Submitted by
Mike
a Cross Country Rider
from Santa Barbara Date Reviewed: February 1, 2005
Duration Product Used:
2 Years
Price Paid:
$300.00
Purchased At:
SuperGo
Strengths:
Cost, Upgradable Spring Rates and Fork lockout kit.
Weaknesses:
Pure-Air Dampener O-Ring and Dampener.
Similar Products Used:
SID, Reba Race Air.
Bike Setup:
Weyless 24.9 lbs.
Bottom Line:
I recently rebuilt a newer revision of Duke SL-U and found some design changes over older Rockshox versions. The newer forks have a slightly different shaped fork crown and have a SRAM sticker. As some might know SRAM bought Rockshox in early 2004. In early 2003 I bought a Duke SL-U and had problems with bottoming out and blowing the bottom oil dampener fork seal out. You can read my previous rebuild and how Rockshox told me about changing the pure-air floating piston depth.
A BIG difference with SRAM and Rockshox is they now offer an Xtra Firm spring. Before Rockshox only offered Red-soft, Blue-Medium and Black-Firm Springs. The old way of telling the difference between springs was colored tubing around the spring. That has now changed to the spring being painted near the top.
I just rebuilt a guys SRAM/Rockshox Duke SL-U and found changes. The plastic oil dampener that seals the pure-air tube and oil is now made of alloy…its plastic on my older Duke SL-U.
Before learning about the extra firm black spring, I was using 20wt oil with heavier riders. The one guy I talked to at SRAM denies Rockshox only offered 3 springs and no extra firm. I talked to three different Rockshox tech support guys in 2003 and all told me there was only 3 springs available. Those springs had a colored rubber tube indicating what spring, I still have my blue spring and that’s how it was done.
I still believe the Duke SL-U needs the 1/8-inch thick washer inbetween the dampener and c-clip. This is specially true for heavy riders above 180 lbs. Please beware that the SRAM/Rockshox Duke SL-U comes stock with the black firm spring and NOT the black extra-firm spring!
I just finished rebuilding a Duke SL-U fork for a 200+ pound rider and almost didn’t install the extra firm spring because I thought it was the same as a black firm. No more colored tubing to decipher which spring rate. I added the 1/8 thick washer, slightly thicker dampener o-ring and 20wt oil with rebound near full open. PureAir is set between 45-50psi.
If you want to crank out of the saddle but the fork is too mushy Rockshox offers a remote lockout upgrade.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Ryan R
a Cross Country Rider
from Long Island N.Y. Date Reviewed: May 8, 2004
Favorite Trail:
Pandora
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$220.00
Purchased At:
Jenson (CLOSEOUT)
Strengths:
Uturn travel adjustment is great I love the idea that I can go from 63 to 108 mm of travel with just a few turns! Plush very plush it makes the trail very smooth and not as harsh as my old 80 mm duke XC Air. Pure Delight works it makes it noticable stiffer by adding a little extra air! Very stiff and strong fork I was expecting to have to be a little more delicate because of the uturn travel adjuster making it more easy to break Nothing doing here! Rebound adjustment works better on this model than the previous models did felt like it never changed on the older models this one works.
Weaknesses:
NO LOCKOUT for one when is a company going to make a mid priced fork with a lockout is that so much to ask? Uturn only works while riding to decrease the travel you must stop to increase the travel. I wish it worked both ways Not complete air fork so it slightly heaver than my Duke XC and I can only stiffen it up as far as the Pure Delight will let me without doing a spring and oil swap. Can Rockshox please come up with some bettr paintjobs here some of them are quite scary and they look really cheap YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Similar Products Used:
Rockshox and Manitou
Bike Setup:
Specialized Stumpy with too many goodies to list and wouls you really want to read the list anyway?
