100 mm travel available // MCU damping (100 mm only) // Preload adjustment // Travel: 80 or 100 mm
// Spring: Single Coil (80 mm) or Coil Spring/MCU (100 mm) // Damping: MCU (100 mm)
Submitted by
joshua kissler
a Cross Country Rider
from Auburn, Ca USA
Date Reviewed: March 29, 2007
Strengths: Looks OK I guess.
Weaknesses: OH mY, Well I guess it's my fault, I weigh 200 lbs and ride pretty hard, Blown it out 2X on DH, and bottom it out nearly every run. I guess it's a good starter one but not 4 me.
Bottom Line:
I suppose for a light little beginner ridin flat and slow it'll work just fine. If you want to ride any XC or DH I recommend something a little beefier.
Submitted by
Damien
a Weekend Warrior
from Montreal, QC, Canada
Date Reviewed: May 8, 2003
Strengths: Smooth travel compared to other low-end shocks.
Weaknesses: Not very stiff, pretty heavy.
Bottom Line:
This review is for the 2001 model, since there isn't a category.
People seem to slam the Judy C, but I think maybe in some cases it's not being used for its intended use - this is definitely a beginner XC fork, not for like hucking.
Being a beginner, and not having tried anything better (like the famed Marzocchis), I think this shock does exactly what it's supposed to. With the preload completely unloaded I can get the full travel of the fork without harsh bottoming (I think I've got the medium springs, and I'm about 6'5" 225) unless I land wrong. On bumpy flats the ride is very smooth, and makes the bike track very well; slow singletrack it seems to give a good smooth ride too, though the lack of rebound damping is definitely noticed on rooty, rocky trails: in serious terrain you get a lot of bounce, but I think that might have something to do with me being a beginner too.
In fast turns though, or in twisty terrain, you really feel the lack of stiffness in the fork; a couple of times in quick sharp turns with a little brake I really thought it was going to snap. This being near the bottom end of suspension forks, I suppose that's to be expected, and I doubt any fork is designed to suck up riders' mistakes. Also, when I was doing some very small drops, it seemed pretty good, and is still ticking though I launched off a 3 or 4 foot drop totally wrong, panicked, landed on the front wheel and bottomed hard.
Generally, since I've only been riding mountain a short time, I feel that this shock is about as much as I can appreciate, and I'll probably stick with it, and grow with it as much as I can; then on my next bike I can get some fancy-schmancy doodadry. When I first got it, it leaked a little oil, and seemed to take forever to break in (give it some good full-travel hits to break it in faster; I was a wuss and had never used a suspension fork before, so it took a month or so to really open up). Also, it's definitely true that it's noisy - you can hear the spring hitting the inside of the bottoms, and even the swish of the oil if you've maintained it as poorly as I have. If you're a beginner and your first bike comes with one of these, or you found a good deal and want to upgrade from a no-name elastomer shock, I think it's a pretty good shock for newbie XC.
Similar Products Used: Junky RST, Omni, Zoke or whatever. Crappier Rockshox Jett.
Bike Setup: 2001 Schwinn Moab stock - Hayes mechs, LX crank, Deore fd, XT rd, Avid levers
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Submitted by
Mark Bird
a Cross Country Rider
from England
Date Reviewed: March 23, 2003
Strengths: They look very nice and are fairly plush through the travel while taking big hits good.
Weaknesses: Only one preload adjustment, no internal adjustment, weight, their noise, easy to scratch/damage - the list can go on much more
Bottom Line:
Well what can i say, they are a cheap fork and really are cheap. I think Rockshox could have done more for the price, Marzocchi manage to make some of the best forks on the market for good prices. Rock shox have never had the same kind of travel softness and overall stiffness of Marzocchi. I can see why Fox and Manitou are taking over Rock Shox in the U.S. i have just bought some Marzocchi MX Comp ETA's - so my riding should improve 10x as they seem to be a favourite with every review i read.
Similar Products Used: Marzocchi BAM Z1, Rock Shox Judy XC, Rock Shox Indy XC and SL and most RST (the worst fork maker on the planet!)
Bike Setup: Cross country Specialized Hardrock Pro (good frame, crap components) Azonic, XT
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Submitted by
Rob
a Cross Country Rider
from Maryland
Date Reviewed: March 8, 2003
Strengths: the over all feel of it, the fork that ispires convidence....
Weaknesses: weight with only 80mm of traval you'd exepect some thing in 3 pound range right?
Bottom Line:
good fork not to upgrade to but to start on it's a good buy if it's bolted on a good bike..... 2 value "flaming chillis" cause of it's weight and 4 overall "flaming chillis" cause it's so right........
Submitted by
adam joanisse
a Cross Country Rider
from Sudbury
Date Reviewed: January 6, 2003
Strengths: none i thought they looked good in the box, but then i open it WoW. I fugured they would hold me since i weight 135 but bam they let me down like my Judy TT's did so i got duke xc100mm. If the dukes let me down im not gettin another rock shox again.
