Submitted by
Gingerider
a Cross Country Rider
from Rush NY US
Date Reviewed: July 23, 2008
Strengths: not problems, love the lock-out cant live with out. nice travel
Weaknesses: dont think im getting the full listed travel out of the fork.
Bottom Line:
well I wouldent ask for a better price on this part, its has bean by far the best fork i have ever used. for thw MSRP priceing, no FOX, or RST can beat it.
Weaknesses: Knobs are Crap, Customer Service/Reps could be better.
Bottom Line:
She's taken some abuse of 5' to flats dinn like it so much but she took umm. Pretty Good could be a little more rugged seals and bushings are shot but with some hard riding I'm currently rebuilding here to sell on the Zaskar this summer.
Strengths: Long, plush travel, very sensitive and rigid
Weaknesses: !!Plastic knobs, lack of preload adjustment(for me the spring was OK but still...)
Bottom Line:
I liked this fork very much and don't know where this negative reviews come from! Does not leak oil. Good aggresive XC/Enduro fork. Very good lateral rigidity..
What is this U-turn for??!! I always used it with 125 mm travel:)
Submitted by
spangels aregreat
a Weekend Warrior
from Edinburgh, Scotland
Date Reviewed: November 27, 2003
Strengths: U-turn, damping and compression adjustment, lock out, plush with good small bump compliance
Weaknesses: Blew the seals when riding it off road when I forgot to take the lock out off. Fixed under warranty with a reasonably fast turn around.
A bit bouncy, but that is due to being a bit heavy for the stock springs.
Bottom Line:
The lock out is really good and it complements my NRS on long fire track climbs or on road rides. I get the full travel (currently ride with 100mm but since I put the 4.5 rockers on the frame I am considering riding it a 110 to balance the bike) on the fork on all settings I have tried. As I stated above I am a bit heavy for the stock springs but I intend to upgrade them (Tim Flooks does a spring swap deal) when I send it for its first full service in the new year.
All in all it has been a good trouble free fork, ideally suited to my riding style. I am aware that alot of people have had issues with reliability but other than the lock out problem mine have been fine.
Bike Setup: Giant NRS Team (4.5 rockers fitted), Hope XC on Mavic 317, Michelin Wildgripper XLS on Eclipse Tubeless, SRAM 9 shifters and mechs (1998 still going stong), Race Face cranks, Giant MPH brakes, Profile bars, Flite saddle.
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Submitted by
Justin
a Cross Country Rider
from Harrisonburg, VA
Date Reviewed: October 14, 2003
Strengths: Very plush, lock-out, U-turn is awesome, rarely needs servicing, great small-bump compliance as well as big-hit capability, nice looks
Weaknesses: I never really felt like I was getting all 5 inches of travel, but then again I never even came close to bottoming it out...
Bottom Line:
This fork is a hell of a deal, and now you can find it for like $250. It is a steal, and seriously performs in any conditions for any purpose. It looks bad@ss, and inspires so much confidence to take on some of the nasty downhills and jumps you may come across. Why pay twice as much for a fox?
Similar Products Used: 2000 sid xc, 2001 manitou mars, 2002 fox forx 80mm, soon to be the new manitou minute 2!
Bike Setup: 2001 giant mcm team custom, full xtr, psylo sl, full raceface, crossroc ust discs, avid mech disc brakes...
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Submitted by
Orm
a Weekend Warrior
from Toronto, ON, Canada
Date Reviewed: September 29, 2003
Strengths: Worked great for 2 years with no service. The perfect trail fork.
Weaknesses: None yet.
Bottom Line:
Rode for 2 years. I came from an 80mm SID three years ago. Just rebuilt at home with no problem. So easy to rebuild despite somewhat incomplete info @ Rockshox. Feel's like new after rebuild. None of problems that many reviews wine about. Learn to rebuild with the right tools.
Strengths: Feels smooth, adsutable, lockout(sort of, light for the travel.
Weaknesses: Feels weak, standard springs are too soft, leaks oil after a few months.
Bottom Line:
Overall, this fork is a piece of cheese. It is too soft, and it lacks strength. It has a lot of travel but you blow through half of it when you get on the bike. Rock Shox needs to get thier act together and produce a quality freeride fork.
Bike Setup: Santa Cruz Chameleon w/XT/XTR/Raceface Sun Single Tracks w/ XT discs.
