With separate externally adjustable high and low speed compression damping circuilts as well as externally adjustable, click-by-click rebound damping and a position-sensitive progressive bottoming system, the RC2 cartrige jams an incredible amount of performance into a lightweight package.
Submitted by
KRob
a Cross Country Rider
from Ely, NV
Date Reviewed: December 18, 2008
Strengths: Solid, fex-free, relatively plush, good mid-stroke support, trouble free, bomb-proof. Set and forget.
Weaknesses: Could be a bit plusher on small bumps. The internal cartridge bladder came apart once.
Bottom Line:
This is a great no-brainer product. It just worked. I've ridden forks that are a bit plusher, but for the weight, simplicity, and low upkeep it's pretty darn good.
Weaknesses: Have now blown two cartridges. High speed compression is useless. Spring rates too widely spaced (medium too soft - hard too hard). Pinch bolt too easy to over tighten. Clunks on hits (spring flex)
Bottom Line:
Have had to buy a new cartridge after blowing mine twice and loosing all compression. Can get the forks to feel good no matter what I do. As soon as I can afford to I will ditch them for something better.
i was in two minds whether to buy these as i did not think the improvement would justify the price over the stock marz 66s. i was wrong. the reviews are correct when they say the stock springs are too soft i spoke to TFtuned and they said that they (fox) cant take into account riding position and personal preferance or the geometery of the bike they are going on. once a stiffer spring was purchased they were, and still are awsome they can handle the drops at glentress freeride park, some can be bigish if you hit them hard enough, and then charge down the hill and ride back up. the adjustment takes some sorting tho or maybe thats just me. i thiught that they took a bit to bed in which was a pain. oh and they need storing upside down for best performance. but on the whole very confidence inspiring and a good buy.
Strengths: stiff, purdy, light weight, durability (so far), good dampening
Weaknesses: linear travel, 2-piece thru-axle design can come apart
Bottom Line:
I've always been annoyed with fork manufacturers making a big deal about the difference between all-mountain and free-ride. Now I see why.
This is a great "all-mountain" trail fork. And although I've seen the sponsored Fox riders go bigger on this fork than I'll ever think about going, it is (in my experience) NOT a freeride fork because the travel is too linear.
I have NEVER bottomed my Z1, but I bottom this thing all the time. Even with a green spring (I weigh 145 and the green spring is rated for someone up to 210) and the compression dampening cranked all the way I've still bottomed it on relatively small drops.
This is a pretty major limitation for a "freeride" fork. I like knowing that I could nose-dive into chop and know that my fork would suck up the rough stuff and not send me over the bars. My z1 bailed me out several times, but with the 36 I'd immediately hit bottom if I ever got in over my head.
Everything else about this fork is great--the thing feels nice and is light as a feather for a burley coil fork. No issues with durability. It's great for what it is, but it is not a freeride fork.
Similar Products Used: marzocchi atom 80, marathon, z1
Bike Setup: Canyon Torque 3 (don't sell in US. Found on ebay. sweet bike!)
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Sean
a Weekend Warrior
from Maumee, Ohio
Date Reviewed: December 15, 2007
Strengths: Stiff, Light, adjustable
Weaknesses: CRACKS! POORLY DESIGNED PINCH BOLTS! SHOULD BE RECALLED! I USE HIGHLY ACCURATE TORQUE WRENCH FOR ALL BOLT ON MY BIKE AND IT STILL CRACKED!
Bottom Line:
Honestly, the lowers on this fork should've been recalled. I bought mine used so I'm fairly sure Fox won't help me out at all. I was so happy to own a Fox product, I am now very dissapointed... Hopefully Fox will step up and at least sell me the lowers at cost.
Weaknesses: I always worry about over tightening the axle pinch bolts. Takes some time to properly set up.
