Ridden it for years, 6, never serviced. Great travel, saved my butt many times since I love hard core technical trails. It handles moderate drops, up to 5 feet or so. Just makes me wonder how good the new forks are, I'll find out soon since I'm in the market for an "all-mountain" bike. I'm sure the new bigger staunchons are much more stiff, we will see.
Bike Setup: 97 Specialized Ground Control, XT everything, rynolight wheels, Avid mech-disks, riser handle bar.
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Submitted by
Mark
a Cross Country Rider
from Denver CO USA
Date Reviewed: August 30, 2002
Strengths: Looks good, rides well, and has good travel. I say this after replacing the springs.
Weaknesses: It is a little on the heavy side, not too bad though. The springs that it came with suck. Change 'em out.
Bottom Line:
Overall a great shock with the after market springs in there. I am not a heavy rider at all (175 lbs) but the springs that it came with were like jello. I do some xc, free ride and downhill and find this is a good all around fork.
Submitted by
Jared Raynes
a Downhiller
from Christchurch, New Zealand
Date Reviewed: April 29, 2002
Strengths: I like the red, THAT IS IT!!!!!!!!
Weaknesses: Everything, these are the crappest fork ever. rockshoxs say do mantainence every 100 hours... i was doing it every ride.
Bottom Line:
I have blown the seals about 10 times in 2 years, and now they are f**ked. i had to buy new forks because they just stopped working and there was nothing i could do about it.
Similar Products Used: Bomber freeride, ohhh baby way way better fork
Bike Setup: mongoose with all the works
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Submitted by
Richard
a Weekend Warrior
from Cork, Ireland
Date Reviewed: October 7, 2001
Strengths: reasonable looks
Weaknesses: poor paint job, easily broken
Bottom Line:
Mine took a minor hit from the front and have never been working right since, there a huge amount of top out since the crash and none of the shops I've tried has been able to sort them out.
The paint had also began to clip of on various areas of the legs.
I ended up just getting Bomber Z4's as a replacment and they've been superb ever since I got 'em.
Submitted by
MATT
a Cross Country Rider
from Long Island
Date Reviewed: August 20, 2001
Strengths: Pretty smooth, not bad in weight, progressive,.
Weaknesses: LEaks oil, big problem with topping out, poor quality in internal parts, legendary RS customer support (lol).
Bottom Line:
OK here is the honest truth. I ride this shock hard, take very good maintenance of it and every season so far has called for about 2-3 overhauls usually involving replacement of crappy plastic top out bumpers which get eaten up after a few 100 miles....AHHHH! Every little hit feels like a loose headset and trust me it aint the chris king headset folks! I am at my wits end because the travel past the first 1 is so smooth and i have it set up really well for a 160 lb rider except i cant fix the topout/oil leaks i have been getting for a while now. The model i have is nice, an OEM model with the alluminum adjusters but it is killing my XCR ride. But as far as value i'd have to say for 200 bucks you cant beat it really. Thinking about going for the Y2K X FLY but i aint wild about what i've heard about small hits.....any suggestions?
Similar Products Used: Older Judy's, Do i dare say it.......AN INDY XC LONGTRAVEL! YIKES!
Bike Setup: XT/XTR,King head, Mavik 517's, 2k XCR 1000, raceface cranks, only thing left from old LTS 3000 frame are the paralax STX hubs.
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Submitted by
Dano
a Weekend Warrior
from Surrey, BC, Canada
Date Reviewed: July 10, 2001
Strengths: Smooths out the bumps, and I've never came close to bottoming out on it. I'm a cross-country rider - no dropping off of cliffs etc.
Weaknesses: Lot's of negative travel, but this may be true of many others.
Bottom Line:
This shock can handle way more than I can safely ask it to and therefore it does the job. The increased length/travel of the fork may slow down your steering but you can get used to it. For the money, I think I got a great deal compared to what else is available.
Strengths: 4" of travel Small Adjustability (What do you expect from a mid priced fork?) Quite Strong for a fork in this Price Range($350)
Weaknesses: The bushings are a little weak. Small Adjustability (What do you expect from a mid priced fork?)
Bottom Line:
The Bottom Line is, I read what people write about this fork ,and most of it is BS; This fork is not going to flex nearly as much as people clam it will. I also read in one review that this fork does not do good in the rain, WHAT THE HELL IS HE TALKING ABOUT? This fork has a seal, 2 sets of bushings and a set of rings; nothing is going to get in this fork if you clean it up every month or two. The bottom line is Rock Shox makes a good fork based on the Boxxer for $350.
Similar Products Used: I work in a bike shop. (A lot of forks)
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Submitted by
fonseca
a Weekend Warrior
from Harrisonburg, Va, USA
Date Reviewed: May 10, 2001
Strengths: Very smooth Tuneable with different springs and oil weights Can take a beating
Weaknesses: Should have come with boots Slight leg flex
Bottom Line:
I bought it in early '99, and the first thing I did was install some White Bros wipers. Anyone dumb enough to ride this fork in the rain or mud deserves to have bushing problems! Lizard Skin boots are $5 and velcro on, requiring no disassembly. And if you're too stupid to ride without boots you should not be attempting class V maintainance either. I know a lot of you are on a budget, but your LBS should be working on your fork for you.
