out the remote feature is cheaper. What's the price and how much weight savings over a RST it would replace.


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## boysan1968 (Feb 10, 2011)

I could use 2, one 20" and a 24"


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## tyrebyter (Sep 25, 2008)

Put me down for a 24". Building my grandson's next bike.


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## Demo9 (Nov 20, 2006)

For all of those interested in the Spinner Air forks. Please email me at [email protected]shredder.com 
and let me know how many of each fork you would like 20" or 24". Spinner will allow me to split the order so I can get both 20" and 24" forks, but they will only come in Black. If I can get enough interest I will ask each person to put money down to secure there fork or forks.

Thanks

Brian


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## jucasan (Mar 18, 2012)

There is a way to attach a brake caliper to this fork?


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## Demo9 (Nov 20, 2006)

Yes, it is has disc mounts


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## marpilli (Feb 8, 2011)

I have to admit I'm interested. But, I can't commit to anything unless I know how much money is involved. I could put to use both a 20" and a 24" fork.

Is there any experience on how well these forks hold up? Are replacement seals and bushings available? Or, are they just a use it and dispose of it type of fork?


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## Demo9 (Nov 20, 2006)

The fork will be about $200. I don't know how they will hold up. I will ask about replacement parts.

Thanks

Brian
Home Page


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## Ilyam3 (Nov 21, 2011)

I would be interested in 2

One 20"

One 24"

[email protected]

When do you think they will be available?


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## TwoTone (Jul 5, 2011)

abeckstead said:


> Looks like the manufacture sells a 20" w/remote lockout version on ebay for $170. I'd expect buying a large quanity w/out the remote feature is cheaper. What's the price and how much weight savings over a RST it would replace.


Not air and heavy.


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## Shayne (Jan 14, 2004)

at 1500g that Spinner is a bit of a brick too


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## TwoTone (Jul 5, 2011)

Shayne said:


> at 1500g that Spinner is a bit of a brick too


Yea but the Ebay one is 1950g or 1 lb heavier.


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## Shayne (Jan 14, 2004)

TwoTone said:


> Yea but the Ebay one is 1950g or 1 lb heavier.


Yikes!

I don't think I've owned a frame that weighed that much


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## tyrebyter (Sep 25, 2008)

A three pound fork heavy? Am I missing something?


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## IAmHolland (Jul 8, 2010)

tyrebyter said:


> A three pound fork heavy? Am I missing something?


Yes, you're missing something.  There's just a comparison to the coil fork version.

The air fork is 3.3lbs. The coil fork is 1900+g. The kid's forks that come with the bikes are coil and heavy.

Also 1500g is the weight of my 26" RockShox SID fork. One would hope that a 20" fork is lighter, being smaller and less material. I don't think it's a big deal though, maybe 0.5lb?


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## griff71 (Feb 21, 2012)

I don't think your 26" RockShox SID comes stock on a $400 bike, though.


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## stom_m3 (Jun 28, 2011)

Demo 9 - have you ordered these yet? Any ETA's when you will recieve them?


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## panamamike (Sep 11, 2008)

What's the verdict on this fork? Has anyone had a chance to use one?


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## TigWorld (Feb 8, 2010)

Any updates on this fork?


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## Billinsd (May 10, 2012)

ny updates on this fork or comparable forks and where to buy? Thanks Bill


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## TwoTone (Jul 5, 2011)

Billinsd said:


> ny updates on this fork or comparable forks and where to buy? Thanks Bill


PM the OP or email him at Home Page.

I bought one of the 24 inch ones and I'm really happy with it.


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## jh_on_the_cape (Jan 12, 2004)

Did this work? You just moved the top out spring up one hole? Was it pretty easy? I took apart my RS REBA... is this pretty much the same? Let out the air, unscrew the top covers, unscrew the nuts from the bottom of the fork, compress it to get the damper out... move spring and reassemble? Did a bunch of oil spill out of either side? If so, do you know the weight and quantity?
Thanks.



Demo9 said:


> Good call. I will move the plastic piece. My son has been using the fork on his Dj bike. I would have to say so far its a pretty good fork.


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## Demo9 (Nov 20, 2006)

Yes, it worked great. Some of the forks are not drilled so I drilled a new hole a 1/4" up the shaft. This allowed for 50mm of travel with only 50psi of air in the fork.