Bottom Line:
Amazing well rounded fork. I use the fork mainly for downhill and trail riding, and it suits me perfectly. I have ridden Fox forks for a number of years and have never had a problem with them, and these are no exception. Out of the box, most riders will probably find them a little undersprung. I had to ride with the high speed compression dialled all the way in to stop them blowing through their travel. While they still felt great most of the time, it made the fork too stiff for the higher speed stutter bumps - which I understand is one of the main complaints with the fork. I ordered the stiffest spring (yellow spring) and it made all the difference. I was able to wind the compression back to just a tad stiffer than halfway, and it is now very smooth over the higher speed small bumps yet still only bottoms out occasionally (I have the internal bottom-out adjuster set to full also). Everything else about the fork was amazing right out of the box. The feel of the fork is smooth and precise, and is much stiffer than my old '04 Super T Pro. I would highly recommend this fork to anyone wanting something to go with their small travel freeride/slopestyle bike - especially the Bottlerocket.
Similar Products Used: I have owned a Manitou Sherman Firefly (hated the SPV), and two Fox 32 Vanilla's. Marzocchi Super T Pro used to be on my downhill rig.
Bike Setup: Transition Bottlerocket. VAN36 RC2 up front, DHX 5.0 rear. Mixture of Saint, Raceface, SRAM and Hope components.
Strengths: good range of high speed compression adjustment, fairly light, little friction
Weaknesses: price, slpw speed compression range absolutely sensless, to little progression, durability of damping cartridge and bushings
Bottom Line:
whom was this product designed for? the fork is blowing to much fast through its travel (even with stiffer springs and 20% sag) for even the slightest freeride usage. is this fork met as micro downhill fork? or as high compfort touring fork? sorry fox but this fork is simply poorly designed: For freeride you need more spring progressiveness as more high speed compression will make a very harsh ride and exploding dampening cartridges (as happened). this fork is absolutely usless for jumping. even my Z1 sport (130mm) at half the price was better suited for small freeride than this fork. by the way: hard ridden it is eating about 3 to 6 times as much bushings as a Marz 66 (2006). WHO THE HELL DESIGNED ALL THESE LINEAR FREERIDE FORKS????? (36, Lyric, Totem)
Similar Products Used: 66SL, 66RC2X, Z1 sport, sherman
Bike Setup: two wheels, two brakes, one bar and a lousy rider!
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Mike
a Weekend Warrior
from Bothell, WA
Date Reviewed: August 10, 2007
Strengths: Weigh, travel and adjustments.
Weaknesses: Front brake cable guide. Easy to cross thread.
Bottom Line:
This fork was perfect for me right out of the box 5'10" 175lbs. Unlike the Marzocchi forks this one replaced did not take 2 months to dial in. I have never had a problem with bottoming or small bump sensitivity. I hit 3-5 foot drops every Saturday on the local trails and ride and hit everything at Whistler without complaint. The only time this fork bottoms is when I miss the transition.
Submitted by
Preston
a Weekend Warrior
from Seattle, WA
Date Reviewed: July 31, 2007
Strengths: Light. Stiff; you can plow through stuff like you're riding with a dual crown. With the right springrate it will take big drops. Looks good and is pretty plush.
Weaknesses: I weigh 185 and the stiffest spring that ships with the fork was not enough (came with 3). Hi and Lo compression is on the underside of the fork. Bottoms out unless you crank up the compression, then its rough in the smaller stuff.
Bottom Line:
So when I took this fork out for its first ride it was very plush on small roots and rocks but bottomed out at the first sight of a drop over 3 ft. So I put in the bigger spring that shipped with the fork which made it a little better, but not great. When you add full compression the fork becomes better at handling drops but looses it soft feel. If you want that soft feel back you have to sacrifice on the bigger stuff. What sucks about this is that the adjustment is actually underneath the fork. I finally ordered the heaviest spring from Fox and things greatly improved. I could set the compresion a little softer and still not bottom out. I never got the big grin I was expecting because this fork did not feel as good as the fork it was replacing ('04 888). Did my usual rounds at the UW campus and none of the drops or stairs felt as nice. I did notice a big difference in weight though; the bike was a definately quicker.
Simply put, now that the stiff spring is in the fork, I'm much happier with its performance. But don't expect to get the feel of a 888. Buy this fork if you are an aggressive trail rider but not if you are going to do big drops all the time. If you like to tweak your fork while you are riding, stay away
Strengths: Light, stiff, looks slick. Good customer service.
