Submitted by
Frank Goeckler
a Cross Country Rider
from Columbia, CT US
Date Reviewed: August 21, 2001
Strengths: Very light, extremely nimble. Excellent xc race fork. Englund Air cartriges are outstanding, consistently take 200 lbs. pressure & never leak.
Weaknesses: If its that light, it can't be that strong. Unfortunately it is the reality. Owned the fork 3 years, has been back to WB each yeach for a replacement. Both times, sheared off stanchion tubes. (WB warranteed both times) Not especially torsionally rigid.
Bottom Line:
The bottom line is this, this is an excellent fork overall but does require regular maintenance if you want top performance. The most important thing to understand about this fork however, is that regardless of what WB says, this fork should have a rider weight cutoff of about 160-170 lbs and it is not suited for free riding. This is the WB equivalent to the Rock Shox SID. Again, great fork, but you better have a backup because WB will warrantee, but they won't hurry.
Similar Products Used: manitou sx ti,judy sl,xc,dh,dho,boxxer marazochi z2 atom bombs and drop offs gervin chubby white brothers sc70
Bike Setup: specelized s/works manitou super nova forks 2000 shimano xtr components hays hydrolic brakes contiaction tyers
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Sam Milsom
a Cross Country Rider
from Wellington, New Zealand
Date Reviewed: October 9, 2000
Strengths: Really stiff, plush travel with a nice recoil. Reall forgiving fork
Weaknesses: Again... regular maintainence
Bottom Line:
I've had only good dealings with the fork... so far. Can't deal with White Bros directly from here of course, bu the shop I bought it from is pretty keen on the frk and hasn't had any problems supporting their stuff.
Similar Products Used: Judy SL's. XMO's Bombers...
Bike Setup: Cannondale CAD3 full XT, neg rise stem etc... a climber
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
tim connelly
a Racer
from ramona ca
Date Reviewed: October 6, 1999
Strengths: Laterally stiff, strong as an ox, and light with the england convertion
Weaknesses: the allen nuts on the bottom of these forks are all but impossible to remove the first time.
Bottom Line:
Any big company can put out a nice fork at $600. the true test for me of any company is how they stand behind the product when I need support. I had a problem with my fork, sent it in and needed it back in less than 2 weeks so I could use it in a race in New Mexico. they understood and were able to get my fork back to me (working better than it ever has) just in time for my race. WHITE BROTHERS RULE! Thanks guys for a great product but more importently great service!
Bike Setup: Ellsworth Sub22, full XTR, Cane Creek Crono WAM Ti
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
mtncranker
a Cross-Country Rider
from La Mirada, CA
Date Reviewed: September 21, 1999
Strengths: Stiff, plush, easy to work on
Weaknesses: A bit heavy
Bottom Line:
I've ridden this fork for 2 1/2 years now. Torn it apart and regreased it 3x. Took in the damper to White Bros to tweak a bit of roughness in the movement (I live near enough to WB to take it in personally). Had good service from them in person, but they do seem to take their time answering phone messages, and comunications from teh service desk to the mountain bike division seem to be a bit slow. The fork, though, is great. I haven't seen any other fork I'd exchange it for. It's been durable, plush, stiff, tracks precisely, and most importantly, that dark grey finish looks great with my ti frame! ;-)5 chilis for the fork, less i for the less-than-stellar service.
Similar Products Used: Manitou, Rock Shox, Zokes, etc
Bike Setup: Titus HCR, XTR, Gripshift
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Stan
a Weekend Warrior
from Chicago,IL
Date Reviewed: September 7, 1999
Weaknesses: See my write up
Bottom Line:
Here is my write up on the fork.The performance is great. The best fork I have ever owned. However, the ride does not compensate for the service that I received at White Brothers.Here is a short list of complaints:The dropouts of the fork were slightly out of alignment horizontally. I included a note explaining this. When I finally got someone on the line they asked me what I wanted done. What the hell did they think I wanted done. Did I need to say Hey the dropouts are out of alignment, please realign them..... Did they really need prompting to get them to see that something was wrong with the fork??? If so, I'd have to say that they are F_____g idiots.You can almost be assured that no one will answer the phone. When they do answer, they're surly.When you can't reach anyone at the service department you are asked to leave a message. I think of the 4 or 5 messages that I left I was called back once.I was told that the turn around on the fork would be 2 weeks. I can give a little but it took them five weeks to fix the fork.When the fork was finished I was given a $50.00 repair bill. There were problems with some internal components (they said from wear). No one ever called me to tell me that the replacement was being done (just did it and expected me to pay). In addition, I had only used the fork for May, June and July. How the hell did I wear anything out? Rather than fight too hard and delay the fork even longer I agreed to pay (I am contesting the payment through my credit card company).Before I got the bill I had talked to someone at the service department who told me that they would ship the fork back to me in what ever fashion I desired (and they would pay for it because there was a manufacturing problem with the fork). I just wanted the thing for the weekend so I said 2nd day air would be fine.When I was given my bill for $50.00, I was informed that the fork would go back UPS ground. Anything else would cost me (so I lost another weekend). Again, this is after I was promised that the fork would be shipped at their cost by what ever means would get it back to me be the weekend.With all that said....be very careful when dealing with White Brothers. If you get a good fork you should be OK. If not, watch out you will be screwed to the wall.P.S. I was on vacation in Utah and I ran into another guy with the same problem with the dropouts on his fork. I am not sure how isolated the alignment issue is.Happy trails,Stan
Submitted by
Michael
a Cross-Country Rider
from Edmonton, Alta
Date Reviewed: September 1, 1999
Strengths: Strong Smooth Travel
Weaknesses: That SMOOTH TRAVEL requires regular maintanance
Bottom Line:
It's a good fork goes where you point it, nice stiff stanchions, and you get 2 different sets of springs with the fork to really dial it in. As for warranty, I bent the steerer tube in a little mishap and they fixed no charge. However, the secret to keeping the forks smooth is to pry up the stanchion wiper seals when the forks become unresponsive and oil the foam inserts. When that doesn't work anymore it's time to pull off the lowers and clean everything, so when you're taking out the bolts that connect the lowers to the stanchions remember all that oil you put on the foam inserts had to go somewhere. It's a good fork and it does everything I want it to do but it's only fault is that it requires owner involvment to keep it working properly and for that, with all the almost maintance free wunder forks now out there, I take away one hot chillie.
