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RockShox Dart 3 2010 Forks


  • Average Rating: 3.38/5
  • MSRP: $ 196.00
  • # of Reviews: 13

Where To Buy


Blue Sky Cycling

Product Description

  • Travel: 100mm (3.95 inches)
  • Adjustability: external rebound, lockout
  • Spring type: Coil
  • 1-1/8" threadless steel steerer
  • 1-piece magnesium lower legs


Review Options:  Sorted by Latest Review | Sort by Best Rating

Reviews 1 - 13 (13 Reviews Total)

User Reviews

Overall Rating:2
Value Rating:3
Submitted by Tim a Cross Country Rider from Richmond

Date Reviewed: February 9, 2012

Strengths:    They let you ride your bike

Weaknesses:    The lock out is poor, I couldn't tell the lock was on, it felt flimsy and weak.

Bottom Line:   
These shocks came oe on my gt, I am on the heavy side and with my 26" I learned that I need a good shock. I didn't do any trail riding with the dart but just from tooling around the yard I was glad that I got the Reba's to replace them. On the 29er I think that it is more important to have a stiffer meatier shock due to the larger tire.

Expand full review >>

Duration Product Used:   Less than 1 month



Overall Rating:2
Value Rating:3
Submitted by ZXFT a Cross Country Rider from Mckinney TX

Date Reviewed: November 15, 2011

Strengths:    Very cheap fork

Weaknesses:    travel isnt smooth or plush. Nearly impossible to go back to after riding a Reba RLT Ti

Bottom Line:   
This came OEM on my '10 GF Mamba.A cheap fork that will allow you to ride your bike. I recommend to buy an air fork if you can afford it though.

Expand full review >>

Favorite Trail:   roots and flat

Duration Product Used:   3 months

Purchased At:   LBS

Similar Products Used:   SID XX
Fox Talas 130/150
Reba RLT Ti 29er


Bike Setup:   Hardtail with 100mm of travel upfront, SLX with XT derailers. Its my race machine.


Overall Rating:3
Value Rating:4
Submitted by bikingchad a Weekend Warrior from Greensboro,NC, USA

Date Reviewed: June 10, 2011

Strengths:    Not as heavy as a Dart 1/2! Damping adjuster works great. Lockout works good and is easily reached on-the-fly.

Weaknesses:    I'm a clydes and yes it does flex. The steel rigid I replaced flexed more, so I'm not too worried. Don't recommend more than 2.25" tire unless it's a sturdy wheel.

Bottom Line:   
My primary trail for this bike (Bald Eagle) is an 8 mile rootfest. I rode 29er all-steel for a season but just switched to this econo 29er fork. I'm 230lbs on the seat and it does flex but I don't have to brake much so it's not a problem. Since I found the sweet spot on preload and rebound I am much faster and better control.

Expand full review >>

Favorite Trail:   Wild Turkey

Duration Product Used:   Less than 1 month

Price Paid:    $80.00

Purchased At:   ebay

Similar Products Used:   Lots of suspension and rigids.

Bike Setup:   29er custom steel single-speed.


Overall Rating:4
Value Rating:4
Submitted by Trekrider1234567890 a Weekend Warrior from MA

Date Reviewed: May 26, 2011

Strengths:    Despite many many negative reviews, I have really loved my set of these trucks! I have thoroughly thrashed them in super rocky trails, and huge drops. Preload & lockout works very well. This is a very reliable fork. Has taken a beating and is still going strong!

Weaknesses:    A bit heavy, but so far non other than that.

Bottom Line:   
Great reliable trucks for the money paid!!!

Expand full review >>

Favorite Trail:   Whatever I find

Duration Product Used:   6 months

Price Paid:    $120.00

Purchased At:   Wheelworks (Google i

Similar Products Used:   Sontour shocks, dart 2's

Bike Setup:   I'm riding a trek '10 6000


Overall Rating:5
Value Rating:5
Submitted by leadfoot24 a Downhiller from albuqueruqe new mexico

Date Reviewed: March 31, 2011

Strengths:    will take a beating and keep going. and can handle a 10 foot drop off with the lock out on

Weaknesses:    none so far

Bottom Line:   
one of the best forks out there for the money.

