Submitted by
Neil
a Cross Country Rider
from Essex, UK
Date Reviewed: August 16, 2006
Strengths: Very smooth a stiff action, with very little flex. It acts like a rigid straight blade fork, but with 60mm of travel!
Weaknesses: Rubber boot split after a year of riding off road, but still works fine. Started leaking oil after five years. Lock out has started getting loose after seven years!
Bottom Line:
It's a brilliant fork, I just wished it had 100~120mm of travel and it was easier to service.
Note: I've never had mine serviced and I want to see how far it goes before I kill it!! I've done over 4,000 miles to date and thers oil coming out and the boot is split in six places! Well beated up, but it's still going strong!
Strengths: When it's working it's great,stiff, plush lovely ride
Weaknesses: TOP-OUT,
Lack of mechanics who can do proper services,unavailability of info and tools to enable home servicing, hates bad weather. Don't fall off in stream as I did as the internals soon rust.Daaaamned expensive to have serviced.Bloody unreliable.short travel
Bottom Line:
Wish I'd got a fork that I could strip down myself......If I had to buy a replacement headshock it would cost me £570,gotta be kidding, When it's knackered next time it's gonna get swapped for conventional fork.
Anybody able to service one of these who can post a video of how on the web????
Strengths: Cannondale reputation and quality. On the move adjustment. Torsional strength of the forks and frame. Have had no problems, would like to know how to adjust for more or less travel using the air pressure input, never really been able to use that feature.
Weaknesses: Exclusive Agent's serviceability
Bottom Line:
Happy with the product, though I have not used it as much as I would have liked to. I am certain there are similar products/Bikes on the market that would live up to this product, but then I have not had to look at those yet as mine has served me reliably!
Submitted by
Derek
a Cross Country Rider
from Bellingham, WA USA
Date Reviewed: February 9, 2003
Strengths: Very stiff, smooth dampening, no fork play whatsoever (unlike so many others), and maintenance-free--so long as you periodically clean and relube the leg (once every 2 mos. in this rainy muddy climate). Also good to be able to support a US company with a sound vision that treats its workers well.
Weaknesses: Requires special tools--I'd prefer to be able to do all of my own work. Maybe could use a few more travelling mms.
Bottom Line:
Now going on the third year on this shock, at an average of 12hrs per week on some brutal singletrack with nary a problem or failure. It is NOT a DH shock--this should be obvious from the 60mm of travel offered. However, it will take some solid punishment--including 3 footers--without begging for mercy. Its stiff responsiveness allows the rider to point and shoot; this bike is Fast. The lock out is AOK for the flats, and the bike simply rolls up steep technical sections. This shock is excellent for any skilled XC rider that knows how to use their arms and legs to properly negotiate terrain, rather than relying upon the "store bought" skills that so many new bikes offer at the price of extra weight and sloppy--sorry--"cushy" response.
Submitted by
Kevin
a Cross Country Rider
from Dallas, TX USA
Date Reviewed: December 26, 2002
Strengths: lock out feature... saving grace for this piece of SH*t!! Most of my riding has been on this feature!!!
Weaknesses: Doesn't last, can't stand the weather!!
Bottom Line:
Well it did last the first 6 months and this was on Dallas,TX trails (flat yall!!)...oh boy! Afterwards, gotten #2 replacement, it worked for about a 1 year. Then #3 for a month, and #4 for about 2 years. Then I started to go to some difficult places in the next few years - aka New Zealand, Durango, and Moab- #5,#6,#7 came in. After the seventh replacement the dam thing finally held up for now about 1.5 years but my riding has slow down a lot. I'm heading for arkansas and lawton in 2003 and am now changing out for a marzocchi or rockshok judy. I had enough! C-dale is lucky I cant fine their asss (service line just goes to answer machine - I think they have caller ID!?!?!) and dont ram this shock down their poor quality throats!!
Bike Setup: Can-a-whale Delta700, all XT; grip shift,vbrakes,front/rear derailer. 185 lb average rider, did try sport entry level racing, but found more fun with just riding.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
zxc
a Weekend Warrior
from Philadelphia
Date Reviewed: November 1, 2002
Bottom Line:
I am referring to a DD60. I want to be able to open it up myself!!