Bottom Line:
Nice fork at a good price if you don't mind the extra weight for coil over oil. For racing I would pass on this fork for endurance and trailriding and maybe some LIGHT hucks go for it. It's stiff enough to use daily and the uturn feature makes it very attractive for trail riding and endurance riding. For racing there are far better models in the Rockshox line up. For it's strengths it a great fork I have yet to have any clunking in the fork at all but I like to use a high rebound rate and a meduim air pressure setting of about 35 to 40 psi in the pure delight chamber so I probably won't have it happen, I'll cross that bridge if I get there. I like my fork slightly plush and not a ridgid as some people do. Hell, if I wanted it stiff I'd use a ridgid fork instead of suspention! A little plush makes it a must to drop the travel rate to 80mm or lower when climbing and staying in the seat while climbing but when you ride full suspention your supose to do that anyway so the plushness of this fork will not bother me. Now for my gripes about this fork, is it possible to build a mid-priced fork with a lock out? I know I'm not alone here in this question so why is it all the forks in everyones line up with a lock out are over four bills? I would love to get a an inertia valved Fox Forx or an SPV from Manitou but I'm not made of money and Fox and Manitou and even Marzzochi are getting extremly expensive so for a while at least I'm going to stick with Rockshox for price and durabilty and a great customer service reputation. Thus far I have never had to use it! What is up with some of Rockshox paintjobs these days!?!? Some of these colors are really scary and some are just plain UGLY I bought the wine color thinking it would be red I open the box and it looks like someone bled all over my fork or it got rusted in the mail. Rockshox , there is a HUGE difference in RED and BLOOD get it right I decided to use it cause I got it at a great price and a return to a Mail orderhouse in Cali is way too much trouble so I'm learning to deal here. Finally the pure delight feature works but it only assists here not really a great way to adjust the spring rate. Is Fox the only company who was intellgent enough to come up with an air fork that has travel adjustment here? I'm going to check out the Mantiou Nixon when it comes out but I'm not too sure what they will ask for that fork in price so I doubt if I'll be riding that anytime soon. So far this fork is good not outstanding but great for trailriding. A lock out would be nice and it would be a great fork then for raing applictions but the Uturn feature was hard to pass up and so far it has been flawless. Anyone who has not rode a 100mm fork should try one it makes your bike all new again and man is it fun to have an extra 20 mm of travel to blow through! If your not bottming out your fork now and then your settings are way to high try usung your suspention instead of just having it, PEACE!
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Andy Somerville
a Cross Country Rider
from Long Beach, CA USA Date Reviewed: December 8, 2003
Favorite Trail:
Snow Summit
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$350.00
Purchased At:
Supergo
Weaknesses:
Now that it's fixed, there are no weaknesses
Bottom Line:
Following up on previous post regarding fork rebuild by Tim Flooks of TF Tuning UK. Just completed my first ride on the rebuilt fork, and all I have to say is"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH". No more clattering noise, no more clunking through the bars, the fork is fixed! Total cost for the fix was about $200, of which about $100 was shipping to and from UK. Money well spent, versus buying a different fork. Now what's left is to evaluate spring rate - a while back I switched to the black spring to stiffen up the action. I weigh about 165 fully dressed out, and the action may be a bit too firm. Couple more rides to determine this.
Value rating has to be a bit low, due to the "true" price of about $600 after fixes, but performance is now top notch as far as my needs go.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Brian
a Cross Country Rider
from New Mexico Date Reviewed: November 12, 2003
Favorite Trail:
Northside Trail
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Purchased At:
Scoreboard Sports
Strengths:
Buttery smooth travel. U-Turn works great. STIFF
Weaknesses:
"Clunk" heard on small bumps. Don't notice much difference in fork performance with differing air pressure.
Similar Products Used:
RS Judy Marz. Atom 80
Bike Setup:
Schwinn Homegrown carbon URT full suspension
Bottom Line:
This fork is buttery smooth. It has soaked up everything that I have subjected it to so far. I am a cross-country rider who rides drops up to five feet high. I am not a hucker, and thus have not hucked this fork off a five foot drop. The main complaints have been the noise and bottoming out. The noise is not that bad. I am going to try rebuilding the fork with a heavier oil to see if this will solve my problem. If not, oh well. Still a great fork. As far a bottoming out goes, get a heavier spring. At least you should feel good that all the travel is being used. Cross country riders in the 150-180 lb. range will be happy with the performance of the fork. For the $$, its a hard fork to beat.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Mike
a Cross Country Rider
from Santa Barbara Date Reviewed: November 4, 2003
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$308.00
Strengths:
Adjustable Travel
Weaknesses:
Made clanking noise, kept blowing out the Pure Damper, Spring was too soft/
Similar Products Used:
n/a
Bike Setup:
Custom
Bottom Line:
I kept testing the fork trying to give it some good hits(Nothing the fork shouldn’t be able to handle). Right after my last post the fork gave out. I kept testing the fork on a 3ft drop and it finally gave out. The fork went right back to my original problem, 2 inches of travel and noise. I checked the Pure Damper and the Pure Air tube lost all its oil. I took a 1” wide with ½” hole, 1/8” thick washer and put it between the C-Clip and Plastic Damper. Seems like this part was missing all along! I have been riding this setup since my previous post without problem. Below is a quote from another reviewer that found this fix.