Expand full review >>

Favorite Trail:   to many to list

Duration Product Used:   Less than 1 month

Price Paid:    $230.00

Similar Products Used:   rst capa t6

Bike Setup:   2009 diamondback sorrento


Overall Rating:4
Value Rating:5
Submitted by AZjuher a Weekend Warrior from Scottsdale, AZ

Date Reviewed: March 23, 2011

Strengths:    Nice ride, inexpensive, no leaks or problems yet.

Weaknesses:    A little too tall for my bikes geometry, this make climbing difficult; i blame my bike mostly. They have some flex when you are working the brakes going downhill on switchbacks and such. Favorite use is fast downhill trails when you have an oh shi@#! moment and you roll right through and over it with these.

Bottom Line:   
Lots of fun. If it's your first bike and you can get these by all means get them, they will take more than you can.

Expand full review >>

Favorite Trail:   Sport Loop Mcdowell

Duration Product Used:   1 Year

Similar Products Used:   RST junk shocks

Bike Setup:   Motobecane fantomHT 26er


Overall Rating:5
Value Rating:5
Submitted by mbu guy a Cross Country Rider from Woodland Hills, CA

Date Reviewed: February 9, 2011

Strengths:    Relatively light weight. Works well. Requires little to no maintenance.

Weaknesses:    None so far.

Bottom Line:   
Bought the bike used with a lot of hours on it. Have ridden over various XC terrain and the fork is impressive. Can't comment on the lockout as I rarely use it, even on climbs. So far I haven't experienced any of the flexing that some riders describe.

Expand full review >>

Favorite Trail:   All

Duration Product Used:   1 Year

Purchased At:   Purchased Used

Similar Products Used:   Recently, Manitou R7and Skareb.

Bike Setup:   Specialized Rockhopper 29er Expert.


Overall Rating:2
Value Rating:3
Submitted by specialized1994 a Weekend Warrior from Edmonton AB Canada

Date Reviewed: October 10, 2010

Strengths:    The travel is pretty good. Recoil adjust works good

Weaknesses:    Lockout does work perfectly. It locks out but still leaves a few mm of travel. Fork bends back and forth and vibrates like crazy under hard front braking.

Bottom Line:   
I am not pleased with this fork. The recoil and stiffness adjusts work fine, but the lockout isn't up to par for me. But that is a minor problem. The biggest issue for me is that they bend and vibrate a ridiculous amount under hard front breaking. In my opinion this fork is junk to me. I plan to upgrade as soon as possible

Expand full review >>

Duration Product Used:   Less than 1 month



Overall Rating:3
Value Rating:4
Submitted by petje a Cross Country Rider from Heerlen, netherlands

Date Reviewed: August 10, 2010

Strengths:    It's a suspension! lockout remote, preload, etc. For me the most important: V-brake attachment possible

Weaknesses:    It is heavy they say, but it's my first fork so i don't know the diff. It also 'sweats' oil on the right fork. but till now i don't have the feeling it's leaking.

Bottom Line:   
I guess more expensive forks deff weill do a better job. But finding a fork with V-brake possibilities and remote lockout, it does the job well. And now i feel that i have more control, and that's worth something!

Expand full review >>

Favorite Trail:   Parkstad route

Duration Product Used:   3 months

Price Paid:    $190.00

Purchased At:   Bikefun Heerlen

Similar Products Used:   none

Bike Setup:   Good old Trek 850 '95 with orriginal LX/XT train. alivio V-brakes.


Overall Rating:5
Value Rating:5
Submitted by m_nikniaz a Cross Country Rider from tabriz,east azar,iran

Date Reviewed: July 1, 2010

Bottom Line:   
i have rock shox dart 3.its nice to use

Expand full review >>

Duration Product Used:   Less than 1 month



Overall Rating:3
Value Rating:5
Submitted by Clones123 a Weekend Warrior from Atlanta, GA

Date Reviewed: June 16, 2010

Strengths:    Hydraulic fork with externally adjustable compression and rebound dampening plus lockout with remote option
Available with steel or aluminum steerer tube
Low cost


Weaknesses:    Simple Turnkey dampening mechanism (same as most coil Toras)
28mm stanchion tubes


