Weaknesses: low travel, requires oiling fairly often (once a month or so) or doesn't really work, doesn't work in temperatures below freezing,
Bottom Line:
This is a good, hardy short-travel fork for XC use only. I have been riding fully rigid on aggressive XC all my life and I didn't want much travel, just enough shock absorption so that my wrists don't hurt all the time. The little bit of travel (I get at 40-50mm out of mine) does exactly that for me.
It does require checking the oil fairly often, and won't work particularly well without oil. It also is rigid in temperatures below freezing.
It is an elastomer-only fork, so it doesn't have rebound control, but at such a short travel I don't see that as a major drawback.
I'm currently experimenting around with replacing the elastomers with springs, which may help with the cold-weather performance.
Bottom line, if you find one for $20 or so, it may be worth it, but really there's no reason to get a fork this old unless it comes with a good frame (such as an older Specialized or Trek). Three chilis because it does what I want it to do, but my requirements of my fork are rather low.
Similar Products Used: Went to Sid xc100, then Pace RC31 carbon, RST Omega and now Reba U-turns.
I rebuilt the old 1995 Response Sport with an Kona P2 xc rigid fork and it goes well on road and light xc with the weight saving.
Bike Setup: Trashed and now rebuilt for my Father using full LX, 521 rims, slicks, Pig aheadset. Lots of Waxoyl! Lighter but still a bomb and reliable.
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Submitted by
Damian
a Weekend Warrior
from Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: December 23, 2005
Strengths: unbelievably strong, pretty much unbreakable (but definatley not unbombable)
Weaknesses: Bottoms out real easy after a lot of use, pretty close to rigid in real cold temperatures. Rubber dirt protectors seized up and shrank on me for some reason.
Bottom Line:
Wow, these shocks have been used for 9 years, 9 WHOLE YEARS now and still work pretty decent. They have taken tons and tons and tons of beatings from countelss 4 foot drop offs and dirt jumps to millions of rocks and roots, and they still hold up. I dont care if they dont offer a lot of travel, these things eat up pretty much whatever you throw at them.
Bike Setup: schwinn mesa gsx, mavic rims, old zoom headset, avid brakes n levers, specialized team tires.
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Submitted by
Ether Charles
a Cross Country Rider
from Victoria
Date Reviewed: March 20, 2004
Strengths: Rides well for the price paid
Weaknesses: not much travel
Bottom Line:
Rides well for the price paid. i do a lot of trail riding and this works just fine. goes down stairs well and if you ride straight into a curb, itll be no prob; take you right up. Cant complain unless youre a harcore rider. this is good for riding trails.
Submitted by
Dave
a Cross Country Rider
from Richmond, VA
Date Reviewed: January 6, 2003
Strengths: came with the bike hasn't broken
Weaknesses: never worked very well
Bottom Line:
It stunk then and it stinks now. Sure most forks stunk then, but that doesn't change the fact that it stinks as a suspension fork. Now that my good old steel 930 is my mostly on road beater bike, the trace amount of suspension is just right for damping road vibrations.
Submitted by
F macdonald
a Cross Country Rider
from Fallbrook, CA
Date Reviewed: December 24, 2002
Strengths: holds the front wheel on
Weaknesses: it doesn't absorb much of anything. rebound adjustment is a joke.
Bottom Line:
I went around a left bend with a bump thinking I could go fast and just lighten up on the front and the suspension would eat the bump. sooner than I knew it I was sliding in the dirt on my left shoulder and arm, hands still on the bars and feet still on the pedals.
never trust a quadra.
This christmas it is being replaced by an 02 duke sl
Similar Products Used: ridgid and marzocchi z5 alloy
Bike Setup: jamis dakota, old, nothing special, lx and xt
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Submitted by
david
a Cross Country Rider
from corvallis, oregon, usa
Date Reviewed: April 27, 2002
Strengths: it is some form of shock absorbsion, and it is cheap
Weaknesses: Stearing precision sucks, stiction sucks, adjustabllity is non-existant, there is no travel, it is heavy, mcu/coil sprung
Bottom Line:
Since the time I had this fork, I have upgraded twice from cannondale caad 3 later again to caad 5. With the quadra 5 you get what you pay for. It is a cheap fork, and it has poor performance. If you just want some form of suspension it will do the job. If you want to do any kind of riding that will take you out of your neighborhood, get something else!
Yea! I'm Scott. Back from the dead. Chillin at the beach down at Club Med.