I believe this along with the custom tuning makes this a sweet fork. But, I’m extremely displeased at having to go through so much to fix it. I guess its better than scrapping it and having to put out another $300-$400! Keeping my fingers crossed this was the fix…so far so good. Still Verifying…but it seems to be working.
Submitted by Richard Baker a Weekend Warrior from Indiahoma, OK, USA Date Reviewed: 3/29/2003 7:52:48 AM
I am sure that Rockshox will come up with a fix for this, but until then, this is what I found. The cartridge on my fork was too short for the forkleg. I took a washer and machined it to size and placed this behind the circlip. This seems to have eliminated the problems that I was having.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Mike
a Cross Country Rider
from Santa Barbara Date Reviewed: October 20, 2003
Favorite Trail:
Epics
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$308.00
Purchased At:
Supergo
Strengths:
Price, Adjustable Travel and Rigid
Weaknesses:
Clanking noise
Similar Products Used:
Older Duke, Cannondale
Bike Setup:
Weyless SP
Bottom Line:
I weigh 190 lbs and had Supergo only install a black spring into my fork. I lost travel and shock still was not smooth. I rebuilt the fork with stock rebuild and then followed with custom rebuild Rockshox Tech-Support recommended. Here is the update to my previous post:
Used 2003 Rockshox Duke SL U service manual. Found no problem UTurn spring side. Step (18) to (29).
Disassembled Pure Delite side and removed Pure Damper Tube. Step (32)and(33). Found problems!
1st problem: Pure Rebound Damper was not seated correctly in the Pure Tube! This MUST be seated correctly or all the oil between the IFP (Internal Floating Piston) and the Rebound damper will leak causing zero compression on the oil. This was most likely causing the clanking sound.
2nd problem: The IFP being WAY out of recommended 6 inches of depth. Step (36b)and(36c). There is a rounded side of IFP and a indented side. Use the indented side to push IFP to 6-inch depth inside the Pure Tube. The IFP indented side is facing up towards your Pure Air Valve. I recommend running no less than 5 to 10psi of Pure Delite Air. May not effect ride but will help make sure the IFP and Pure Rebound Damper always remain seated correctly.
Stock Rebuild Using Black Spring
Added std. oil weights step (44), (46) 15wt and step (51) 5wt. Fork now feels smooth again and clanking noise is gone. Adding 40 psi to the Pure Delite Air caused fork to become firm. Increasing Pure Air pressure made me Rebound near slowest setting. Rebound adjustment knob worked but was more noticeable when running less Pure Delite Air. Tested bike on a 12 mile ride and took a 3ft drop. Measured tie-wrap around fork tube to seal to get 3.7 inches of travel. Sag measured 13mm.
Custom Tuned Using Black Spring
Substituted 10wt for the 5wt and 15wt oil steps (44) (46). Adjusted IFP to 6.5" depth and added 6cc 10wt oil to top of IFP step (46). Fork felt smoother and was progressive becoming very firm at last 3/4 inch of stroke. Rebound adjustment knob had less effect and rebound was faster. Makes sense since air will compress more and faster than oil. Changing to 6.5 IFP depth created larger air pocket on one side of IFP and less oil on the other side. Adjusted rebound knob to slowest setting. I’m running 40psi in Pure Air. Adjusting IFP depth increased my travel to 4 inches! Sag measures 18mm (Manual says 10-15mm for XC Race and 15-25mm for Enduro). Rode same 12 mile trail and hit 3ft drop. Eureka, Pure Delite!
Conclusion
Black spring is perfect for most riders from 170-200 lbs depending on tuning. If you are >200 lbs I recommend trying different IFP depth maybe 5.5" and 20wt oil on steps (44) and (51). I used BUZZY’S Shock Nectar Oil which also comes in 20wt. On Step (46) use std. 5wt and keep std. 3cc on top of IFP. Lastly, keep the Pure Delite Air between 30-60psi. If you still bottom out try adding some elastometer to the spring side.