Bottom Line:   
Too many people slag all Dart forks as being inferior to all Tora forks but it's not that simple. The Tora 289 and 302 forks have the same primitive Turnkey dampening, the same straight-wall steel stanchions w/chrome finish and the same non-serviceable bushings! (The Tora 318 with Motion Control dampening is a step above any Turnkey fork.) The biggest family difference is 32mm tubes on the Tora instead of 28mm on the Dart. Maybe that's worth paying 25-40% more for, maybe not. It's not an $800 Fox fork but for it's features, performance, maintenance requirements, weight and cost the Dart 3 is a bargain. At least it is until you replace it with the more sophisticated air fork you could have paid for in the first place. If it meets your needs though, enjoy the money you saved.

Expand full review >>

Favorite Trail:   Blankets Creek

Duration Product Used:   3 months

Price Paid:    $100.00

Purchased At:   OEM

Bike Setup:   2010 Access XCL 9r 9.5 (Dart 3 29er disc 100mm with Poploc Adjust)


Overall Rating:3
Value Rating:4
Submitted by juan_manuel a Weekend Warrior from santiago, chile

Date Reviewed: May 11, 2010

Strengths:    Stiff and rock solid, no manteinance required, lock out works fine

Weaknesses:    too stiff going down, seems that the suspension doesn't travel more than 60 mm.

Bottom Line:   
purchased last year in order to save cash for a lefty or fox fork; this dart 3 (2009 model) works well for an entry level, the lock out works flawless, so going up is no problem; but going down this fork shows his serious problems, its very stiff and even changing the preload and rebound i cannot keep it working fine, and im not talking about 3 feet drops, just normal bumps in a trail, so at the end of the trail my arms and hands are totally tired and you don't have confident to confront more serious bumps at more speed. Anyway the forks is almost unbreakable but for a little more money you can go for a reba or rst f1rst.

Expand full review >>

Favorite Trail:   caleu, huinganal

Duration Product Used:   1 Year

Price Paid:    $200.00

Purchased At:   Cannondale local dea

Similar Products Used:   other entry level susp (judy, dart 2, rst f1rst)

Bike Setup:   cannondale f2 caffeine 2009


Overall Rating:3
Value Rating:3
Submitted by andreWolf79 a Cross Country Rider from london uk

Date Reviewed: October 6, 2009

Strengths:    good entry xc fork

Weaknesses:    when the game gets tough they bottom out

Bottom Line:   
i upgraded to dart3 from a rigid set of forks, so i have no experience to compare these with others. I can say they served me well in the past year i had them , i road on plain roads, cross country & once ended up doing down hill by mistake!!! lol... they behaved grate i was surprised!!! now i hand-them in for my first service & eventually i'm upgrading to air sus .... not because there bad but because i'm upgrading the whole bike because they made me see what can be done!!!!

Expand full review >>

Favorite Trail:   xc

Duration Product Used:   1 Year

Price Paid:    $149.00

Purchased At:   Evans cycles

Similar Products Used:   n/a




Reviews 1 - 13 (13 Reviews Total)

Review Options:  Sorted by Latest Review | Sort by Best Rating

New fork or other parts Trek 3700 2010- dart 3?

Hi I have a 2010 Trek 3700 thats seen quite a few intermediate- advanced singletracks and trails. Some with big rocky sections, some fast rolling medium pack. I have some money to    Read More »

How To Keep Dart 3 Soft

I have a dart 3 that is plush in warm weather, but gets really stiff in cold weather. Is this just because its a dart 3 and not a super high-end shock, or is there a way to fix    Read More »

Dart 3 Locking up

I have a Dart 3 that is locking with the the lockout off, but not all the time. Any idea what could be causing it other than the obvious, that it's a crappy fork? That's why it is    Read More »

Why does this Dart 3 have nearly 115mm of travel?

I was checking out my old fork and I measured it's travel, and it shows nearly 115mm of travel. Specialized website says its 100mm, and my new fork is 100mm. 15mm looks like quite    Read More »

Rockshox dart 3

Hi does anyone know anything about this fork is it any good im looking at a 29er and this fork is what comes on it.   Read More »

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