Submitted by
Guyface
a Weekend Warrior
from Billings, MT
Date Reviewed: May 31, 2010
Strengths: Bomber. Stands up to my abuse and disregard for my equipment.
Weaknesses: Soft spring. Had to upgrade to a stiffer spring to withstand some of the 5-8 foot drops. Rebound adjuster knob falls off eventually. All the reviews are right on about the adjuster knob. No big deal. The allen keys on your multi-tool (which you should have anyway) work just fine. If you get this shock, just put the knob in your Camelbak.
Lack of adjustment.
Bottom Line:
Bottom line, it's a been a great budget trail/FR shock for me. No leaky seals. I've really put the boots to this fork, and it stands up. I bought it with the stiffer spring already installed, and highly suggest this upgrade if you're going to be dropping ANYTHING. The rebound adjustment works well and the difference is noticeable. A few clicks and it really adjusts your takeoff and flight in the air. For smaller kickers and small drops (5-6 ft) it works just fine with the spring upgrade.
As far as standard trail riding and XC is concerned, the fork handles itself well and roots are not a problem. With 160 mm of travel, you get a lot of travel on a budget.
This fork is for the budget-minded rider who considers himself casually serious about riding. If you primarily ride trails, with jumps/drops mixed in for good measure, this is a great fork option.
I give it five chilis for value and four chilis for overall due to the mandatory spring upgrade.
Strengths: Stiff, reliable, super-plush. No damn air, just the good old coil and oil =]
Weaknesses: heavy, no comp. adjustments.
Bottom Line:
For me, the fork is just perfect. Uses full travel without bottoming out. Very plush for a freeride fork, eats everything from small bumps to giant rocks.35mm stanchions make it super stiff, even when at 160mm of travel. The 20mm QR axle takes just about few seconds to remove, making it comparable to a standard 9 mm dropouts. U-turn is great for climbing. A bit heavy, yet plush and forgiving. If you're a begginer level freerider, believe me, buy this one. There isnt any rocket science inside, making it hard to break anything. Just remember to keep a the rebound adjuster in your pocket, or you're gonna loose it "quite" quickly.
Submitted by
chernobyl
a Weekend Warrior
from Mililani, HI
Date Reviewed: June 19, 2009
Strengths: stiff, basic no frills fork, cheap,gets the job done
Weaknesses: none to speak of so far
Bottom Line:
people seem to be having problesm with this for but for the price its hard to beat unless you score a closeout or a hot deal. Overall its stiff and a good cheap fork for the AM/FR/DJ crowd. Its a no frills fork with only rebound adj. i have the 302 120-160 u-turn and so far its been a plush dream, its definitely a good option to the budget oriented, or someone looking for a cheapy good fork. Another neat thing is if you would prefer more adjust ability down the road you can swap with 318 internals to get the motion control.
Bike Setup: 08 parker 2.0
azonic nitro, lg1+, dimension 20mm 36h supra bh
halo excited 32h supra bh
titec el norte seat/bars
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
egsavio
a Weekend Warrior
from Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
Date Reviewed: February 14, 2009
Strengths: It works reasonably for his price. The Rock Shox 20 mm axle is great.
Weaknesses: Heavy for a 160 mm fork. Ugly. Paint is weak. It leaks by a fissure in the lowers.
Bottom Line:
It came with my brand new Cannondale Moto 5.I used it 3 times in roads near my home, than I saw oil lacking by a lateral fissure in the left lower. Rock Shox said don't warranty forks bought with the bike. Than I asked Cannondale and after 10 days I'm yet without answer.
I never would buy a so weak piece, mostly knowing the factory don't give the correct warranty.
See photos in http://eder.pinkbike.com/album/Stuff/
Similar Products Used: marzocchi 888..... not really comparable
Bike Setup: coiler deluxe
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
BadMF
a Weekend Warrior
from Slovakia
Date Reviewed: June 17, 2008
Strengths: nice stiffness, smooth, looks
Weaknesses: none yet
Bottom Line:
I have the long version 180mm of travel, 1.5 steer tube. Very stiff, feels good and safe, eats all from small rocks to big bumps. Uses full travel, linear all the way, went never to bottom thou (no big jumps yet)even i am 85kg. Nice fonts, the colour matches the bike (Norco Shore 3). My guess that it suites heavier bikes 17kg and more.
Submitted by
Brad
a Cross Country Rider
from Bellingham, WA
Date Reviewed: November 12, 2007
Strengths: Simple 1.5 steer tube is noticeably stiffer than 1-1/8" Cheap (relatively speaking) Steel stanchions so I can beat the crap out of it
Weaknesses: Ummm....it's a Rockshox
Bottom Line:
The fork is awesome. I was incredibly surprised at how good it is after being asked to test this fork out. I figured being a Rockshox that it wouldn't take too long to f' it up. I was wrong!
This fork is so simple that there's nothing to break except the seals, which has not happened yet.
I've had two Totems already, those things suck. Save your money and buy this fork or the Domain 318. The steel stanchions can't be beat for the type of riding you'll probably be using it for. I never worry about crashing and damaging stanchions anymore. With the 1.5 steer tube, I'm not worried about the fork breaking either.
I had to replace the spring cause it was too soft. A firm spring feels perfect for me (190 lbs).
As the previous reviewer mentioned, remove your rebound knob before it removes itself. When will the fork mfgr's realize that is the most vulnerable spot on a fork?
Seriously, this thing feels good as new after some pretty good abuse last season, and I haven't done any work to it other than swap the spring.
Submitted by
Pedro
a Weekend Warrior
from Kassel, Germany
Date Reviewed: November 11, 2007
Strengths: thought as hell, looks, U-Turn
Weaknesses: rebound knob falls easily, a little to the heavy side
Bottom Line:
great fork, mine is the U-turn model, so its the 115-160mm...some will think the rebound is a little too slow, but i found it to be preety good....although the rebound is the only adjustabiliti on the fork (accept for the travel), i never felt in need of adjusting the preload or compression damping, it seems to be soft at first, but the higher the drops were, the better it felt, yet retaining small bumps, U-Turn is simply a life saver, easy and makes your Freeride bik feels like a XC bike for climbing, the only advice i give is to immediatly remove the rebound knob and keep it with you....great fork!
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