Submitted by
rain_man
a Weekend Warrior
from Brisbane Australia
Date Reviewed: February 2, 2010
Strengths: Super plush, slick movement, no stiction. So much adjustability. Incredibly strong for the weight. I love the travel adjustment because I enjoy smashing both up and down hills, and being on a hardtail you need to tighten up that head angle most of the time because the front end gets too skatey at 140mm. Quality except for.......
Weaknesses: The travel adjustment has failed twice now within about 7 months of use. It's still under warranty so the dealer is repairing, but this means down time for my bike and what will happen when the warranty runs out? Also, the low speed compression adjustment ring is really annoying because it's virtually impossible to operate the lockout with gloves on and not disturb your low speed compression setting.
Bottom Line:
This is a great fork. I was a little worried about the strength going from Pikes to the TALAS, but I wanted the weight saving. I will admit that I am only 64kg (140lb) and do ride fairly smoothly, but they have held up really well to some BIG drops and airs. If it wasn't for the travel adjustment failures I'd give it 6 out of 5. Such a shame.......
This is an expensive set of forks (retailing for $1700 in Australia) - you'd expect them to just work.
Similar Products Used: Marzocchi Dirt Jumper, Rock Shox Pike, Fox F80RL, Fox F100RL
Bike Setup: Santa Cruz Chameleon all mountain to light freeride set up. Because of the general lack of 15mm hub availablity I machined up some adapters for my 20mm hub. If you have a lathe, a couple of inches of aluminium rod, and a spare couple of hours, this is an easy and inexpensive option.
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Submitted by
David M
a Weekend Warrior
from Springfield, OR
Date Reviewed: August 21, 2009
Strengths: Way stiffer with the QR15, the 6" is plusher than the 08 and puts my Santa Cruz LT in the perfect all mountain geometry position cause it puts the front end up just where it needs to be.
Weaknesses: None that I have experienced. It's the perfect fork for all mountain riding up and down the steeps.
Bottom Line:
This fork made my bike. The LT needed 6" to get the front end up. Before it felt like I was falling over the front. It's about 30% stiffer making hop turns around switch backs easy, rock gardens attackable for real, drops off smooth as butta and climbing incredible being able to drop the fork on the fly. It's the perfect tool for northwest riding where there are a lot of ups and downs on all trails. Pretty expensive butcha ya know how that goes. The smile from control and overall performance is worth it.
Similar Products Used: 2008 Talas with 140mm travel
Bike Setup: Same as most everyone else on this site, killer.
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Submitted by
mtnbikfrut
a Downhiller
from Washington, DC
Date Reviewed: June 12, 2009
Strengths: light, super plush, stable
Weaknesses: dives right through it's first 3 inches of travel in the 150mm mode. Much too linear for my taste. nice progressive balance in the 130mm mode
Bottom Line:
plusher than I could have imagined a air fork to be. needs a more progressive of stroke in 150mm mode. Super expensive but it works great in 130mm mode.
Submitted by
gschacht
a Cross Country Rider
from Porland, OR, USA
Date Reviewed: February 20, 2009
Strengths: This review is for the FOX TALAS RLC 150mm, 15mm axle
Weaknesses: None
Bottom Line:
I have owned this fork for 2 months and ride in the mud and rain. I have owned a TALAS RLC before - 2005 model and this is a night and day improvement. As stated by other reviews the damping characteristics are tuned for the fork setting - 130 has a vastly improved damping curve - buttery smooth on the small stuff, while 150 is tuned for the big stuff and not very smooth on the small stuff - I ride with the 130mm setting unless I am going down a fire lane, then the 150 setting is used. I can also feel the difference in stiffness compared to previous Fox forks. Crazy expensive, but worth it. If you look on line you can find a Universal Cycles 15% discount code that brings the list price down to just slightly insane.
PS: if you store your bike on end or vertically - wheels to the wall, the forks are always lubricated and the seals last forever.
Bike Setup: Diamondback Mission, XT and Shadow drivetrain, Mavic 819/Continental UST
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Submitted by
enduro-joe
a Weekend Warrior
from Bristol,Tn
Date Reviewed: February 14, 2009
Strengths: 15QR Stiffness, The Talus is easy to use, Smoothness, 150mm,light
Weaknesses: None
Bottom Line:
I was little worried about changing out my Pushed Fox 32 because it felt so good. I took the risk for more travel and more stiffness. This fork is great. It is just as smooth as my 2006 Pushed Fox, but with more travel and a whole lot more stiffness. I couldn't believe the difference. You don't have to be a racer to notice the added stiffness.Switchbacks,downhills are so much easier.
4 chilis for value due to the expense.
