I've got an old bike with lightly pitted fork tubes...enough so you can feel the pits with your finger nail. I've heard of polishing them with 0000 steel wool but thought I'd ask the "wisdom tree". If that's not a good idea, is there a place to get them refurbed? Thx
Are the pits near the top or in the travel area? If in the travel area you can try to polish them down some, but if there is any pitting left it will cause fork seal leaks much faster than normal.
A friend regularly revives old forks with 00 steel wool and follows it up with JB Weld/metal putty to fill the pits. Then a light wipe with 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper to smooth everything out. It isn't perfect, but it's not the worst fix. His fork repairs typically outlast his mechanical repairs. Read: his bikes sit more than move. But when they run, the forks don't leak.