Weaknesses: they started makin friction niose's fast like two days on bike. No joke
Bottom Line:
im countin on my dukes pleasz rock shox dont let me down again
Bike Setup: custom frame 12" xt eveything dukes xc 100mm
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Submitted by
Matt Rems
a Cross Country Rider
from Willow Grove, PA, USA
Date Reviewed: December 23, 2002
Strengths: Soaks up bumps. No pogoness when pedaling.
Weaknesses: Sags when you nail the front brakes. Other than that nothing.
Bottom Line:
These are great shocks for cross country or light downhill. I have used and abused these shocks and they still work great. Never had leaky seals or any problems. My friends are amazed at how it's lasted through all my spills. I would recommend these to anyone.
Strengths: Nice price for great performance, It really soaks up those bumps. Cheap.
Weaknesses: wieghs a ton, if you jam on your front brakes it sags and you do an endo.
Bottom Line:
It rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!! Great all around performance. goes anywhere. Great for riders with a limited budget. the cheapest shock for its performance. If you're a pro get something better. I'm not. I'll take off a flamin' chili for its wieght.
Strengths: You could eally hurt someone if you hit them with this fork.It's very heavy.Great for self defense. The 2 1/2 inches of travel really suck up those 8foot drops and gaps I'm always doing.Never bottomed out, ever.
Weaknesses: Could be heavier. I weigh 310lbs and I feel that they can be a little squishy. I'm also always flipping over because my front end is too light.
Bottom Line:
These are THE shocks. I challenge anyone to try sticking a 25' gap with anything but. I can do it all on these babys. I can totally cliff drop on these bad boys and they always take the pain. Farthest so far 21'down, I thought I was toast they pulled me through. Judy and me, we can land anything.
Similar Products Used: Sid, Dukes, Marz, RST...the works, nothing seems to last me
Bike Setup: A killer Huffy Northshore. Cro moly everything. Bombproof, especially the 1/2" round stays and the tin foil rims.
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Submitted by
Kimani
a Cross Country Rider
from Queens, New York, US
Date Reviewed: September 24, 2002
Strengths: Ok starter fork.
Weaknesses: Broke the coil twice without much effort. I only weigh 150lbs so go figure. If you plan on doing any semi-heavy trail riding this is NOT the fork for you. What can you expect though it is one of Rock Shox's least expensive forks. The fact that the coils broke on me twice without any real reason has straying away from all Rock Shox products. Swithching to Fox Float RL. We will see how that goes.
Strengths: Ummmmm. It goes up and down. You won't bottom A little.
Weaknesses: Only 80 mm of travel. The spring is extremely stiff when I ride it. I weigh 110 lbs, and it barely moves when going over roots n such. Flexes like mad. One adjustment: preload. Has no rebound dampening, or it does and it's unnoticable. The only reason I have it is because it was cheap and I was on a major budget when I bought the bike.
Bottom Line:
The only reason you should get this fork on a bike is if you don't have any cash to afford the next step up. DO NOT BUY THIS FORK AS AN UPGRADE. Instead, go buy a flame-broiled double cheeseburger from Burger King: they're just as cheap.
Similar Products Used: Friend's Duke XC (awesome for cross country), Judy C (1999 model- much better), Manitou Six Comp (a little worse), Psylo SL (if you want a great all around fork- cross country and a little bit of small-hit freering like 6 foot drops, get this fork. Its not good for serious cross-country because of it's height and weight.)
Bike Setup: Trek 4900, clipless pedals, Sun Rhyno Lite (ruined the stock wheels), and lotsa stickers (don't stick the Atomlab stickers on ur bike by the way- they come apart). Soon to have a Psylo SL.
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Submitted by
andrew
a Downhiller
from michigan
Date Reviewed: July 9, 2002
Strengths: its smooth travel 100 mm
Weaknesses: i blew the bushings, i am leaking oil. i havnt heard any noise ( other reviewers )
Bottom Line:
this is an easy fork to screw up so if u ride it take excellent care of it or else go purchase a marzocchi. good for xc, but dont get to aggresive. bottoms out really really easily ( like curbs and even peddaling *****), go ahead and freeride with it but its not worth repairing. look elsewhere freeriders, downhill enthusiasist.
Bike Setup: marin rock springs- 6 inchs, xt steup and deore,
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Submitted by
ernesto freyre
from miami, florida
Date Reviewed: March 4, 2002
Strengths: IT is perfect for beginers. I am not a heavy rider, this suspensions gives you a good ground feel. Responds well and as far as I know no maintence needed.
Weaknesses: I should know the weakness by 6 months from now. I am currently dating my new shocks, so I got to learn their personality first, befoe I could make a comment.
Bottom Line:
Who would buy it? It is perfect for beginners. IF you ask me why? Because for any starters needs to learn how to use the shocks in the right way, once you build experience you get an advance shocks that owrks for you. As far as I know JUDY shocks works for me, it is going with the flow. I am happy with it. Perfect idea for starters!!!!!!!!!!!
Similar Products Used: First time in my life front suspension, that is why I have to wait and see how i experience with my shockes. I will respond in six months and let you know about these shocks.
Bike Setup: Specialized Rockhopper. I brought the whole set, I have no idea how much the the front shock cost.