The 2005 Vanilla line from Fox Racing Shox is ready, and the change you've requested most is finally here: disc-brake only lowers! Fox has dropped the V-brake bosses from the entire Vanilla line for '05. Also new for '05 is an extra 5mm of travel - these now come from the factory set to 130mm. They are internally convertible to 100mm, if the geometry of your bike calls for less travel.
The same great quality and attention to detail you've come to expect from Fox are still here - you get 12-click externally adjustable rebound damping, proprietary Fox oil seals with scraper lip technology to keep debris out and oil in, and proven magnesium lowers for unparalleled stiffness and rigidity for a difference you can feel when cornering. 2005 Vanilla's feature a new, slim damper cartridge that helps eliminate cavitation and allows a wider adjustment range. The new cartridge saves 30 grams over '04 forks.
Submitted by
DEAGO SANCHEZ
a Cross Country Rider
from N.Y. N.Y.
Date Reviewed: December 12, 2007
Strengths: Extra light weight,super capability!
Weaknesses: None
Bottom Line:
I am over 200 pounds & this shock soaks up roots,rocks,dips & anything that comes in it's path.It seen it's share of mud,dirt & grime,works like the day I bought it(& that was used).The Cadillac of shocks.Worth the price you pay for it new or used.
Weaknesses: no compression adjustment on a $400 fork?, typical Fox bushing play
Bottom Line:
Not a bad fork, certainly does the job. Swapped out the stock spring to a heavier one. Has been more reliable than my 2002 Vanilla that had to be sent back twice in a year. But, it still lacks the smoothness of other forks (Manitou's with TPC+ to be exact)in its class. Also, can Fox please offer a Vanilla RC! Would it kill them to offer compression adjustments w/o a unneeded lock-out? For $400, they need to offer at least this one extra adjustment.
Similar Products Used: 2002 Fox Vanilla RLC, 2003 Manitou Black Elite, 2005 Manitou Sherman Flick Plus
Bike Setup: 2005 Jamis XLT
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Submitted by
Adam
a Cross Country Rider
from Clarksville, TN
Date Reviewed: September 24, 2006
Strengths: Very Plush.
Weaknesses: Only comes with light weight springs.
Bottom Line:
at first i was bottoming out a lot on big hits. i ordered the yellow spring and now i'm very satisfied with the forks performance. rides great and takes a beating. I highly recommend you use the correct spring for your weight or you WILL be bottoming out. and if you change the travel to 100mm you will need a heavier spring. I love this fork but i'm gonna take away a chillie for not providing us fatties (180lbs riders) a spring.
Weaknesses: Lack of compression adj. (buy the RLC)
Bottom Line:
I am an aggressive "All-Mountain" rider. I ride XC trails with rocks, roots, urban ledges, 2-4' drops. This fork is very plush and laterally stiff. The loose bushing feel that comes with the fork brand new is normal. That's why it's so plush. I only notice it when I hold the brake and rock the bike back and forth.
When I ride, I don't even give it another thought.
This fork absorbs big hits on the trail like they're not even there. Small stuff is erased with ease. I use the factory settings for XC, but when I want to jump off some ledges or ride more agressively I put a stiffer spring in it. It seems to help keep it from bottoming out on drop off impacts.
Even with the stiff spring (I weight 185) this fork is very nice on an XC trail thanks in full to the coil negative spring assembly. It helps soften that first inch and a half to erase the small stuff.
Overall, this fork is a perfect match to my Dakar XLT's plush rear suspension. I find myself getting lazy and just rolling over 6" logs that I normally bunnyhop. I tend to aim my bike toward the bumps instead of picking a line around...just to see how well the suspension works.
Great value! I would prefer to have the Vanilla RLC instead of the R because I would like to have some compression adjustment, but this fork was a closeout from Jenson for $215. I couldn't pass it up.
Similar Products Used: RS Judy's, Indy's, Pilot SL, Headshock's, Suntour's
Bike Setup: Jamis Dakar XLT /Fox Float Rear / XT drivetrain with Saint Cranks / XT Rhyno Lites / Easton Cockpit / Juicy's
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
James
a Weekend Warrior
from south west Sydney Australia
Date Reviewed: April 15, 2006
Strengths: Plush as plush can be, great dampening
Weaknesses: lack of low speed compression, some say a pedaling platform. squelling noise when pulling faster than rebound
Bottom Line:
Plushest and light as fork. A bit too soft but can be easily fixed with larger spring. Dampening works, you feel every click make a difference. The price is a bit over the top for a fork with only 2 adjustments. I had a slight problem with mine in that when it rebounded faster than the set rate, it makes a squelling noise, it doesn't affect performance but it annoying. Knobs are simple and plain, just set and forget. Did i mention they are plush as?
Bike Setup: Dakar XLT 1.0 stock with new tyre, grips, the fork was post as i broke my minutes
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
brian
a Downhiller
from san rafael, ca, usa
Date Reviewed: April 10, 2006
Strengths: it is very good, and very ajustable, and comes with a soft spring and a stiff one
Weaknesses: bottoms out too easily
Bottom Line:
this is a very good reliable fork. i used to have it and when the spring got loosened up a little, i took it to the bike shop and they switched the springs that i got with the fork and then it worked fine! the rebound ajustments are awesome and it is perfect for dirt jumping, cross country, and free ride- i did a 12 ft drop and it didnt even bottom out!