I have changed my oil twice, switching from a custom 13 weight to 10 weight. When I drained the oil there were only traces of dirt, and no water. I think fork wipers filled with slick honey (and checked after every few rides) is the reason. Also, I use the salsa brake booster, which really eliminates leg flex and helps with brake fade as well. My final comment is that you should not work on this fork unless you own a torque wrench. The torque specifications are given for a reason. If you are leaking oil, RTFM! Minus 1 star in the value rating for not including boots and for leg flex, which I had to correct with aftermarket items.
Similar Products Used: Quadra 21 Judy SL Manitou SX
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Submitted by
AJ Granato
a Racer
from Pittsfiled Ma US
Date Reviewed: April 12, 2001
Strengths: everything! color, travel, toughness, and looks good and rides good on anyway bike.
Weaknesses: everything except nothing!
Bottom Line:
I'm 14, and I started off ith a 97 Giant WARP ds1. It dident last with my riding, I had Indy S in front and a giant shock in rear. Then i was gonna upgrade the fork to a judy XLC but my local store said the frame would crack! so i said f*ck that and got a FSR I dident want a triple crown fork on the bike... so I got a Judy 100. Ever sense I've never had soo much fun goin off cliffs and takin big hits with this thing. If you're lucky enough to find one in good condition, BUY IT! Judy's are the best and with 100mm of travel ya cant beat it for the price!
Similar Products Used: Judy XC (when converted to 100mm )
Bike Setup: 99' FSR, avid disc in front, stock V in rear, Flat ritchey handle bars, bontrager bar ends, GT saddle, Rock shox Delux in rear (not too proud of that).
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Submitted by
mike
a Downhiller
from vancouver,bc,canada
Date Reviewed: March 21, 2001
Strengths: everything i mean this shock rips sh$t up
Bottom Line:
the bottom line is that these forks tear, you cant break them they handle 6-8 footers and i dont expect anything else from it. it has never leaked oil and i have never maintained them i have never touched them since i bout them new. they do have a bit of flex when riding on a laid back trail with little rocks and stuff, but when it comes to the shore they acually handled it good.so the bottom line pretty much means they are good to go..................
Strengths: it is a great fork i have never had a problem with it
Weaknesses: there is none !!!!!!!
Bottom Line:
this is a great fork and i have never had a problem with it and i will probbally never have any probs i dont know what these guys are talking about there is no flex at all. and it never leaks oil and ya every one has to change oil once and a while so buy it if you need 4" of travel and u want a good DH fork or a good FREE RIDE fork and if u are hard core. i beat the crap out of it and there is no probs
Strengths: probably hefty enough to kill Doyle with it
Weaknesses: pukes worse than Calista Flockhart
Bottom Line:
I got this in trade with my current frame set. Thought I'd play with it before selling it. Liked the 4" travel, and sold my well used Girvin for some new singletrack play (got off the rocks when I moved). Well, there've been more than a few days I wished I still had the old link'd wonder since I started riding this thing. I've put new seals on it, White Bros wipers (had Lizard Skin booties awhile), and changed the oil a few times. There's just not enough overlap with the stancions and sliders to make this thing a contender. Excess wear on the stancions and mo' flex. It uses more oil than my '75 Bronco; I literally top it off after every 30 miles or so I'll actually have a little resistance in it. When it held oil it was a fun, albeit not overly technically proficient ride. I gave it a chance because Rock Shox had finally ditched the MCU charade and built a Bomber. Well, Marzocchi built a better one and mine's in the mail. Did I mention the oil drip stains on my carpet?
Similar Products Used: Girvin Crosslink, aired-out Judy XC, Manitou SX-Ti '97, Judy C hydracoil, Quadra 21R, Manitou Spyder R
Bike Setup: 8900 Trek/Race Face/Avid/USE XCR/XT-XTR...
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Submitted by
Blackwell
a Weekend Warrior
from Mission Viejo
Date Reviewed: January 2, 2001
Strengths: Inexpensive
Weaknesses: No boots
Bottom Line:
This shock came with my '99 XCR, which I bought in May of '00. This is my first suspension ride, so I don't have much to compare it to, but here's my 2 cents anyway. I weigh about 145, and only ride on weekends, so I've never really hammered on the bike very hard; the shock never bottomed out, but after 4 or 5 months, it started making sounds of "excessive topping out" (per the RS manual.) Took the bike to the shop to have it tuned, and they said the fork was fine. Now, about a month or 2 later, the fork is leaking oil, and is back at the shop. I'll probably end up buying boots for it; maybe that will help.
Bike Setup: Specialized Enduro Pro with lots a crap!
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Submitted by
Matt Stuart
a Cross Country Rider
from Roseville, CA
Date Reviewed: December 29, 2000
Strengths: Nice looking fork, looks fast. 4" of travel.
Weaknesses: Seals suck, requires a lot of maintenance, Slightly on the heavy side, not to rigid.
Bottom Line:
When I first bought the bike the shock quickly deteriorated spuing oil everywhere. I quickly learned that this shock was going to be a lot of work. I weigh about 180 lbs and finding the right amount of oil and oil weight was critical.I use a marzocchi 7.5 weight oil. I also always wipe the boots free of dirt before every ride and lube it up real good with triflow. Since i started working on it myself i haven't had any problems with the seals and I feel comfortable rollin over anything at high speed. It handles Mr. Toads real well to my surprise. Can't say though that i will ever buy a rock shox fork or a bike with one on it with the intention of keeping it on. Im building a FS Ventanna and I plan for a nice Marzocchi Z-1 X-Fly.
Bike Setup: My Trek 8500 remains pretty much stock besides the pedals (Swithed to a Ritchey logic pro from the bontrager Re-1 after braking two sets) and also sitched seat post to a syncros.
