I have a 99 Homegrown Elite with a Judy SL. I can't find fork rebuild kits anywhere for this. I also remember back in the day that there used to exist a company that made air-suspension replacement innards for Rock Shox forks of this era but they don't seem to exist anymore either.
What are people using for their foks now? Our 26" wheels dont' seem popular anymore either, which limits the selection of new forks on the market (29" front with 26" back likely wouldn't be real great).
If there was a source for rebuilt kits I'd love to rebuild my Judy just to do it. I also have another Schwinn from the same era that I bought used for my son (Moab 3 aluminum) with a Rock Shox Indy that is unfortunately rock hard; I haven't found many options for that either.
Englund Air used to make cartidge kits for the old Judy's that replaced both the elastomers and the dampener. Good luck finding a set, but they are still out there. I actually think the 99 Judy might have had a coil spring kit already, so maybe your dampener is bad? Removing the bottom bolts and pulling the legs should be fairly straight forward if you want to clean and lube them. It makes checking the dampener easier too.
Manitou makes/made a Markhor fork that was for 26" wheels and had a straight 1 1/8" steer tube. ~$275. I think they are disc only though. You can still find good Fox F80, F100's or Marzocchi Z2's on eBay. I've even got a SID sitting on the shelf for my next build
1996 HG Factory HT 17" Black w/Red Darts / 1999 Rocket 88 17" / 1998 HG 17"
Thank you for the reply! I've tried searching for the Englund cartridges before (thank you for reminding me of the name; I found it before and forgot it) but it's hen's teeth at this point. Even worse one page I found for describing it had a link to a bike shop that no longer exists, whose domain is now some kind of crazy naughty pictures site (presumably trying to sell me stuff in a language I cannot read (yes I know about google translate but I'm content to assume what is being sold there is not what I'm looking for)).
I should clarify that I was talking about two different foks in my first post. My Judy SL on my homegrown is still in decent riding shape; I'd like to find a rebuild kit for it more out of curiosity than anything as I do ride it on occasion.
I was also talking about the RockShox Indy (presumably Indy anyways, the decals are in poor shape) on my son's Moab 3 aluminum. *That* fork is rock hard, absolutely no travel. For better or for worse it is fully extended so at least it isn't bottomed out, but it doesn't even move a mm if I put all my weight directly above the headset. It feels like someone ripped out the innards and replaced them with steel tubing. That fork I don't have any special attachment to and would be happy to just outright replace if I could find a fork at a reasonable price (preferably under $100 new as I only paid $120 for the entire bike).
---------
1999 Homegrown Elite, 21" frame mostly stock
Speciality Retro Parts could help u out..
If you double your money and spend $200 you could buy an air fork and greatly improve the ride.
Jeff
94 Underground aluminum cracked frame
2- 97 Project Underground thermoset
97- Homegrown Factory
99- Homegrown Pro
01- Homegrown Factory Limited
Can you point me to a source for air forks at that price? I'd happily buy one at $200 but have had no luck finding any. It seems that suspension forks for straight threadless 1 1/8" headsets are all but extinct at the places I've searched. Some sites have some listed but they usually appear as out of stock or backordered. It seems that a lot of bike parts have become exceptionally hard to source over the past year or so.
---------
1999 Homegrown Elite, 21" frame mostly stock
The source would be ebay or a member on this forum. Used for that price. Nothing new anywhere near $200. I use Fox RLC100 or Rockshox SID. But with used make sure the steerer tube is long enough for your frame. Most of the time an 8" should suffice for all size frames.
And you're right about parts. My LBS owner just received an order of tires he made in Octiober 2020.
Jeff
94 Underground aluminum cracked frame
2- 97 Project Underground thermoset
97- Homegrown Factory
99- Homegrown Pro
01- Homegrown Factory Limited
Here's one still active. https://www.ebay.com/itm/234054579111?hash=item367ebd73a7:g:1BAAAOSwmypg...
Jeff
94 Underground aluminum cracked frame
2- 97 Project Underground thermoset
97- Homegrown Factory
99- Homegrown Pro
01- Homegrown Factory Limited