Submitted by
Scott
a Cross-Country Rider
from Boulder, CO
Date Reviewed: August 4, 1999
Strengths: Very rigid for heavy riders. Your steering is very exact.
Weaknesses: Reliability
Bottom Line:
This shock is very nice when it is new. If it didn't self destruct I would have nothing bad to say about it. As it stands, I am switching to a Marzocchi. I want to ride, not spend my life servicing a bicycle.
Submitted by
Ryan
a Weekend Warrior
from Milwaukee, WI
Date Reviewed: May 21, 1999
Strengths: Super stiff (even for a 225 lb. guy on a big, mean Zaskar), Perfectly plush (with supplied heavy springs), easy to maintain and breakdown (even for a big, dumb animal like myself), tracks very well, easy to get dialed in just right and looks great! What else can one ask for besides a free BJ?
Weaknesses: Break in period was a good 100 miles. I'm not sure if it's a weakness or not. You be the judge.
Bottom Line:
If you want to follow the pack, buy a Zoke, but if you want all out performance and ease of maintenance, buy a White Bros. If you are a big guy, like me 6'2 225lb, and shred through noodle forks - buy one now! Especially since the '98's are on sale all over. E-mail me if you need any help on deciding before you buy one so I can come over and hit you in the head with a tack hammer. Five chilies...
Favorite Trail: John Muir and Emma Carlin, S. Unit Kettle Moraine
Duration Product Used: 6 months
Similar Products Used: Rock Shox Mag 21 w/ speed springs and AL Softride suspension stem w/ damper (for my Slingshot).
Bike Setup: A '97 Zaskar, full XTR (I know what you may be thinking, my brother works for a bike distributor) Mavic 217 Ceramics laced to XTR hubs, IRC's, Azonic Double wall riser ect.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Airic Halvorsen
a Racer
from Midwest
Date Reviewed: May 17, 1999
Strengths: I think it's a great fork! I have owned most brands of forks on the market today. I think this is the best fork on the market today, stronge, light and stiff.
Weaknesses: I takes a wgile to get in dialed in, but after that it's great.
Bottom Line:
Buy it, ride it, you'll fall in love with it. I'm only 5'8 150 pds and the fork is great, easy to adjust, etc. I race weekly, and I've had no problems at all, like any high end product you have to adjust it every once in a while, but that is par for the course.
Similar Products Used: I work at a high end bike shop, so I have tired many or most forks out there. The sid is O.K., but it twists a lot. The sc70 or sc70ul, is much stiffer, and no twisting.
Bike Setup: I have a Waterford 2400 853 tubing full XTR...ETC I have the sc70ul, and love it to death...
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Ray
a Weekend Warrior
from Mountaintop, PA
Date Reviewed: April 19, 1999
Bottom Line:
I've had this fork on my bike for 3 months now. It's an excellent fork for the price I paid. I just have one concern and that is with the integrity of White Brothers. I have seen a lot of negative postings about them and I have one more complaint. White Brothers places a quality seal on the box. When my fork arrived it had a second quality seal over the first one. When installing the fork I noticed that someone tried to fix the loss boss problem by using some type of glue. This surprised me considering the fork was sold to me as new. At this point I am assuming that the fork was returned after the boss problem was noticed, but I can't be sure. For all I know They could have pressed in a new steer tube after the orginal had been cut. As long as it keeps performing like it is now no problem.
Have had the SC 70 for five months. Have blown five cartridges, and the fork legs have torqued about an 1/8 of an inch out of line with each other. In other words they have bent. Also have heard directly from white brothers they are discontinuing the sc 70 and it will soon be impossible to get replacement cartridges and other parts for them. White brothers warranty department has lied to me on three seperate occasions about having sent replacement cartridges. we sent it last week. A week passes, I call again, Oh we haven't sent it yet. I have doubts that my bent fork will be replaced
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
joshua
a cross-country rider
from australia
Date Reviewed: January 30, 1999
Bottom Line:
I HAVE JUST BOUGHT SOME SC70 AND I THINK THAT THEY ARE THE BEST PERFORMING FORK OUT THERE ON THE MARKET.I USED TO HAVE SIDS AND THE FIRST WEEK I HAD THEM THE AIR SEALS ON THE TOP WAS LEAKING SO I REPLACED THAT AND 3 WEEKS LATER THERE WAS AIR LEAKING FROM THE STANCHIONS.THE WB ARE JUST SO LUSH AND OUT PERFORM THE SIDS IN EVERY WAY
