Submitted by
Levi
a Weekend Warrior
from Lewistown
Date Reviewed: May 29, 2004
Strengths: it's never failed me yet. I can't seem to hurt it and I've hucked some wicked stuff on it. although that's takin a toll on my frame
Weaknesses: old
Bottom Line:
I love the shock, even when you bottom it it's not harsh. I would like to know if anybody knows where I can find a rebuild kit for it so I can keep abusing it. I can tell it's getting soft after a year and i just need new elastomer springs for it.
Favorite Trail: Crystal lake, but they aren't really mtn. bike trails
Duration Product Used: 1 Year
Purchased At: Friend gave it too me
Similar Products Used: rst junk, they don't make any decent shocks
Bike Setup: diamondback, $200 bike with $300 worth of parts in it, go figure
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Submitted by
Kevin Vokey
a Cross Country Rider
from Kincardine
Date Reviewed: April 18, 2004
Strengths: It surprises me that it has lasted this long. I ride hard and I make the jumps whenever I can. It hasn't failed me yet. The truth is, this year is the first time I've ever taken it apart to lube it up and get it ready for another season!
Weaknesses: If you don't service it more than once. It looks pretty ugly inside. Only thing I wished for is more adjustments.
Bottom Line:
The bottom line is, I think this fork is really a good fork. I've really enjoyed using it. Of course it's the only fork I've ever used but I never had a good reason for buying a new one. I've looked at the "BLACK", I once picked up the FOX but almost dropped it because of its weight.(No offence to them but I put that one back on the shelf really fast.) All in all, I think the Rock Shox made a really good fork and I've never really had a reason for changing. I guess in this case I really don't know what I'm missing.
Bike Setup: Specialized Stumpjumper,xtr everything, Race Face parts, Mavic rims, Maxxis tires, and of course Rock Shox suspension.
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Submitted by
Alex Pina
a Cross Country Rider
from Traverse City
Date Reviewed: March 27, 2003
Strengths: Bullet proof, good clean looks, good bottoming resistence, great for xc riding
Weaknesses: It is probably not set up right (have played with it a bunch), but the rebounding seems to be too fast - it can get pretty harsh on square edge bumps
Bottom Line:
For the most part this is a pretty decent fork, I have been fairly happy with it. I have yet to bottom the fork, and it has taken some hard hits over the four years I have had it. It doesn't seem to like choppy terrain or hard square edge bumps, the rebound is atrocious - it clanks on harder hits. I have messed with the rebound damping, and can't seem to make the fork smoother. I do a lot of trail riding plus about 3 races a year, and it has been a very reliable fork. For most conditions, it performs very well.
Bike Setup: Mongoose Tetra SX, Shimano Deore & Alivo, Specialized Dirt Control tires, Tectro V Brakes, Judy XC
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Submitted by
Ride Biker
a Cross Country Rider
from Santz Cruz, CA
Date Reviewed: August 21, 2002
Strengths: 4 inch travel, coil spring, oil bath damping, low maintenence, never leaked (at least that I could see), good match for coil spring rear suspension.
Weaknesses: weight, shock boots, not too stiff compared to '03 forks, only lasted 4 years with 0 maintenence - LOL
Bottom Line:
This fork came with my bike in '98, I believe it has heavier spings, it came OEM on an Xtra large frame. My LBS set up the damping the way I wanted it and off I rode, and rode, and rode some more. I probably average at least 50 miles a week of medium duty XC riding with some pavement pounding transportation mixed in. I'm not a basher, or a jumper so I can't complain that this fork was bottoming out all of the time because I never really tried to punish it. Not tons of wet riding either, but a fair share of rain rides over the years. Mainly just fast, dirty trail riding. This fork has gone the whole time without a peep. I never even serviced it (I've been bad), but since it never showed any ill function... I was going to just kill it and buy an upgrade. After a solid 4 years, I went to ride the other day and fork had lost all of it's damping. It now just pogo's up and down like a spring and can't support much wait. I don't see anything that leaked, it was an internal problem. My LBS laughed at me when I asked if it could be repaired for cheap. It can't really be repaired at all. They could tear into it and see if some spare parts would fix it, but when all is said and done I would be spending money on an antique. So, my heartbreak has led me to buy a new extra large, 25.6 pound '02 Superlight, specced with custom parts and a Fox Float RL, which will be that worthy upgrade that I have been waiting for. My Heckler will be revived with a '91 Manitou X - Vert, a cheap comparable tank of a fork ($150 at pricepoint, I ordered today), the Judy has been buried for good, 4 years of steady service. If it is new, and you are not a basher, and it's cheap I would say get it. I got some good no-cost use out of it. only 3 chilis overall cause there are much better overall forks out there, but it gets a 5 for value.
Submitted by
Blade
a Weekend Warrior
from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: November 2, 2001
Strengths: Good travel (long travel edition), easy to rebuild, good support, plushtacular
Weaknesses: a little flex in the fork, rebounds a little too fast for me.
Bottom Line:
It is a good fork if yer a cheap person (like Me!) it has good travel and it is reasonably plush. I have put alot of km on this fork and it hasnt let me down yet, everything is stock (aside from Ibroken topcap which I tightened to hard)
Bike Setup: Gary fisher wahoo frame, deore (full) Judy XC's 98 Beauty panaracer fire XC pro tires
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Michael Karlovich
a Cross Country Rider
from Belmont, Ca, USA
Date Reviewed: August 16, 2001
Strengths: Absorbs large and small bumps well.
