Submitted by
scoots
a Downhiller
from Santa Monica
Date Reviewed: December 11, 2008
Strengths: This fork is plush light adjustable with lockout.
A must in the 130mm fork.
Weaknesses: None yet
Bottom Line:
If you are sticking to QR non 20mm this fork does it.
Coil version super plush. lock out works great for climbs.
Works well for cross country and handles 3'+ to flat drops with
a 185 lb rider
Similar Products Used: vanilla, bomber, and various air shocks
Bike Setup: 05' heckler and turner 5spot 04' had it on both
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Submitted by
jwsb
a Cross Country Rider
from Sta. Rosa Philippines
Date Reviewed: August 22, 2008
Strengths: Adjustability/tunability
Weaknesses: NIL, Negative Air chamber. Even at equal air pressure 140/140 travel gets reduced. released the air on both chambers to reset. put air on the positive 1st; 130mm. put the same amount of pressure on the negative and the fork sags by about 3mm? a minor issue but a irritating if you're a perfectionist. not to mention that the negative chamber has a lot less volume to hold making it a bit harder to set accurately.
Bottom Line:
Great fork, highly tunable. Stiff enough to handle anything. Went to a Pike to a Float to this in one year. The Pike offers similar if not better performance but with a weight penalty. The Fox dives into corners too much. Only had the R model. After getting the hang of tuning the Revelation, this fork really shines. You can give it absolutely anything. Climb for hours and bomb down the sketchiest rockgarden all in the same day with a few on the fly adjustments.
Similar Products Used: Fox Float R, Vanilla, Pike 454, SID, Manitou R7, Black
Bike Setup: Chumba XCL, XO
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Submitted by
JamesR
a Weekend Warrior
from Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Date Reviewed: June 13, 2008
Strengths: Plush, Good Stiffness, sexy, and just better in every department than my old Manitou Six's
Weaknesses: Nothing comes to mind
Bottom Line:
For an all round rider pretty much any weekend in any conditions, this shock suits to a T. Feels great on the big bumps, excellent on turns, and just all round a joy to ride on.
Compared to anything else I have ridden on, this shock is just worlds better, recommend for anyone who likes good weekend ride and has the money to spend.
Submitted by
Jeremy
a Weekend Warrior
from Auckland, New Zealand
Date Reviewed: May 3, 2008
Strengths: Feel great, look great, do everything great. My mates on konas with 2008 M 888's were amazed at how good these forks were. Simply blow away all other all mountain forks. LOVE THEM.
ROCKSHOX are the best.
Weaknesses: Yes the u-turn takes ages to change from max to min travel but I never adjust them on the fly so doesnt bother me. I got a strange purple/maroonish colour which I have never seen before but hey it looks fine.
Bottom Line:
BUY IT. they are fantastic.
If you can get a good deal like I did, The value is fantastic.
Bike Setup: GT Avalanche 2.0. with all the rubbish stuff replaced. I love my bike and cant find a reason to sell it much to the horror of my friends who watch me do everything they do on stinkys and ironhorses. =S
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Submitted by
Nizam Hasan
a Weekend Warrior
from Kangar,Perlis,Malaysia
Date Reviewed: March 29, 2008
Strengths: Well, it's multipurpose of course. Just name it .... XC, Downhill etc. It can be adjusted
Weaknesses: For the time being if for XC it's slightly heavier than the other XC based designs.
Bike Setup: KHS alite 2k with complete XT 2008 groupset.
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Submitted by
happy bill
a Cross Country Rider
from wilmington de.
Date Reviewed: October 23, 2007
Strengths: Great looking, coil spring, ease to set up and understand.
Weaknesses: Aside from weight, but who cares, its a coil spring fork
Bottom Line:
Ok, this is a great fork. I am reviewing the coil spring version. I wanted a fork that would allow me to K.I.S.S. my bike even more. I can leave the bike for a month or two and come back and it will ride just as well as i remember. The quality of the fork is easy to see, everthing looks great and is super strong. One thing i really like is the U turn. What i liked was that i could really tune the fork to a travel lenght that really fit my bike and riding style. For me it was 110MM that i am currently riding at and i feel that it gives me the best up hill and down hill performance. I have to say, the compression lock out is very nice. And if i get a chance to race next year i will get the remote lockout lever. You can really feel the performance difference with the lcok on. The rebound adjuster works very well and is easy to use and understand. I am not sure what level spring is in this fork. Suffice to say i am totally happy with it and see no need to change. Since i weigh 210-215 and have a bike in the low 30's the extra weight of a coil spring is not a real hardship. Bottom line is that this is a great fork, and i am very glad that i bought a bit nicer of a fork. I wanted to get away from the toil of airing a shock, and got a great fork. Great job Rock shok.
