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I have a 10 year old Suntour suspension fork where some of the material on the dropout has started to chip and fall off. I think it has happened because of some harsh winters with lots of road salt. Is it still safe to ride though, based on the attached picture? enter image description here

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Based on the photo, I would seriously contemplate getting a different fork. It appears as though the aluminum has undergone some galvanic corrosion. Some sort of corrosion has eaten a few chunks out there. Question is how far does it go? Are there any areas that have full thickness corrosion with maybe some cracking that is unseen? It's a very critical area to have that many unknowns.

Fork manufacturers suggest measuring the thickness of the dropout at regular intervals and warn to stop using the fork when a certain measure or percent of a new dropout measure is reached. In your case I would use the measurement in the area where material is missing. Even still, the age of the fork, the history of riding conditions and the presumed corrosion severity forces me to recommend taking the fork out of service ASAP.

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    I concur. I had a fork go out on me once during a race. It's no joke.
    – End Antisemitic Hate
    Commented Apr 27 at 23:58
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    @EndAntisemiticHate ribs hurt for a whole month straight afterwards. IF one is lucky. And young.
    – Vorac
    Commented Jun 23 at 2:36
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    @Vorac Ain't that the truth. Bruised ribs can easily hurt for 1+ months, and fractured ribs much longer. Been there, done that... not recommended!
    – End Antisemitic Hate
    Commented Jun 23 at 3:44
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Recycle it!

There is an evidence of deep, protruding corrosion in the metal. It may fail catastrophically right now.

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  • Interesting idea to recycle it! Another idea is to reuse it in a piece of artwork. But back to recycling... what's the best way to recycle it?
    – End Antisemitic Hate
    Commented Apr 28 at 0:00
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    @EndAnti-SemiticHate Where I live, we have 2 options: either the local scrapyard where you get ~1 eur per kg Al alloy, or leave it near the trash bin for the local scrap hunters to bring it to the scrap dealer themselves.
    – fraxinus
    Commented Apr 28 at 5:59

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