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## jh_on_the_cape (Jan 12, 2004)

Did you have to totally disassemble? Or could I just remove the top caps and compress to access the spring? Avoid dumping the oil...
Sorry, I am just not that experienced in working on forks. Your pictures are helpful but I could use a little guidance to give me some confidence. Maybe a quick summary might help me and others? No need for pics. Thanks.... I did buy the fork from you so thanks for that! It's great. Weather is warming up and I am looking forward to more rides with my son.



Demo9 said:


> Yes, it worked great. Some of the forks are not drilled so I drilled a new hole a 1/4" up the shaft. This allowed for 50mm of travel with only 50psi of air in the fork.


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## string (Jan 13, 2004)

Demo9 said:


> Yes, it worked great. Some of the forks are not drilled so I drilled a new hole a 1/4" up the shaft. This allowed for 50mm of travel with only 50psi of air in the fork.


Any tips on getting the air side shaft out. I can remove the drive side (lock out cartridge) with no problem but can not get the plunger on the air side above the fork crown and the hex bolt at the bottom just turns the entire assembly. It neither loosens or tightens it. It comes as close as the bottom of the threads on the crown.

Mine gets about 30mm of travel but has another 10mm of negative travel that is too notchy to get into. (unless you pull down). Hoping to move the top out bumper up to add some travel.


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## jh_on_the_cape (Jan 12, 2004)

I am planning on doing this next time I get a chance to my son's spinner air 24. 
Did any oil spill out of either side? 
I would wait until someone else with experience chimes in, but on some forks you bang the air side rod up out of the lowers with a rubber mallet. It is stuck in there to provide a good air seal. Be careful not to lose or mess up any o-rings.



string said:


> Any tips on getting the air side shaft out. I can remove the drive side (lock out cartridge) with no problem but can not get the plunger on the air side above the fork crown and the hex bolt at the bottom just turns the entire assembly. It neither loosens or tightens it. It comes as close as the bottom of the threads on the crown.
> 
> Mine gets about 30mm of travel but has another 10mm of negative travel that is too notchy to get into. (unless you pull down). Hoping to move the top out bumper up to add some travel.


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## string (Jan 13, 2004)

There was few ml's of oil in the top of the air (non drive) side. None in the lock out side. There is no porting for the oil so I am assuming its more a lubricant than suspension fluid (hence no rebound control). I did replace with 5 wt sram oil hoping it would provide the needed lubricant and as little additional dampening as possible . I keep a large beaker for fork oil changes and planned on catching what came out (as much as possible at least). I was surprised how little came out.

I was pressed for time and had the fork still on the bike. I think pulling the fork and banging the the lowers may be the right approach. The lower bolt is slightly loose and I am worried the fork will eventually develop play, wear the seals, and start loosing air if any air gets below the plunger. I also think there could be a bit of air in the bottom chamber acting essentially as a negative spring pulling the fork down 10mm. 

The fork has promise but seems like a little more work by Spinner (and maybe an extra $20-$50) could have really added to the forks potential. Ditch the lock out, replace with rebound, and reconfigure the top out spring.


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## jh_on_the_cape (Jan 12, 2004)

If you let out the air and remove the cap on the air side, then compress the fork, does the rod pop out the top far enough to access the spring to move it? That is what I was planning on doing. I figure it should since it limits the travel. I was just not sure if I could get it reinstalled back on the other hole with this approach.

I agree that this fork could much better with just a little more effort. But it is much better than the fork that came on the bike.



string said:


> There was few ml's of oil in the top of the air (non drive) side. None in the lock out side. There is no porting for the oil so I am assuming its more a lubricant than suspension fluid (hence no rebound control). I did replace with 5 wt sram oil hoping it would provide the needed lubricant and as little additional dampening as possible . I keep a large beaker for fork oil changes and planned on catching what came out (as much as possible at least). I was surprised how little came out.
> 
> I was pressed for time and had the fork still on the bike. I think pulling the fork and banging the the lowers may be the right approach. The lower bolt is slightly loose and I am worried the fork will eventually develop play, wear the seals, and start loosing air if any air gets below the plunger. I also think there could be a bit of air in the bottom chamber acting essentially as a negative spring pulling the fork down 10mm.
> 
> The fork has promise but seems like a little more work by Spinner (and maybe an extra $20-$50) could have really added to the forks potential. Ditch the lock out, replace with rebound, and reconfigure the top out spring.