I just got the bike used. and the fork is in bad shape. rough. i just need to get grease to the needle bearings.
I bought a pin wrench Park SPA-1, after reading this guide: http://www.fastglass.net/bike/headshok/repair.html (written for a generic, prolly older? headshok) And after unscrewing the top cap, I find that the insides of my DD60 is different from that pictured in that guide. There are no flats as there are in the first pic. And the castle nut looks different in my DD60. Any ideas?? Need help!
Strengths: Ultra low maintenance!! The Review a few down must have been a fluke. Precise steering, very stout fork used it in at chirakoa mauntain range at 47 mph and performed like it should have given its travel restrictions, takes big hits relentless big hits and keeps comin back for more. lockout is definately a nice bonus no complaints there im ashamed to admit it kinda but ive used it on a few urban assault break aways. solid suspension system with a solid company behind it. Fenominal performance for its classification. solid balanced forgiving versitile system that is great for cross country and the ocassional (dare I even suggest it)freeride. I have used it for freeriding and survived just fine, not the big bomber or nothing likt that but it is tough enoug for it if you got the skills to huck a short travel bike down the mountain and not get broken!!
Weaknesses: Short travel very very cross country oriented, so is the jekyll though its only a weakness if you like big sh-t. rubber sleeve tends to get pinch tears in it if you abuse the bottom out stopper in it, once again if you like big sh-t, special tools needed for the true do it yourselfer who actually enjoys working on his-her own bike (*I*) 120 bucks or so, shim has moved down on me once not effecting performance one bit but it still should have stayed in its place(once again moved down from excessively hard hits) fixed it myself no prob!! needs a little tlc if your gonna beet on it constantly but for the accasional ruffling of its feathers it will do just great. You can use this all year round at xc trails and do 2-3 trips to the mountains a year without any unscheduled maintenance.had it 3 years and its been a rough life for it and it is still goin strong with only the shim sliding down once and hehe 2 tourn hehe rubbers ahem xcuse mua it dont suck
Bottom Line:
Great setup for race or serious rider alike, focused on the xc side of it but will definately take a beating without bustin on yah, great reliable predictable precise stiff fork that does all it should and more for the x-country (sometimes freeride) urban ridin 200 pounder in most of us. perfect in every way if I had the tools to service it:-) for that I take away a chille on the value side whapisshhhhhh
Bike Setup: stock jekyll700 xt, julie discs and big fat geax hooks and warps.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Christian
a Cross Country Rider
from Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria
Date Reviewed: April 5, 2001
Strengths: stiff lightweight excellent response on-the-fly lockout needle bearings (no stiction like Rock Shox)
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
Fantastic fork, the stiffest around there. The response to bumps is excellent, the lockout mechanism is quite useful when driving on roads. Very good fork for cross country riding. Enough travel for me, as I'm no downhiller. Great fork!!!
Similar Products Used: Rock Shox Jett T2 and Judy XC, tested Marzocchi
Bike Setup: '98 F-1000
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Graehm
a Cross Country Rider
from UPnorth, MI, USA
Date Reviewed: March 1, 2001
Strengths: Perfect amount of travel. I like being able to lock out on the fly! In 4 years I have only had to get it maintained once! I like the idea of the Headshock. Cannondale should be praised for this great idea! I never have to worry about uneven travel with a fork. The steering is magnificant and flawless. No complaints!
Weaknesses: None!
Bottom Line:
If more people would ride the Headshocks they would probably want to dump whatever they have and buy a Cannondale. Low maintenance and no uneven travel! The headshock centers the bike and the rider into one entity. Almost spiritual in a way.I would recommend the Headshock to anybody who either races or just for fun rides crosscountry. It is great Bike and fork for adventure racers. When you are offroad you leave the fork on. When you hit the pavement or concrete you can lock it out. It is that simple. What an ingenious idea!!
Similar Products Used: None! I tested most of the forks out there and I kept going back to the Headshock. The steering was much greater and I would never have to worry about uneven travel!
Strengths: -Retains steering precision -Good small-bump response -STIFF!! -Lock-out(on the more expensive models)
Weaknesses: -A bit#^ to maintain(you need special tools--a little ridiculous) -Needs a special stem -Can bottom out occasionally(not much travel) -Cannondale is WAY overrated!!