Submitted by
Black RONIN
a Weekend Warrior
from Brazil
Date Reviewed: October 9, 2007
Strengths: Pretty much everything. This is a so well rounded fork, that's hard to believe it hasn't been the one fork choice for most of companies with around 5-inch travel trailbikes like Trek, GF and Specialized. No way a Fox fork can top this one, be it on performance or be it in adjustment options and features. To put it simple: it's a non 20mm axle 130mm air u-turn Pike, plus the remote compression-lock remote. Want more?
Weaknesses: Simply none.
Bottom Line:
The one choice for a mid-travel AM fork, above all others. You may look elsewhere, but you won't find a versatile fork like this one. You can push it harder and it will knock all the harsh stuff like a small kid bites a bar of chocolate. Don't get ripped by what you may have heard about it, just go out and buy it. It's with the Pike and the Psylo for the best forks ever post.
Similar Products Used: Fox TALAS, Fox Float 130, Minute 130, Black Super TA, Recon, Psylo, Pike, you name it.
Bike Setup: 07 Stumpjumper Pro FSR, Full Shimano XTR, including wheels and pedals, Rival 130 saddle, Thomson seatpost and stem, Eastom EA70 handlebar, Odi Ruffian grips.
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Submitted by
Justin
a Cross Country Rider
from Eagan, MN
Date Reviewed: August 17, 2007
Strengths: Super plush, long travel (U-Turn), superior adjustment control, Super beefy 32mm stanchions.
Weaknesses: Comes with Mid-Weight spring, I'll probly buy the heavy-weight spring, cause I'm a fatso.
Bottom Line:
This fork is by far the finest and most well made fork Ive ever owned. I was debating between this and the Recon351; I made the right choice. The Recon has canti-bosses which is somewhat desirable since I'm only riding xc, but the hardware on the Recon is cheap by comparison, and the stanchion crown is ugly as sin (wtf was sram thinking?). The RVL is a little heavy, but my ride is still under 26lbs, I'm not complaining. Had to spend some extra cash to go disc, but it was money well spent. This fork delivers and is the pure hotness.
Strengths: Plush, reactive, a lot of settings to tune to perfection. stiff
Weaknesses: When changing the travel, you keep turning and turning the wheel. They should have made less steps. It's like a trizillion clicks to go from max travel to least travel
Bottom Line:
I think the best to to put it is that you don't notice it's there. It does the good excellent, remote lockout, 130mm of plush travel. It's stiff and weighing as much as I do (I'm at 270) that is a big plush. The fork survived a 3 week everyday abuse in Luxemburg eating everything I could trow at it. Drops up to 40', stairs, roots, hard braking and cornering at speeds up to 35mph (speeds up to 50mph on the straights). Only 4 chilis in overall because of the endless clicking to switch between travel
Similar Products Used: Fox Talas, Rond o24u, RS Judy Race, Manitou skareb SPV, Noleen Chubby
Bike Setup: Stevens Glide Team with Truvativ Noir crancks, DT Swiss 190 shock, Louise carbon brakes, X0 triggers and derailleur, dt swiss hubs with 717 rims
Strengths: PLUSH, PLUSH,PLUSH. Lots of features, light, matt black and grey stickers look good. Solid build, including all levers and knobs.
Weaknesses: Manual is not accurate. PSI recommendations on the fork are way to high. I had to go online to find a better way of setting it up. I got the dual air uturn with poplock. I could have done without the poplock but it was cheaper then non poplock. I would have liked the option to not use the remote but forks with this option are springloaded so you cant go manual.
Bottom Line:
Love the way this fork rides. Need to spend a little time online looking for best ways to setup if you're not familiar with it. Rockshoxs manual has settings that are way too high for riders weight. Also if you have FS and a crap rear shock its going to make it feel even worse when you realize how nice the front rides.
Similar Products Used: stock sr suntour epicon. plush but only adjustment was rebound and that really didnt seem to make much difference in the ride. Not really made for a rider with my weight 190lbs.
Bike Setup: 07 Mongoose Teocali comp, Thomson X4 90mm stem and elite seatpost. WTB Rocket V Pro saddle.
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Submitted by
Greg
a Downhiller
from Hood River, OR, USA
Date Reviewed: May 19, 2007
Strengths: Huge travel adjustment, simplicity, stiffness, great trail feel
Weaknesses: None so far
Bottom Line:
Excellent shock for the $$ and it makes my hardtail almost as much fun as my FR bike. Rock Shox has stepped it up bigtime. My first coil shock and I love the smooth and consistent compliance and simplicity. I keep pushing this fork father and it keeps stepping up. Full speed ledge drops on Porcupine Rim and hard charging into ditches on Slickrock and I've never felt it bottom out or kick back. I also use a 9mm axle and lateral stiffness is execellent.
If you're looking to build up a trail bike to do some smaller drops, jumps and just generally want plush trail riding, consider this fork. It's tough to beat the price, weight and quility with such a perfect rance of adjustability for most riding (85-130mm.)