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## string (Jan 13, 2004)

I could not get the air side to pop out enough to grab. Having the fork on the bike with the bike on the repair stand added some flex to the equation but I compressed it pretty hard. I think I will have to pull the fork when I try again in hopes of getting more leverage and a more solid working environment. 

Looking at the pictures again in this thread it looks like the OP pulled the top assembly off with out taking out the internals. I was approaching like a typical fork where you essentially have to open up the top first, remover the dampening and springs (air or coil), then remove the bottom. I am still concerned that I can neither tighten nor loosen the air side bottom bolt.


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## jh_on_the_cape (Jan 12, 2004)

try using a ratchet strap around the lower arch and the top tube to compress the fork. if you don't have the strap, just use a belt or something.
i am hoping you figure it out so the job is easy for me!



string said:


> I could not get the air side to pop out enough to grab. Having the fork on the bike with the bike on the repair stand added some flex to the equation but I compressed it pretty hard. I think I will have to pull the fork when I try again in hopes of getting more leverage and a more solid working environment.
> 
> Looking at the pictures again in this thread it looks like the OP pulled the top assembly off with out taking out the internals. I was approaching like a typical fork where you essentially have to open up the top first, remover the dampening and springs (air or coil), then remove the bottom. I am still concerned that I can neither tighten nor loosen the air side bottom bolt.


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## string (Jan 13, 2004)

jh_on_the_cape said:


> try using a ratchet strap around the lower arch and the top tube to compress the fork. if you don't have the strap, just use a belt or something.
> i am hoping you figure it out so the job is easy for me!


Good idea on the strap.

I will probably try this weekend again. Worst case I can always use as an excuse to go for the MRP/Whitebrothers fork. I will take some pics this time.


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## TigWorld (Feb 8, 2010)

I'm not familiar with the design, but generally when the air rod on an air fork spins in the lowers, I put the air cap back on and re-inflate the air piston (make sure you've also got the cartridge installed to prevent the fork from flying apart). With some pressure in the air piston, it should stop the piston rod from turning and you should be able to remove the lower bolt.


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## string (Jan 13, 2004)

Took another stab at getting the air piston out with no luck. Tried everything could think of including:

1-airing up to 100 PSI (max recommended)
2- ratchet strap - the piston will not pop above the threads despite a pretty solid force
3-using a drill with a 6mm chuck. Was hoping I could spin the bolt faster than the piston but no luck.
4-tried removing the lowers with out loosening the tops and tried the reverse

I can neither tighten nor loosen the bolt. Its almost like it was cross thread at the factory or seized since.

Seems like the only option is to come up with something to press against the flat plastic top of the piston to keep it from spinning. I think it will take a fair amount of force and I don't want to damage the piston or seals. I assume getting parts would be very tough. It is looking like I will be living with the fork in stock mode for the time being.

I'm stumped on this one.


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## adamm3 (Mar 26, 2007)

I bought one of these from Demo9 over a year ago and from day one it did not work all that well. I took it apart and lubed it up. Still not that great of action, but I just chalked it up to cheap fork and kept in on the bike. Recently just bought a new Spawn 20" which came with the same fork. I was amazed at how well this one works. Smooth action with only 50psi. It worked so well i took the older one back apart and found spiral scoring in the left lower. I thought this could be the stiction issue, but decided to run a few tests before i put the lowers back on. I inserted ONLY the right lower onto the right upper and it slides very nice. Did the same with the left side and also slides really nice despite the scoring. Its when both legs are inserted the fork becomes super sticky. Its does not slide easy even with no air.

I am not a novice mechanic and have rebuilt many forks, but I am stuck on this one. It seems that maybe something is out of alignment. With no US representation for Spinner, I am not sure where to turn next.

Any ideas?

adam


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## GrayJay (May 16, 2011)

measure with calipers to determine if the stanchions are parallel, you might be able to tweak the alignment with a bit of force. Also possible that the lowers are not aligned with eachother side-to-side. Perhaps try swaping lowers/uppers with your good fork to isolate the problem.


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## adamm3 (Mar 26, 2007)

Well I talked to Brian (Demo9) about this and he really stepped up and sent a complete new fork. Thanks for the great customer support on this. Once I pull the old one off I will throw calipers at it to see what is really wrong.