Bottom Line:
I tested both a Super V400 and a F600--both of which used the same fork,I think(non-lockout).I was impressed by how they smoothed out small-to-medium hits.They also steer well and are stiff.
However,I'm less impressed with the fact that these require special tools to maintain(ka-ching!!),a special stem(ka-ching!!),and you have to buy a Cannondale to get one(MAJOR ka-ching!!).
Based on all this,I'm not so gung-ho on buying one anytime soon.Although I do like Cannondale's bikes,I'm not sold on the hype.Sorry,Cannondale fans!!
I give the Headshok 4 chiles for performance,but value gets only 2 chilies.
Similar Products Used: Manitou Magnum(good for entry-level),SX-LT(very good),Marzocchi Z5 Flylight(also very good),RockShox Judy XC(very plush,but heavy)
Bike Setup: Specialized Rockhopper A1
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Kaj .
a Cross Country Rider
from l.a.
Date Reviewed: February 6, 2000
Strengths: it worked great...when it wasnt brokin
Weaknesses: God what a mess...every thing has gone wrong...see below
Bottom Line:
The SUPER FATTY SL is a disaster. The first few months i had it, it was absolutely fantastic, all of the things everyone else in here is saying positive. But after a while, this piece of crap just began to fall apart. After a while it had an insane amount of stiction, a few of it's needle bearings slid down past the others, therefor causing a decrease in travel and a constant clicking noise (another 40 bucks to fix this), just yesterday that stupid rebound adjuster headset cap came off (by the way...an on the fly rebound adjustment...how useless), and if this thing loses enough air, the fork wont bother to even come back up. lets see, am i missing something, oh yeah...it's always toping out. sometimes, even if you have it set on a lot of PSI (120), it still doesnt rebound all the way. And lets talk about costs . the darn thing costs 40 bucks every 6 months to replace an oil cartridge...40 bucks! And if you think you can stretch it past 6 months...think again...the fork gets anormous stiction and feels like absolute crap. And cannondale has made it impossible to do this maintenance yourslef cause you have to buy $120 (according to my lbs) worth of special tools! Canonndale has successfully made the priciest product to maintain on the market. God i hate this fork. And to top it all off, if i wanna get a new fork..i gotta get a frame adaptor. What a scam! I have been riding this fork for 15 months now. Look at these long term effects and think again before buying this product. Stay away from this fork...dont let the advertising hype get to you. 1 chili for overal..value...HAHA, a $500 fork with this many problems is unacceptable...1 chili.
Strengths: Rigidity and steering precision second to none! Smoothest action. Lockout a plus on big uphills.
Weaknesses: Dedicated to Cannondale!
Bottom Line:
Judging from the grammatical content of the preceding reviews, dissatisfaction with the HeadShok is inversely proportional to rider I.Q. Po is a case in point!
Submitted by
Mike Teeters
a Cross-Country Rider
from Columbus, Ohio
Date Reviewed: January 4, 2000
Strengths: presice steering
Weaknesses: blew out
Bottom Line:
I've OWNED the headshok Super FattyD (80mm) on my SuperV900 for a year now. The steering is unmatched and it is very smooth. The cartridge blew out in the first 3 months and my dealer replaced it under warranty. However, It does not seem to have the travel that it did before. This shock has an air inlet that is hard to adjust unless you have a $50 shock pump/bleeder combination. My complaint with the shock is that an authorized dealer has to do the work on it because of special reinstalling tools. This is not accepable to me because i am a skilled mechanic and prefer to do work to my bike myself. I will switch to Marzocchi soon because i will not pay for work to be done on my out-of-warrany headshok when it breaks or needs serviced or tuned. I just wish I could work on it myself. Three stars for my LBS (bikesource columbus) for fixing it so fast the first time it broke!
Submitted by
Burke
a Cross-Country Rider
from Salt Lake City
Date Reviewed: January 3, 2000
Strengths: Lock out feature
Weaknesses: Did not respond well on fires roads with washerboard and rocks or in big drop situations. It also looks stupid!
Bottom Line:
Right now I would not buy a Cannondale. I think that you are spending way to much for what you get, especially when you consider all of the other products on the market. I did ride a Cannondale from about 4 years ago and loved it. It did not have the Headshock, maybe that had something to do with it.
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