If I weighed in the 160's pound range keep the blue spring and try different oil weight and IFP depth.
Increase IFP Depth=Less oil on bottom of IFP and more air on top. (Less progressive through full compression stroke and faster rebound)
Decrease IFP Depth=More oil on bottom of IFP and less air on top. (More progressive through full compression stroke and slower rebound)
With the correct tuning this fork is excellent!
My friend rides a Marzoochi Marathon SL $500+ fork and now compare my fork to it. It’s not a FOX Talas but its hundreds less! Rockshox Tech Chris was very helpful and willing to give some good inside information. I don't blame Rockshox because trying to make one-size fits all fork in this price range is difficult. You want perfection you need to tune the fork.
Other than my personal time it only cost me $26 in oil.
If you have questions feel free to contact me!
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Mike
a Cross Country Rider
from Santa Barbara Date Reviewed: October 15, 2003
Favorite Trail:
All Epics and ST
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$308.00
Purchased At:
Supergo
Strengths:
Price, Adjustable Travel and Rigid.
Weaknesses:
Slapping noise and bottoming out. I weigh about 190lbs and this should not happen.
Similar Products Used:
Older Duke and Cannondale
Bike Setup:
Weyless SP custom setup with Fox Float Rear Shock.
Bottom Line:
The fork was butter smooth but bottomed out on moderate to heavy hits. And the fork would give a slapping clank sound on rebound no matter how much I tried slowing rebound.
I now suspect this fork was never setup properly. I really want to hear more from the guy from UK on his experience.
I tried going to the black spring for riders over 180-lbs but have lost the butter smooth feeling and about 1 to 1.25" inces of travel! I really have to hit the fork hard to get 3 inches.
After speaking with Rockshox techsupport I was able to learn a few tricks. The internal pure delite floating piston can be adjusted to a different depth which will effect the compression (standard depth is 6 inches according to the Rockshox manual). You will either have to add or decrease the amount of oil added later in step #51 of the manual depending on what you intend to achieve. Rockshox would not give me the maximum limit for adjust. I asked about 1/2" and they did not recommend going over that. Adding 1/2" so the depth is set at 6.25" should add compression and 5.75 should lessen compression. Adding a different weight oil will also help the effect.
I was also told you can add a little more oil to the top of the internal floating piston (3cc/ml is the standard). This will effect the rebound. Again, Rockshox would not give an absolute amount but I asked if adding 6cc would be a problem and they said it shouldn't adversly effect the shock. Again, adding a different oil weight will help.
So far I'm thinking of going back to the blue spring and trying the above tuning tricks. I'm just above the weight recommended for the blue spring but on the low side for the black spring. I weigh 190lbs.
My first test will be to rebuild the shock with stock setup myself. Test and determine if its fixed.
If not, I will move on to the internal floating piston and try 6.5" depth and more oil.
The last test would be to increase the oil added to the top if the pre delite floating piston.
Will give an update later on these tests!