Similar Products Used: Several Manitous,Pushed Fox 32 RLC
Bike Setup: Giant Reign,Hope hubs,Mavic Wheels,Fox RP23 shock,Formula brakes
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Submitted by
mckshred
a Cross Country Rider
from Scottsdale, AZ USA
Date Reviewed: September 23, 2008
Strengths: I have the 150/15mm thru axle version of the Talas RLC.
GREAT RIDE! Rides smooth as Butter. Three position travel knob works like a champ. Looks sharp. Can't be beaten for performance.
Weaknesses: Increased weight over my old (2003 Talas 125/9mm QR) and Mavic x819/CK Front Wheel by 6 ounces.
Had to have a new front wheel strung ($250) with a Hope Pro II Hub, eliminating any possibility of using my CKing hub since they don't have a 15mm version.
I had to get an adapter (aka "Fork Up") to carry the bike on my existing Yakima roof rack (around $40). Check Hurricane Products or Chili Pepper Bikes in Moab if you need one.
Bottom Line:
My new Yeti was originally equipped with my old Talas 125 RLC. This fork rode excellent on my old Intense Tracer, but I was not impressed with the ride on the Yeti initially. The position of the bike was off with that "small" of a fork. I had to hang too far off the back end of the bike on drops.
When I upgraded to the Talas RLC 150/15, the ride improved immensely. Riding position improved. The fork feel and tracking are fantastic. This fork is absolutely great. Drops and Steps that I could not clear before are now pretty darn easy. Plus the fear factor is gone as this thing inspires confidence.
It was expensive, but worth it. The performance is great!
Similar Products Used: 1992 Specialized Future Shock, 1996 Cannondale Headshock, 2002 Rock Shox Duke Fork, 2003 Fox Talas 125 RLC Fork, 2006 Fox Float RLC 100 Fork, 2007 Fox F100 RLC Fork.
Bike Setup: 575 Carbon with XO Twist Shifters, XO Derailluer, RF Dues Cranks, Hope Mono Mini Brakes, Mavic X819 Wheels, CKing Rear Hub, Hope Pro II Front Hub, Thomsen Stem & Seatpost, XTR SPDs........28.10 lbs 'dry' weight.
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Submitted by
Dave Hepburn
a Cross Country Rider
from Redding, Ca. USA
Date Reviewed: September 22, 2008
Strengths: steers very well and has a coil feel
Weaknesses: None so far
Bottom Line:
Best fork I have used. This is a happy follow up to my earlier review. The more I ride it the better I like it. I have been riding my other quick relaese forks...also Fox. And the 09' 15QR is by far a better damper. It steers better and rides smoother than the 06, 07 or 08 models. Gone is that slight stiky feeling and lack of small bump absorbtion. It feels like their Vanilla. I am getting all the travel and no feeling of bottoming or harsh ramp up. It sticks to the ground and after a short flight it brings you down soft. It has no problem with multi hits like a nice rock garden or a 40 foot long section of 3-5 inch tall roots. And the TALAS feature can't be beat.
As far as wheel conversion...No problem for the Mavic SX or the DT Swiss. As noted before I got a hold of Risse Racing in Redding Ca (530-246-8700) and they made me some end cap adapters for 20mm Cross Max SX and DT was great to work with to make my 440 hub 15mm compatable. All told for both wheel set conversions...20 bucks. King needs to get on the ball.
If I had the cash I would get one for my other bikes as well. If you are considering this fork and are worried about all the cost of a new wheel, make some calls or send a couple e-mails like I did and get it done. You won't believe this thing.
Submitted by
david hepburn
a Cross Country Rider
from Redding Ca USA
Date Reviewed: August 13, 2008
Strengths: Super stiff in every situation. Light and easy to dial in. 15mm QR easy to take off if needed.
Weaknesses: None so far.
Bottom Line:
Much smoother and no sharp ramp up toward the end of the travel like prior models. 100mm setting feels like it should...like a regular float. The 15mm thru axle is much better than the standard qr setup. I love the new dial once it got broke in. It was stiff at first and difficult to stop in the 120mm setting...now it is fine. With 40mm of adjustment it is great in all settings...climbing to some steep, rocky stuff. If you are worried about thw 15mm call Risse racing in Redding Ca and they might be able to solve any problems you might have converting a 20mm to the 15mm even though the manufacture does not offer addapters as Mavic did not.
Similar Products Used: Prioe TALAS's. Fox Float, Vanilla, Rockshox Pike
Bike Setup: 06" S-Works FSR, got ride of brain shock and have a Push'd RP23. Much better bike with this setup. XT/XTR mix, CrossMax SX with Risse addapter for the 15mm axle.