Anyway, I read the pathetic reviews by chumps who did not understand what they were buying and then cried like little girls because they were upset that the Quadra didn't perform like a $300 fork. DUH!!!
Look geniuses/ The Quadra is the same as the Indy, the Jett and the low end Manitou fork. It just isn't going to perform like the high end.
For what this fork does it works well and doesn't break. That is more than you can expect. In cold teps it doesn't work, but what modern fork does? It is flexy, but so is everything under a 30-32mm stanchtion diameter.
The Quadra seve as a good introduction into suspension and will continue to serve as a goog warm weather commuter fork. Lay off it if you ought it to ride downhill. That tells me that you didn't have the coin to purchase a Mag 21. LOSER.
Strengths: Holds up perfectly no problems with lateral torsion,
Weaknesses: I am a semi rpo rider 3500 miles year, just MTB. Gets full of dirt and gunk very easy. Adjustment"precompresion" is worhtless. Elastomers wear out and need to be regreased every time you go out. NOT compatible with disk brakes. Very heavy. Water gets in to them easely and dont have any drain plugs. Can´t adjust the rebound, etc... Of course it is the first shock in the market.
Bottom Line:
It was cheap and one of the first front shocks in the market. Rock shock is the best brand.
Bike Setup: Front de. LX, Back De. LX, LX V brakes, shimano LX pedals, K2 pro 80, front shock will now be Rockshock SID
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Submitted by
James
a Cross Country Rider
from Waco, TX, USA
Date Reviewed: October 6, 2001
Strengths: long lasting, did what it was designed to do
Weaknesses: stiction, eventual slop, flex
Bottom Line:
This shock came out at a time when just having suspension was a big thing! It did it's job and was fairly durable and easy to use (no real adjustments can be made). I really don't ride my hardtail anymore (Y-22 now), but in it's day I was very proud of my bike and this shock. It's a real dinosaur, so do not buy it. Although I still take it out now and again, when my other bike is down. It's still going and will probably just give out one day, but not for now!
These shocks performed OK for the first year I had it, though travel was not enough and the original plastic preload caps blew out on me 3 times before the LBS switched for '93 caps (metal). With the metal caps, the shocks and elastomer rods remained intact through 7 foot drops in Moab and Idaho. After two winters with the bike in the garage, the elastomers stiffened up to where travel was almost non-existent. Hard out-of-saddle pedalling cause the forks to flex and caused the front brakes to rub the rim as I rocked the bike back and forth. And I'm not a heavyweight (155 lbs). No rebound adjustment made the shocks extremely sloppy in the rough. Boots were required on the shock as there are no seals.
Strengths: Inexpensive Better with additional springs
Weaknesses: Short travel, heavy, etc.
Bottom Line:
Old shock, marginal performance. I bought some rigid springs that were just big enough to fit snuggly around the elastomer and the same length as the elastomer (6" long x 7/8 OD x 11/16 ID). Now the shock actually rebounds responsively. Cost me 3 bucks for the springs from a hardware store.
Favorite Trail: All the closed ones, especially the ones that run through rich peoples back yards
Duration Product Used: More than 3 years
Price Paid:
$154.00
Purchased At: Pacific Bikes, Sacto, CA
Bike Setup: 56lb 92 Muir Woods
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Damian Z
a Cross Country Rider
from Canada
Date Reviewed: February 24, 2001
Strengths: -nice and strong -never bottom out for me -great looks
Weaknesses: none so far
Bottom Line:
I don't know why most people say why these shocks suck, they serve theyr'e purpose and be happy with that. If you blow your shock because you did a 15 foot drop then you are the stupid one for trying to pull massive air on an old shock, i think these shocks are great and the fact that they last!
Weaknesses: Travel is laughble by todays standards.
Bottom Line:
All you freeriders and DHers need to take a step back. When I purchesed this fork it was the days when if you have 3" of travel you were the guy riding the 4000 dollar bike. We did not have the 5", 6" monsters on today, so when you got close to 2" of travel you though you were the man. So stop give this fork bad reviews, since it maybe worthless today, but it was the one that jumo started a movement that got you more travel than you could ever have dreamed.
**five chilis all around!!
Disclaimer: Any newbie to the sport who reads this review because he is looking at a used bike with this shock please do not take my review as a reason to buy it, since this fork is a dinosuar and belongs in a museum not on a serious bike.