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Submitted by
James L
a Downhiller
from Victoria, BC
Date Reviewed: August 30, 2003
Strengths: Adjustibility, qr20...
Weaknesses: wimpy sid-sized crown Leaks oil around seals blows through travel and bottoms out despite heavy spring upgrade Full of sticktion through the first inch or two of travel when applying heavy braking (I have 8in hayes hydro) the fork lowers flexe a huge abount toward the readr of the bike
Bottom Line:
They cant hande drops, period. I dont exactly go big, and they bottom horrible off of les than 4 foot drops with heavy spring!! Definately is not a true freeride fork. Bad rockshnox customer service. I had to get the seals replaced twice and the damper rod seal replaced too... they wouldnt cover it under warranty the second time, and of course "they had never seen anything like it." Yeah, right. Ive seen the light. Im never buying annother rockshox product again. The performance of the fork was not very good, and as other people say, moutainbike magazines give them a good reveiw, but they only use them once... The reliability of these forks are HORRIBLE.As soon as the forks are 6 months old they will beg for mercy. dont get em unless you plan on spending as much money on them geting fixed as they cost originally.
Weaknesses: Leaks a lot of oil. Adjustment knob break or fall off
Bottom Line:
I thought I would use the adjustment capability of the Psylo a lot more than I do. I think the duribility of the shock overall is less because of the increase in the adjustments. If you are going to spend any amount of money to upgrade, go with a top of the line fork (SID, FOX)
Bike Setup: Specialized FSR XC. Pretty stock except for the fork change
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Submitted by
CulBaire
a Weekend Warrior
from Geelong, Vic, Australia
Date Reviewed: August 4, 2003
Strengths: Ajustability- Rebound,Compresion/lockout, travel! Suppleness- Like Buttttaaaaah! Durability- Stong....Maintain it ppl it will work great!
Weaknesses: Cracked the U-Turn knob, metal ones would be nice.
Bottom Line:
A great Trail / Aggresive XC fork, will handle almost anything you through at it :-) Ajustable is one word for it, with Compresion, Rebound and Travel ajustments what more does you need?
Bike Setup: Avanti Montari, LX/Deore spec, Stoped by Avid Mech Disc's with the Psylos' bangin upfront!
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Submitted by
stu mac
a Weekend Warrior
from london
Date Reviewed: July 29, 2003
Strengths: When working, ie. new or just after full rebuild it works pretty well, which is in fact the least anyone would expect.
Weaknesses: Full 125 travel doesn't seem possible. Durability is useless. Mine has been serviced 2x and totally rebuilt 1x. 200 miles after total rebuild it has done its old trick - namely stiffening up, allowing less travel and less plushness - even hammering on DH courses and doing jumps I was only getting 100mm max.
Bottom Line:
DISAPPOINTING - Can magazines start doing proper review please? Everthing works when brand new, but what about after a few months in the dirt - where it matters. Expensive fork that starts off good but very quickly gives up. Impossible to service at home - which means loads of hassle, loads of bills, all for a rubbish fork that is so bad in the durability department its best fitted to a road bike only.
Submitted by
Jim
a Cross Country Rider
from Fremont CA
Date Reviewed: July 27, 2003
Strengths: Steers very well - rigid , lockout , adjutability .
Weaknesses: Action - feels like an air fork with lots of stiction .
Bottom Line:
This fork is a roach , it jackhammers through stutter bumps and only seems to move on very big hits . It sure does not feel like a coil fork . Now I know why buddy sold it to me after only using it for a month - it sucks !
Strengths: Conscidering the claimed performance levels of the sl, i got this fork a decent price. Initially, the rigididy was good, the travel is plush, and it's adjustable.
Weaknesses: As i logged trail and airtime miles on the fork, it got more and more flexy. It also needed way more rebuilds (bushings sucked) than my friend sam's cheap marzocchi fork,so durability really doesnt impress me. Platic tuning knobbs? Rochshox, what were you thinking?
Bottom Line:
I bought this fork for agressive trailriding, dirtjumping, and any downhill concidered a possiblility with a ht. If you are a factory rider and get a new one of these every other race, its fine. For the rest of the world who require durabilty, look elsewhere. this goes for the 03 model as well. Just this past week i crashed cruisin down a fire road and BANG--- there was play in the crown, so now its scrap and i need a new fork. My advice: go for a marzocchi- one of the z1 models, or exr if you want a cheaper one- or if you can afford it, go for one from fox- primo rides.
