I bought a secondhand kids bike (2019 Scott Scale disk) with a SR Suntour XCT-JR 24 Disc, 50mm travel, fork. There are some minor rust spots on the upper stanchions and thought about cleaning/polishing it with Autosol metal polish. However, I'm not sure what the coating (assuming it is a coating) is on the stanchions. The manual says the stanchions are made of steel but the shine/silver colour make me think Chrome. Here is the fork model on the SR Suntour website. Could anyone shed some light if there is a coating on the stanchions and if so, what type of metal it is?
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1Could you grab a photo?– MaplePandaCommented May 17, 2023 at 5:35
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1@MaplePanda I can post a photo a bit later after work. In the mean time I added a link to the fork model in the question, in case that might help.– PyMaprCommented May 17, 2023 at 5:54
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1 Answer
Note to readers - the Scott Scale 24" is a decent kids bike with Turney components and XCT fork. It is however nothing like the Scott Scale. I am answer with respect to an entry level bike with cheap components, not a premium model. IMHO, it is a bit cheeky for Scott to use the same name for the two very different bike models.
Almost certainly chrome. More expensive forks have all sorts of high-tech coatings, but cheaper forks, especially those targeted at kids bikes usually have chromed steel. On all but the best maintained bikes, rust breaks though the chrome stanchion and the fork become's unserviceable.
As it is likely chrome, it is best to clean off any rust and keep up the maintenance. A clean with a proper metal polish, followed by a coating of a water repellant, applied regularly, will keep the forks serviceable for as long as possible. Leaving it alone will encourage more rust shortening the life of the fork.
