Hanging an FS bike

[barefooter]

Should I hang a FS MTB upside down? I'm wondering about the oil in the fork tubes. I am a newbie to FS bikes and would appreciate any advice on this subject. I live in northern Il and don't ride my bike in the winter, ( prefer my snowmobile ) and store it in an unheated garage.

[Painkiller]

In My opinion it would be ok to hang your bike upside down. If you have any seals up top it would only help keep them moist which is better than dry. But still recommend riding it once or twice through the winter to keep things moving and lubed. I have never had problems with mine that I had blamed for hanging the bike upside down. I have a Cannondale with a Headshock that after a long period I would notice a small shine to the stem from saturation with no effect to the shock its self.

I also have a vintage Mongoose Amplifier and have had no ill effects with the rear shock on it. the front shock is in a class of its own and does not matter how you hang it either.

[bobtravers]

Hang it by the rear wheel, instead of the front one, as it don't put stress on your fork's stanchions (tubes)... When ready to go outside for first time, just compress a couple of times your suspension, to be sure that oil is fully distributed inside chambers...

[barefooter]

Thanks for the great advice. I feel better about hanging my baby ( 1997 Trek Y-5 ) for the winter.

[RobAR]

If I had a '97 Y-5, I would hang it, too! Just messing with you, barefooter. Welcome to BT!
The shock is no problem. What does that Y-5 have out front? A Judy Race?

[barefooter]

It has a stock Manitou Answer Pro, but I have a 2002 Judy SL I'm rebuilding ( got all the parts on ebay ) for next season. I like the AL y-frame. You only have to look around to see how many copies of that design are out there. I got it for $100.00 and it hadn't been used for 7-8 years. It went for 1299.99 in 1997.