Weaknesses: Creaky + undersprung
Bottom Line:
Rode ok out of the box. Undersprung. Crown started creaking after a dozen rides. Sent it back to Fox, got it totally rebuilt: new crown, heaviest coil installed. Works great now. Lots of abusive rides since. No probs. Pretty progressive. Prolly doesn't feel as nice as my dual HSCV super-t, but what does?
Bike Setup: Gemini frame - Pimptronic style: Avalanche, King, Hadley, et al
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Guillermo Islas
a Weekend Warrior
from Houston, TX
Date Reviewed: May 9, 2007
Strengths: stiff,light and plush
Weaknesses: non so far
Bottom Line:
I have never had any negative issues with my fork, found the setings easy and adjustments works fine to tune it per the trail ride of the day. have run DH, jump and XC with it in Colorado, New Mexico, Texas,Mexico city and Monterrey as well as in Vacouver, BC.
this bike and fork have seen lots of action, and I am 210 lbs, my guess is that Fox may have lack ofquality control on their manufacturing, and I was lucky to get a good one, as I have found this fork to be all kudos up. I have also a Demo-9 with a 888 fork for the real deal and the azonic setup has been very reliable. by the way the rear answer swinger 6 on my Demo-9 sucks!
Weaknesses: Not nearly as supple at Marz, You get a fair bit of vibration throught the handle bars compared to open bath. Bottom it out way too easy, and im under 70 kg. Bushings develop slop really quickly. Small looking fork even with the larger stantions.
Bottom Line:
Though advertised as a DH and FR fork THIS IS ABSOLUTY NOT. This really suits all mountain mess about rigs such as the heckler. If your after a fork that can both be supple on the small stuff and hit the 10 foot drop maybe get something else. Dont get me wrong it will do it but it just does not feel as good as marz. Im running the cheap 66vf and that feels so much better. My rating is low just because of how it is marketed, if i wasnt expecting it to rock as a serious FR fork i wouldn't be as disapointed. Also i bought this fork on the premis that they had fixed the dampening at the travels end. I know the older 06 versions came with it set in the medium dampening setting. When i went to change mine to the harder setting it was allready there. This is probally how they fixed it. Idiots
Submitted by
DNW
a Cross Country Rider
from Northern Arizona
Date Reviewed: April 14, 2007
Strengths: Light weight for a 6" fork, smooth fork, very adjustable. Have seen lot of people complain about the bottom-out on this fork, hopefully they are reviewing the 07 model with the improved bottom-out. I am 200+ with gear and run the heavier spring. The first couple rides I could bottom it on 2-3 foot drops, but after adjusting compression damping, I have not bottomed it since.
Bottom Line:
I have no complaints about this fork. I have had none of the bottom out issues after properly adjusting the fork.
Bike Setup: 06 Turner RFX, 07 Van 36 RC2, Crossmax XL wheels, Hayes El Camino brakes
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Shawn Foley
a Weekend Warrior
from Snoquamie, WA
Date Reviewed: March 26, 2007
Strengths: Nice ride cruising down berms, rocks beds and drops under 2 feet.
Weaknesses: Im at about 200 lbs with all my gear on. I have the coil for 205–240+ lb riders (which appears to be the stiffest available). Why oh why do i bottom out on a freaking 4 foot drop. Mucking around with the preload, compression or bottom resistance settings do not seem to offer any help.
Bottom Line:
I think if your over 140 lbs with your gear and you plan on getting more than 2 feet of air steer clear of this fork. I will more than likely be swapping this POS out for a Marzocchi 66.
Submitted by
Ste Brown
a Downhiller
from Manchetser, England
Date Reviewed: March 26, 2007
Strengths: The fork is easy to set up and tracks along the ground absorbing big bumps and little bumps with ease. It is equally at home on an XC ride or coming off a 6ft drop.
Weaknesses: This is the most unreliable fork that I have used. It has failed three times in seven months. The first time it stuck down. The second time it started topping out and the third time the anodising wore off the stantion despite being lubed and stored upside down as recommended by Fox / Mojo.
I ride a Bottlerocket with a beefy build, it's my only bike so has to be able to handle downhilling, jumps/Fr stuff and also XC loops.
It currently weighs around 38 lbs :eek:
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