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## BullSCit (Mar 26, 2004)

Adamm3, that sounds like my exact feelings toward the Spinner Air 20" fork too. Brian sent me a new modified air ram that basically increased the volume of the air spring, so that I could drop the pressure down from 100 to 50 psi, but that didn't do much. If I put the pressure any lower than that, it doesn't come back up to the full height after compressing. I have to put a decent amount of force into it to make it budge, as it seems to have a lot of friction in it's travel. The only time my daughter gets anything out of it, is when she is going off a 6" or bigger step/rock/curb. So definitely anxious to hear what you can find, and have hopes I can make this POS fork useable for it's intended use.


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## string (Jan 13, 2004)

We got the spinner air out for its first trail ride yesterday. It held 60 psi for a week in the garage but half a mile in would not rebound & appeared to have no air. Pumped back to 60 & bled off again in a couple hundred yards. Repumped to 75-80 & seemed to hold this time. Finished the ride. (Fwiw was 52 lb rider)

This fork really stumps me. Wishing I had opted for the white brothers at this point. Just now sure how reliable the spinner is going to be.


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## TwoTone (Jul 5, 2011)

You guys must have defective ones. I've had a Spinner 24 on my son bike for almost year now. Not a single problem, Where as the RST First that came on my Daughters Cannondale, the lock out hasn't worked since day one.


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## jh_on_the_cape (Jan 12, 2004)

Same here. Went riding today. Spinner air 24 works well, just wish it got full travel.



TwoTone said:


> You guys must have defective ones. I've had a Spinner 24 on my son bike for almost year now. Not a single problem, Where as the RST First that came on my Daughters Cannondale, the lock out hasn't worked since day one.


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## BullSCit (Mar 26, 2004)

adamm3 said:


> Well I talked to Brian (Demo9) about this and he really stepped up and sent a complete new fork. Thanks for the great customer support on this. Once I pull the old one off I will throw calipers at it to see what is really wrong.


Adamm, any update on the new fork? Would love to hear if the 2nd one is better than the original, as I may try and order another one too.

Thanks - BS


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## adamm3 (Mar 26, 2007)

New fork is much better. I still have not measured the old one.


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## jammer124 (Jul 19, 2008)

string said:


> I can neither tighten nor loosen the bolt. Its almost like it was cross thread at the factory or seized since........
> 
> I'm stumped on this one.


Had a fork do this once, I drilled the head off the bolt, then once the assembly was out, lathed up a collet to hold the shaft and was able to remove the remaining bolt shank. Chase threads to clean up afterwards.


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## Spectre (Jan 23, 2004)

Anyone have recent experience with the Spinner Air forks?


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## Swissam (Apr 8, 2008)

Spectre said:


> Anyone have recent experience with the Spinner Air forks?


Also interested in this. I might buy a KTM 20" full suspension for my son.


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## Swissam (Apr 8, 2008)

Can anyone tell me how fast is the preset rebound? Is it more on the fast side or more on the slow side? I contacted the EU distributer and can get one for about 100 euros shipped. The RST F1st 20 costs about twice that with shipping but also has compression and rebound control.


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## griffter18 (Jul 3, 2009)

Swissam said:


> Can anyone tell me how fast is the preset rebound? Is it more on the fast side or more on the slow side? I contacted the EU distributer and can get one for about 100 euros shipped. The RST F1st 20 costs about twice that with shipping but also has compression and rebound control.


Id say the Spinner is more on the fast side.
To be honest any fork for a kid is difficult to tune rebound and compression as its personal to the rider and they need to know what they are feeling in order to communicate it and get it set up.
For a kid they are not that bothered its more about cushioning the bumps a little in order to ride suffer stuff without being bucked around.

Ive got a Spinner20 & RST 24.
The RST is better in every way (IMHO) and I dialled it in using a video camera so I could see what was happening on the trail.

The upside with the Spinner is you can increase the travel if you can get the thing a part (see previous threads). I haven't opened the RST up yet to see what can be done nor have I seen any posts that suggest its travel can be increased.


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## bryanus (Jun 1, 2008)

Demo9 said:


> Good call. I will move the plastic piece. My son has been using the fork on his Dj bike. I would have to say so far its a pretty good fork.