Weaknesses: Bottoms out on some extreme type jumps, but maybe I don't have it adjusted right.
Bottom Line:
A lot of people are complaining about the forks. I've put a lot of mileage on them. I've been pounding them hard for a year and a half, including some fairly large jumps and they are still working great. I think they are a good product.
Similar Products Used: none. My first suspension fork.
Bike Setup: 1998 K2 Proflex 4000
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Chris Fields
a Cross Country Rider
from San Angelo TX
Date Reviewed: June 19, 2001
Strengths: Good Travel, fast rebound, really light!
Weaknesses: None Really!
Bottom Line:
I really like this fork and I would reccomend it to anyone. It is not as high maintainence as other forks of the same calibor. It feels a little firm sometimes, but if you look down its actually taking a lot of punishment. I have done a few races in south TX and this form has peformed perfectly. I will stick with the Judy level forks because of price low weight and maintanence. I just like to ride adn this thing will keep going forever...
I thouht this fork would last a couple of months because I am 205 pounds but I have been riding it hard for 1 year and have only rebuilt it once, I have launched six and a half footers, hit trees head on at high speeds and theirs barely a scatch on it. You can,t kill this fork
Bike Setup: Cove Stiffie,Hayes Disk frw,LX V rw, Race Face N.S. crankes, Roox Bomber 4.0 DH bar,Roox DH stem, Intense tires DH 2.7 fr 2.4 r
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Submitted by
C Mewes
a Weekend Warrior
from Minneapolis
Date Reviewed: May 8, 2001
Strengths: popular name with label recongnition
Weaknesses: You name it, it's week. The thing is like riding a pogo stick after you put twenty miles on it.
Bottom Line:
This fork should be avoided at all costs. I've had in in on warranty six times. Had the product replaced twice. Makes no difference, it's just plain crap. Bushings blown, cartridges fried, springs are weak. I could go on and on. Save your soul and buy a manitou or something.
Bike Setup: Mongoose 7x7 pro frame, hayes disc brakes, atx components
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Submitted by
Brian
a Weekend Warrior
from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Date Reviewed: April 23, 2001
Strengths: The price was definitely right.. for the most part, the fork takes pretty much what I throw at it. Relatively easy to rebuild. Also, I got the long travel kit so it's about as much as I'd want on my hardtail.
Weaknesses: Crappy top caps that nearly stripped the first time I rebuilt the fork, gets water in the seals pretty easily.
Bottom Line:
This fork is good for the money, especially if you get it the year after, like I did. I wasn't happy about how annoying it was to relube, and the fact that I have to do it every time I go through any significant water. The fork performs like a charm, just as long as you did a refit recently.
Bike Setup: '96 Raleigh serengeti, stx-RC, Avid brakes.
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Submitted by
Mark
a Weekend Warrior
from Kernersville, NC, USA
Date Reviewed: April 11, 2001
Strengths: ?
Weaknesses: Damper Cartride blows out often, flex, bushings wear and difficult to lube, not very adjustable, and oh ya the cast in arch broke.
Bottom Line:
Bottom line is that the cast in arch broke on my last ride. And I have had to replace the damer cartride ever year. One time it was sitting on my work bench while I had it apart to clean and lube the bushings, and the damper cartride exploded on its on.
I really enjoyed this fork for the first few months that I rode it. It treated me well during local riding and a trip to West Virginia. After only about 6 months the bushings started to go, it felt like a loose headset. That brought on the first rebuild with a change to heavier weight oil. That helped for about 4 months and the bushings went away again. To make a long story short, 2 1/2 years and four rebuilds later the damper cartridge took a crap and threw me on my head.
After putting my old Mach 5 back on I also realized that the Judy was super flexy although it had much better quality travel than the SX. As I write this I'm waiting for a new X-Vert Super. I expect this to be 10 times the fork that the Judy was(no kidding!!). The bottom line is that although this is not a terrible fork for beginners, anyone that rides a substantial amount of miles will use this thing up in no time. You could upgrade to Total Air, but that only partially fixes the problems this thing has.
Bike Setup: KHS team cro-mo, Hugi/517 ceramic, XT and XTR, Magura HS-33
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Jon Evans
a Weekend Warrior
from Forestville, CA 95436
Date Reviewed: November 15, 2000
Strengths: None that I can think of
Weaknesses: Not very plush, damping disappeared over time, and then the cartridge decided to blow
Bottom Line:
These things have a pretty mediocre ride and are flexy as sh!t, but what really sucks is the price to replace the cartridge. 100 f*!king bucks?!? No thanks. I'm tossing these turds in the trash and replacing with some Marzocchi's thankyou.
Submitted by
cory taylor
a Weekend Warrior
from windsor, ont. can
Date Reviewed: November 7, 2000
Strengths: it eats pretty much what i throw at it, low maintenance, light weight, not too much travel so it doesn't raise my bike to high
Weaknesses: bottomed out a few times on big air, but nothing i didn't expect
Bottom Line:
I bought my 98' Judys used and I put speed springs in em they work fine for me. If your pulling huge air or doing big drops you might want to go to something with a bit more travel but I think it's an all around good fork for the cash
I was recently given this fork (as an upgrade over a old '95 Mag 21)
[IMG]http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww249/giulia67/Bonty/P1000235.jpg[/IMG]
It was off of an old '98 B Read More »
This was originally posted here:
[url]http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?p=6443629#post6443629[/url]
I was just given a '98 Rock Shox Judy Xc and I just wanted to know if it Read More »