I can't really give a rating but I assume the fork was not setup properly. I will give it 4 and 4.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Andy Somerville
a Cross Country Rider
from Long Beach, CA USA Date Reviewed: October 15, 2003
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$365.00
Purchased At:
Supergo
Strengths:
Travel adjustment, lateral rigidity, appearance
Weaknesses:
clattering noise, travel a bit soft with stock spring
Bottom Line:
Update: I just sent my fork to Tim Flooks, a UK based ex-Rock Shox mechanic who has the fix for the noise that plagues this otherwise nice fork (see earlier review below). Thanks to fellow MTBReviewer Andy M. for turning me onto Tim. It'll cost about $150 between shipping and service, pricey, but far cheaper than a new fork, which was my other option. I'll submit an update once I've got it back on the bike and out for a ride.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Scott
a Cross Country Rider
from Foothill Ranch, CA Date Reviewed: October 3, 2003
Favorite Trail:
any singletrack available
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Purchased At:
LBS
Strengths:
plush ride, good adjustability, stiff
Weaknesses:
spring might be a bit weak for my size, very noisy out of the box, fairly heavy (4.17 lbs)
Similar Products Used:
Judy, Duke XC
Bike Setup:
Specialized FSR XC
Bottom Line:
Right out of the gate this thing made noise, the kind of noise that tells you something's not right. My LBS installed the fork on my bike. I test rode it and discovered that it made a very distinct 'clunk' when compressing. NOT GOOD. A brand new fork at this cost should not be doing this, period. So back into the shop I went. They disassembled the fork completely. Then they re-assembled it according to the tech manual. About 1.5 hours later,problem solved. I don't know what the exact problem was, but it no longer makes ANY noise and the travel is way smooth. I'm talking like butter smooth. I might need to put a heavier spring in it. I weigh about 200 lbs and the sag seems to be running around 23-25mm when it should only run around 19 or so. I can't tell what the Pure DeLite dampening set-up does. I've tried 40 and 50 lb air settings and really can't tell the difference. The rebounding setting works very well and is easy to dial in. The U-TURN works flawlessly, but I wish I didn't have to turn the dial 10 times to get to the lowest or highest travel. Bottom line: great fork for the money. I will only give it 4 flaming chilis overall due to the fact that the brand new fork had to be rebuilt before I even rode on it. Rock Shox better get their act together.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Nic
a Cross Country Rider
from Raleigh, NC, USA Date Reviewed: September 10, 2003
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Purchased At:
lbs
Strengths:
strong, nice satin red, fairly adjustable
Weaknesses:
no good spring choices for really beefy riders
Similar Products Used:
several judys on the trail. most everything else in the parking lot
Bike Setup:
litespeed hardtail
Bottom Line:
CLYDESDALES==> I am right at 200 lbs and I had trouble bottoming this fork out. I went for the coil sprung Duke for less maintenance and for better durability at my weight as opposed to the air sprung fork. Anyway, I expected to need to change the spring. Thats not unreasonable. I bought the stiffest spring RockShox makes (black, for '>190lb riders') and installed it. Be careful to thread in the new top cap correctly. I still had bottoming problems with the black spring, and the sag was excessive at 17mm when set to the 63mm travel mode. I calculated the blue spring rate to be 69lb/in at 63mm and 56 lb/in at 108mm. The black spring is about 78lb/in at 63mm and 62lb/in at 108mm. I cut 24mm of the elastomer from the blue spring and added it to the elastomer in the black spring. This should have increased the bottoming force in 63mm travel setting from 270lbs to 310lbs if the elastomers are linear springs. I don't get nearly as much bottoming now and the travel is really seamless. I get full travel too. The elastomers swell as you compress them, and 24mm is about as much as you can add without losing travel (they will bind inside the coil). You should not add any solid spacer to shim the elastomer up as this will increase the load on the elastomer more than just adding more elastomer. Bottom line: if you weigh much more than 200 lbs or are retardedly aggressive do not buy this fork until Rockshox produces a stronger spring. Other than that its a great fork. It would be better with adjustable low speed compression damping, but so far only Fox has seen the light.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Jason
a Cross Country Rider
from Charlotte Date Reviewed: September 2, 2003
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$345.00
Purchased At:
LBS
Strengths:
Solid performer. Fits the bill for what most riders would/should buy it for..more aggresive XC riding...not balls out freeride and not 24 hour endurance racing...just somewhere comfortably in the middle where most of us average joes tend to fall. stable fork, versitile, great adjustability feautures, and yes durable even though it is a little noisy.
Weaknesses:
It makes a little noise and I do agree that the pure delight system is pure myth. However, I don't see how a little noise from one of the forks components makes the fork a poor performer..."the fork is noisy"....boo hoo. You guys should stop kidding yourself and buy either a $600 marathon or sid...and the mid 300's is a good price for a fork so how can you complain about the price?
Similar Products Used:
judy xc, manitou sx-r, sid
Bike Setup:
'01 giant nrs2 with fork upgrade, sram 9.0 derailuers and shifters, easton monkeylite bar, thompson seatpost, upgraded spd's
Bottom Line:
Overall this is probably the best choice for agrresive freeriding. The Pure Delight system might be a great feature of the fork but as you can see from a few reviews it is hard to use....good luck with that. But a solid, durable shock that is VERY easy to adjust and performs well. Reasonably priced too.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
al provido
a Cross Country Rider
from philippines Date Reviewed: April 19, 2003
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$380.00
Purchased At:
cebu,phil.
Strengths:
fine
Weaknesses:
all i can say is that the pain absorbs dirt,its in flat finish.......i got a hard time clning it.