I picked up one of these forks for my son's bike and also noticed the reduced travel. I'm trying to move the plastic stopper piece to the next higher hole (mine only has one hole, btw, at the 3rd hole position in the OPs pic for some reason), but I just can't get the securing pin(?) out. I thought it was an Allen inset screw, but it's not. I tried to drill it out, but can't get a grip on it to drill through. I tried pushing it out, but it just won't budge.

How did you get yours out?


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## stom_m3 (Jun 28, 2011)

bryanus said:


> I picked up one of these forks for my son's bike and also noticed the reduced travel. I'm trying to move the plastic stopper piece to the next higher hole (mine only has one hole, btw, at the 3rd hole position in the OPs pic for some reason), but I just can't get the securing pin(?) out. I thought it was an Allen inset screw, but it's not. I tried to drill it out, but can't get a grip on it to drill through. I tried pushing it out, but it just won't budge.
> 
> How did you get yours out?
> 
> View attachment 1041339


It's probably just a spring pin. Did you try using a punch?


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## Demo9 (Nov 20, 2006)

It's a roll pin you have to drive it out with a punch.


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## bryanus (Jun 1, 2008)

Demo9 said:


> It's a roll pin you have to drive it out with a punch.


I admit that I don't have a proper punch set, but I did try tapping it out with a similarly-sized hex key that I had cut off. I didn't hit it too hard in fear of cracking the plastic piece, though. My stopgap was to just cut the spring in half. It's a very high-tension spring as it is; even at half the length it serves its purpose as a top-out bumper just fine, plus it added ~10-15mm of travel, or a total of ~50mm. My son is under 50lbs currently, so once he is heavier and needs higher psi in the air spring, I can look into attempting remval of the pin again and putting back in a longer spring (my local Ace has plenty of suitable options; they have everything!). Thanks for your help.


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## jh_on_the_cape (Jan 12, 2004)

Thanks for that update!



bryanus said:


> I admit that I don't have a proper punch set, but I did try tapping it out with a similarly-sized hex key that I had cut off. I didn't hit it too hard in fear of cracking the plastic piece, though. My stopgap was to just cut the spring in half. It's a very high-tension spring as it is; even at half the length it serves its purpose as a top-out bumper just fine, plus it added ~10-15mm of travel, or a total of ~50mm. My son is under 50lbs currently, so once he is heavier and needs higher psi in the air spring, I can look into attempting remval of the pin again and putting back in a longer spring (my local Ace has plenty of suitable options; they have everything!). Thanks for your help.


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## Erock503 (Oct 20, 2014)

Where can I get my hands on the 20" spinner? Anyone recently get one new?


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## Erock503 (Oct 20, 2014)

bryanus said:


> I picked up one of these forks for my son's bike and also noticed the reduced travel. I'm trying to move the plastic stopper piece to the next higher hole (mine only has one hole, btw, at the 3rd hole position in the OPs pic for some reason), but I just can't get the securing pin(?) out. I thought it was an Allen inset screw, but it's not. I tried to drill it out, but can't get a grip on it to drill through. I tried pushing it out, but it just won't budge.
> 
> How did you get yours out?
> 
> View attachment 1041339


Hey man, can you give me a lead on where you got the spinner air 20? I can't seem to track one down.


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## stom_m3 (Jun 28, 2011)

I bought mine from the guy who owns Spawn Cycles. PM him. Sweet bikes. Check him out.


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## Erock503 (Oct 20, 2014)

stom_m3 said:


> I bought mine from the guy who owns Spawn Cycles. PM him. Sweet bikes. Check him out.


Thanks for the info,however I already contacted them, and they aren't selling the 155mm anymore. Apparently they are coming out with something "exciting" in March that would fit my needs. Maybe I'll hold off on the 24" for now, although that trailcraft snw looks pretty killer.


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## Bertleman (Feb 10, 2004)

Has anyone gotten their Spinner Air to work properly? Mine has an enormous amount of initial Stiction and my 40 # son can even compress the fork, even with 10# of air in it


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## markusarulius (Mar 7, 2010)

I've successfully serviced my 20" Spinner Grind Air fork and I thought I should follow up as some of you may find it helpful.

The fork came off of a Spawn Cycles Savage 2.0. It has worked ok, but as others have posted it did not get full travel, suffered from terrible stiction, and had a loose bolt on the air side that could not be tightened or removed.

I tried to follow Demo9's breakdown instructions, but could not remove the bold on the air side. Turning the bolt in any direction just spun the air piston.