Bike Setup: specialized bighit spec, marzocchi drop off triple fork, fox vanilla r rear shock, truvativ bash guard, azonic a-frame pedals, everything else is stock
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Petr Gromov
a Weekend Warrior
from Moskow (Russia)
Date Reviewed: March 23, 2006
Strengths: easy
Weaknesses: In we wash cases quality of assembly
Bottom Line:
After 1 month of use of a leg in trousers have strongly become loose. Condensation have deteriorated and a lot of oil has flowed out. I do not know about other such cases in Russia, imho it is my failure. The shop has returned money. Unfortunately after that I cannot trust a case to quality Fox.
Submitted by
Dave o
a Cross Country Rider
from annandale,nj,us of a
Date Reviewed: November 7, 2005
Strengths: Nice adjustability, lockout is nice
Weaknesses: Stock spring is soft, even though it is the one spec'd for my body weight.
Bottom Line:
This Vanilla RL130 fork came stock on my new Slayer. Within 50 miles of riding, the fork started making a horrendous clanking noise. It happens any time I pull up the front of the bike quickly, like when crossing a log or bunny hopping. The fork basically tops out with a loud clank! Going through technical rocky sections it sounds like a bucket of bolts. Apparently the fork is not returning all the way to it's top-most position, so now the lockout no longer works either. I have owned several Rock Shox products that lasted many years with no maintenance whatsoever. For what this fork costs, any problem this early on is inexcusable. We'll see what Fox does for me on warranty coverage.
Strengths: beefy construction, quality components, and impressive ride.
Weaknesses: It never goes on sale.
Bottom Line:
Very plush fork. You need to follow the set up instructions to get the optimum ride. Setup to the freeride mode with 1-1/16 sag for 160pund rider. Impressive, It soaks up hard edge rocky terrain better than some dual crown forks I've tried. Im testing oil viscosity since the stock fork oil is 7.5 wt. Am interested in raising to 10wt to get a better dampening on rough rides. Overall this is one of the finest riding forks out there. There are many forks that are quite possible stronger. There are absolutely many more that are lighter, but the fork ride surpasses alot of them. Absolutely one of the top 3 single crown forks in production.
Submitted by
dan stephens
a Cross Country Rider
from dallas tx,usa
Date Reviewed: October 23, 2005
Strengths: smooth,light,and sexy
Weaknesses: very weak and fragile
Bottom Line:
The fork was the best feeling ever. I was really impressed at first.Im a 165 pound bike courier who rides 5 days a week , 30 miles a day.I never crashed on this fork and I like to bunny hop gaps downtown, but I'm not an agressive rider.After 3 monthes the fork started to creak when I would turn. Then the rebond started to lock up and make loud scraping noises.I tryed to see if the oil was ok and the caps bent up easy. Then the rebound knob snapped off and I bearly twisted it.Fox is fixing it ,but they charged me 90 dollars for the caps and knob.They shound have just gave those parts to me free for my troubles.For 410 bucks the fork should have not broke down in 2.5 months.They are also hard to get on the phone and are asses. This fork is a pole smoker for the price.
Bike Setup: chameleon,raceface,xt,shimano,avid,wtb,azonic,easton
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Submitted by
Ryan
a Cross Country Rider
from San Jose, CA
Date Reviewed: October 22, 2005
Strengths: Plush ride, stiff, easy to adjust travel
Weaknesses: Quality control, bad seals, no service
Bottom Line:
Purchased this fork to upgrade my Black Elite. Reduced the travel to 100mm to match the geometry of my Jamis Dakar frame. First ride I noticed this thing absorbs bumps great and I could take corners faster and with more confidence thanks to the stiffness of this fork. Unfortunately the damper locked up so rebound was constantly in the slowest mode, and the left seal started to spew oil, all after only ONE ride. All my calls to Fox for warranty service were directed to their voice mail box, to which the voice mail informed me that their box was full, and I was promptly disconnected after that. This happened every time I called. After reading the mtbr forums a bit more, it seems to me Fox has issues with quality control and service, and because of that I have lost out about 4 weeks of riding this season. In the end, I've returned the fork to Pricepoint and have a Marzocchi Marathon XC on order, with high hopes.
Bike Setup: santa cruz hecler 5th coil 8 in roders
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Submitted by
Martin Matthews
a Weekend Warrior
from pacific grove, california, USA
Date Reviewed: September 16, 2005
Strengths: eats up everything ive gone over
Weaknesses: none yet
Bottom Line:
i would recomend this to the lighter type of people becuz the things ive heard about bigger people having this fork it has a alot of flex and it snapped on me and stuff like that but otherwise its such a great fork if ur not a down hiller or a drop kinda guy then id get this if i were u its awesome
Submitted by
colin may
a Weekend Warrior
from dalkeith
Date Reviewed: September 12, 2005
Strengths: super smooth from box,no xtra features that u never use.track well.fit and forget.
Weaknesses: none yet
Bottom Line:
the vanilla is the fork i,ve been searching for,no travel adjustment or seperate compression adjusters to fanny about with,mates perfectly with frame,MINT.
I need a fork and was planning on an '05 Reba but I saw that Jensen deal on the '05 Vanilla R. I want a sub 4 lbs fork and if I get the Vanilla R I'll put the cash difference in ot Read More »
I've got an 05 Vanilla R 130. I'm doing some service on the bike and I noticed that there is oil on the stanchion and the seal on the left side. Is this a normal occurrence? The la Read More »
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I am fairly sure that I have an 05 Vanilla. It came with an 05 manual, but the damper looks nothing like the damper in the manual. I had it Pushed about two years ago, for whatev Read More »