Bike Setup: 426 Coil U-Turn, SC Chameleon set up for medium-duty trail riding w/ 7" front disc
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Submitted by
Steven Kilburn
a Cross Country Rider
from Old Town, Me
Date Reviewed: January 22, 2007
Strengths: Stiffness, Adjustability, Plush
Weaknesses: None so far.
Bottom Line:
So far the fork is working wonderfully. I am really digging the Motion Control. Having gotten used to throwing my ETA lever a lot on rides, throwing the switch is pretty easy. The compression adjustment definitely rocks on fast dirt roads and climbs. The fork will not bob yet it will blow off every easy when needed or if you forget to turn it back. The poploc feature on a Reba that I was borrowing worked great as well. Likely, I will add it. The ease of use is amazing.
The fork is very stiff with a 9mm thru bolt. However, a 9mm thru bolt will stiffen any fork. It is however, at least as stiff as my 04 Z1 Fr.
The action is great on the fork. My Coil Rev has the firm springs that are weight rated to 180lbs. The fork sags perfectly at my weight(215 with gear). The original spring was way too soft and I think the appropriate weighted spring(according to SRAM) would be way too heavy. This is something to keep in mind when picking up the coil version.
Durability cannot be commented at this time as the fork is only 3 months old.
I ride aggressively 75% of the time and I ride about 4-5 times a week. The fork feels great in the corners and smooths out big hits rather well. I have yet to try it in a real long DH situation, but I have a feeling it would perform well. For aggressive XC the fork is great. Weight is 4.4lbs. Not light, but not heavy either. The U-turn adjustment rocks. I change the travel quite a bit depending on the trail system I am riding. Pretty cool feature.
Bike Setup: SC Blur 4x built to take aggressive riding 4-5 a week under a 200lb rider.
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Submitted by
Brandon
a Cross Country Rider
from Texas
Date Reviewed: January 2, 2007
Strengths: Adjustable!!! Having the Air U-Turn version is a pretty sweet deal. Not only can I pin point my travel from 100mm to 130mm on the fly, but there is literally infinate amounts of adjustability with the dual air chambers. It has been a blast getting to try out different settings, and I finally have the thing dialed in just like I like it. The rebound adjustment is nice as well.
I am also a believer in the motion control system. It lets you adjust the forks compression between open and lock-out, which is very usefull for thoes parts of a trail that are not quite up-hill and not quite downhill if you know what I mean. There is also a blow off setting that adjusts the amount of compression needed to disengage the lock-out feature.
I also this this for is the best kept secret for XC riders who also like to be hard on equipment. This fork is basically a Reba with a stronger, stiffer housing. The best of both worlds. The white looks bad ass as well!!!
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
If you are looking for an XC/AM fork that is light, strong, and has insane amounts of adjustability then look no further. I would reccomend splurging for the Air U-Turn, it makes the travel adjustment easy, and quick. I can actually adjust it on the fly if the trail allows. Rock Shox has hit the nail on the head with the Revelation.
Bike Setup: 2007 Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Comp, Stock except for Chris King Headset
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Submitted by
Nick Price
a Weekend Warrior
from Birmingham, UK
Date Reviewed: December 26, 2006
Strengths: Reliable, adaptable, its basically a reba with 30mm more travel!
Weaknesses: a little flexy during cornering (disc rub), takes a bit of tweaking to set up right. disc mounts required facing.
Bottom Line:
Review is for a set of 2006 dual air's with poplock adjust (theirs no difference between 06 and 07 models)
130mm of fully adjustable air sprung awsomeness. (travel can be knocked down to 115mm via internal spacers)
the dual air, positive and negative setup lets you tweak the spring rate, run same pressures in both chambers to get a very slick supple fork with a bit of characteristic air fork ramp up at the end of the stroke.
drop off the positive 10 psi and the negative 20-30 psi and you get a fork with a more linear spring rate, you get more travel out of it with a little less ramp up, at the sacrifice of a little small bump performance.
rebound settings vary from stuck down to pogo stick fast.
external floodgate adjusts the platform firmness of the fork when the lockout is engaged, its easy to set it up nice and subtle - so its not a full on lock out, but prevents your body weight and unseated pedaling from bobbing the fork while still allowing it to respond to the trail beneath it.
negative points - if your an agressive rider you may wish to look at the pike instead, mainly for the 20mm bolt through, normal QR dropouts on this fork means a little bit of twist in the corners.
the compression adjust on the poplock that is supposed to control the unlocked mode compression stroke doesnt seem to have any effect what so ever, i also have a reba dual air with poplock, it doesnt work on that either, i have a friend with a coil pike uturn with poplock adjust - compression doesnt change anything on that either. At least nothing i can feel. - this is the main reason im not giving 5 out of 5.
reliability has been flawless, the seals are near impassable, and even after ive been sloppy with the jet wash after some of the muddiest ride sthe uk winter has to offer, opening up the fork to change the oil reveals no contamination or any signs that the seals are giving up.
perfect lightweight long travel XC fork for those who dont need a 20mm bolt though axle.