Spinning piston

I reached out to Spinner a year ago regarding the issues and for service instructions. Eventually they posted a service guide on their facebook page.

Spinner Grind Air OS 20" Service

This motivated me to give it another go. Here is what I did to finally successfully break it down and improve its performance (I did not follow all steps outlined in the Spinner service guide). Sorry I did not stop to take photos.

Step 1: Remove the fork from the bike, let the air out, and remove the air chamber cap.

Step 2: Remove the hex bolt from the bottom of the damper side.

Step 3: Use rubbing alcohol and a paper towel to clean out the top of the air chamber, making sure to clean the top of the air piston.

Step 4: Compress the fork so the top of the air piston is just below the top cap threads.

Step 5: Take an old inner-tube and cut it in half, clean about 6" of the cut end with rubbing alcohol, roll it up a bit and stuff it into the top of the air chamber. Stuff it in as tight as possible and try to pile it up out of the top of the fork leg.

Step 6: Hold the fork parallel to the ground and press the stuffed inner-tube that is sticking out of the air chamber against the edge of a solid workbench. The idea is to stop the air piston from rotating using the grip of the rubber. Now hold the fork lower in one hand and the hex key in the other and push as hard as you can against the work bench while undoing the bolt. Mine loosened rather easily.

Step 7: Now with both lower bolts removed remove the inner-tube and separate the lowers from the stanchions.

Step 8: Pour a little fork oil into the top of the air chamber and slowly press the air piston rod from the bottom up past the threads and out the top (the fork oil is to protect the piston seal from being damaged by the air cap threads as it passes through).

Step 9: Remove the lower rubber washer, plastic collar and top out spring from the air piston rod and clean with alcohol.

***Top-out spring position and holes in the piston rod*** The piston rod in my fork did not have as many holes as shown in Demo9's photos. It only had one additional hole about 4" up from where the top plastic collar was already secured. The fork featured in the Spinner facebook service guide is the 80mm version and shows the top plastic collar in the upper position. I'm not sure if moving the plastic collar to the upper position on my fork would increase the travel to 80mm. I don't know if the damper cartridge is long enough or if the stanchions are log enough, so I decided not to use the upper position. In addition I do not have a drill press so I was not about to try to drill an additional hole in the air piston rod as Demo9 did (1/4" up from the original lower hole). I decided to go another route as described below...

Step 10: Make an elastomer top-out bumper to replace the spring. I salvaged an elastomer spring from an old RockShox Quadra fork. I cleaned it, cut it to be 1/2 the length of the original top out spring and drilled out a hole down the middle so that I could slide it onto a drill driver bit. I then put the bit with the bumper on it into a drill and used it as a lathe to sand down the diameter of the elastomer bumper to match the diameter of the spring. Finally I drilled out the centre of the bumper to match the diameter of the air piston rod. I'm sure most any rubber bumper you can make will work. Before I found the old fork I was going to use soft skateboard truck bushings. Just don't use rubber that will breakdown in oil or crumble to bits.

Step 11: Lightly coat the air piston, new elastomer bumper, plastic collars with fork oil (I used fox float oil on the air seal).

Step 12: Place the new bumper, bottom plastic collar and rubber washer onto the bottom of the air piston rod.

Step 13: Lightly coat the inside of the air chamber with fork oil especially the threads at the top.

Step 14: Place the air piston rod back into the top of the air chamber stanchion, carefully pressing the air seal past the threads.

Step 15: Clean out the fork lowers/seals with alcohol and paper towels, then coat the inside with a thin layer of fork oil.

Step 16: Place the fork lowers back onto the stanchions.

Step 17: Replace the lower hex bolt on the damper side.

Step: 18: Press the air piston down far enough to loosely thread in the bottom hex bolt on the air side.

Step 19: Now to tighten the air side lower hex bolt you will have to follow the procedure in steps 3-6 (clean, stuff inner-tube, press on bench, tighten bolt).

Step 20: Replace air chamber top cap and inflate to 50psi. Finally re-install on bike.

We now have full, almost stiction-free travel. I've tried to test out the top-out bumper by compressing the fork and pulling up quickly. It does feel different from the original spring, but is not harsh or noisy. I would be reluctant to run this set-up at higher air pressures as the rebound could have significantly more force.

My 7yo son has been riding his bike for a week since we completed this service. We reduced the air pressure to 48psi and the fork is performing awesome. Before the fork would not extend all the way after being compressed. Now even at the lower pressure it consistently returns to full length.









I'll open it up after a few weeks to check on things.

Thanks


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## Feldybikes (Feb 17, 2004)

This is awesome. Thanks for the instructions. I tried to take the fork apart but also had the spinning bolt issue. I'll try your method.


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## happybrahma (Oct 23, 2015)

I have the 20" air grind for my son, and it has stiction issues. From the great info here and from the spinner folks, I've gotten it all apart and serviced, but it still sticks. If I just try to slide the lowers onto the stanchions with no parts installed (no air piston, no rebound cartridge, no wiper seals), there is still a lot of stiction. I've tried cleaning it all up very nice and using extremely light lube. The lowers just don't slide smoothly on the stanchions. I have another friend with the same issue.


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## Erock503 (Oct 20, 2014)

I wish I could have found one of these, they sound awesome except for the stiction issues. I ended up getting an rst capa 20", non air, since I couldn't find a grind 20 air. Was about 500g lighter with the alloy steerer than the stock suntour fork that came on his 20". It's actually been performing pretty well for him, low stiction, and the preload actually works pretty well compared to his stock fork. If anyone is looking for a cheaper 20" fork alternative, that saves quite a bit of weight, I've been really happy with it.


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## happybrahma (Oct 23, 2015)

What is the real life weight of the 20" rst capa with alloy steerer? A RST guy told me it was 3.5 lbs, but that was an OEM model with a pressed in steerer. He said the bolt-on steerer crown might make the fork heavier.

I've also heard that the 20" spinner coil sprung for works quite well, but it is a bit heavy. The RST capa 20 is probably a better way to go given the weight savings.

I'm hoping I can get to the bottom of the stiction issues with the spinner air 20". The fork looks like it is made out of decent quality parts. I'm not sure what the deal is. Even the cheapest coil forks have way less stiction than this thing.


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## Erock503 (Oct 20, 2014)

Mine came out under 1700g with the bolt-on alloy steerer IIRC. I was expecting it weigh more from the advertised weight. I'm sure the steel steerer would add some, but my little guy is only 6 and not pushing it.


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## happybrahma (Oct 23, 2015)

1700g is pretty good!

I'm going to see if I can get the OEM pressed-in version of the CAPA. 1600g, saving almost a quarter pound. My little guys is turning 5 and only weights 31.5 lbs. He needs all the weight savings he can get (at a reasonable price anyway).

I'm doing a hotrock 16 based build. I've made it into a 5 speed with disc brakes and suspension fork. It is a real mountain bike. My son is very short for his age, and won't be fitting a 20" geared bike for quite some time. He's been riding since he was three and is pretty capable.

I've got it down to 17.25 lbs. I'll do a thread on the bike once it is done.


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## 53sled (Mar 11, 2016)

Still need to lace the disc front wheel.
I only cut off a little from the steerer. Used a bunch of spacers But it is almost done

.









Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk


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## duncanish (Sep 30, 2005)

I can 3D print the needed elastomer out of Ninjaflex a thermal polyurethane. Send over the dimension to me in PM and I will cad it up, distribute the final product, for cost and shipping.


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## happybrahma (Oct 23, 2015)

Just an update. Never got the 20" air grind fork to work that great. I ended up just servicing it well and removing the rebound unit all-together. The rebound unit itself had a ton of stiction and would prevent the fork from returning to full height after compression.

The uppers and lowers just don't slide that great. The fork still sticks, but at least it returns after compression without the rebound unit. I'm only running about 50lbs of pressure, as my son is pretty light. At this low pressure, unrestricted rebound has not been an issue. Full disclosure. The maker told me not to remove the rebound unit. They are not going to be liable for that modificaiton, which is understandable. I certainly would say the same to anybody else asking me if it is safe. Do it at your own risk!


It is too bad the uppers/lowers stick so badly. I could always modify another rebound damper to fit inside this fork, but I can't do much to fix the uppers/lowers sticking like crazy for no apparent reason. I can remove everything (air piston, rebound unit) and just try to slide the uppers/lowers like a trombone, and it is very sticky. I've tried several kinds of fancy stanchion lube. They help a bit, but still pretty terrible.


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