Bike Setup:
cross c.
Bottom Line:
paint job not good
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Andy Somerville
a Cross Country Rider
from Long Beach, CA USA Date Reviewed: April 14, 2003
Favorite Trail:
2N10 et al in Big Bear, CA
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$325.00
Purchased At:
Supergo
Strengths:
Travel Adjustment, Travel Gradient Markings, Beefy Contruction, Good Looks
Weaknesses:
Clattering noise on all impacts, blows through travel too easily
Similar Products Used:
Rock Shox Sid XC 2000
Bike Setup:
1998 Santa Cruz Heckler, Fox Float R Shock, Dave's Wheels with Chris King hubs, XT/LX/SRAM Drivetrain
Bottom Line:
After two rides on this fork, I'm bummed! It looks great, is plenty rigid, but makes a clattering noise on any sharp impact that's unacceptable from any fork, let alone one that's $325! It's hardly confidence inspiring, and incompatible with an otherwise clean, solid, cared-for rig. It's back at Supergo for a look-see, but based on other postings here, I doubt they'll be able to help. I've e-mailed SRAM and await their response.
As far as travel quality, I weigh 160 fully dressed and Camelbak'd, and feel the ride is super plush, but not quite progressive enough. I'd like to see the fork ramp up in stiffness a bit more as it moves towards full compression, and not be sitting 50-75% into available travel most of the ride. I'm going to change to the stiffest available U-Turn spring set-up and see if/how travel is affected. That said, I have not noted any harsh bottoming at all.
I'm keeping the Pure Delite at 10 PSI for now until I sort out the spring rate. Two flaming chilis because of the intolerable noise on an expensive fork, and three overall due to the mushy (but hopefully correctable) ride. With the noise and spring rate fixed, it'd be a solid four in both categories.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Richard Baker
a Weekend Warrior
from Indiahoma, OK, USA Date Reviewed: March 29, 2003
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Purchased At:
Texoma Cycling Center
Strengths:
Adjustable travel, plush feel, stiff side to side and while turning.
Weaknesses:
Dampening cartrige loose, causes noticable (audible and through the bars) clunk as fork travel changes direction. After working on the fork a few times, the dampening adjustment knob on the bottom of the fork will no longer work. The bottom bolt must be loosened and a 2.5mm hex used to change dampening rates.
Similar Products Used:
Judy SL - 100mm travel - 2years Judy C - 80mm travel - 1yr Manitou Black-100/120mm - test ride only Marzocchi MXC 105mm - 3 weeks(original equipment on new bike)
Bike Setup:
Specialized Enduro, stock except for this fork and Easton flat bars
Bottom Line:
I like this fork, the adjustable travel is what sold me on it to begin with. However, the loose feel and noise from the dampening cartrige took a couple of weeks to work out. I am sure that Rockshox will come up with a fix for this, but until then, this is what I found. The cartridge on my fork was too short for the forkleg. I took a washer and machined it to size and placed this behind the circlip. This seems to have eliminated the problems that I was having. In my opinion, this fork has a smooth stroke, better than the judys, not quite as smooth as the marzocchi. The dampening adjustment works well; it makes a noticable change in the rebound rate of the fork. Air pressure in the fork leg makes no noticable difference in how the fork works. (The air chamber on this fork is separated from the dampening oil and piston by a free floating piston and has no mechanical conection at all.) The larger legs (30mm) on this fork feel secure in the rocks and ruts. The adjustable height is great for on the trail changes and also lets you level the bike out if you mix and match tire sizes a lot.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
lobster
a Cross Country Rider
from California Date Reviewed: March 7, 2003
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Strengths:
U-turn adjustment is a great feature... lets you drop the front end for steep climbs and raise it on descents.
Weaknesses:
- Stock spring is much too light for heavier riders - U turn adjustment broke on first ride, fork had to be sent back to Rock Shox for repair - Pure delight damping system does nothing, as far as I can tell - Pretty heavy, but most 100mm forks seem to be in the 4 lb range these days.
Similar Products Used:
Marzocchi X-fly
Bike Setup:
Titus Racer X
Bottom Line:
My bike (Titus Racer X) has a very steep 71.5 degree head angle, which makes the bike feel squirrely on fast loose descents.
I decided to replace my y2k 80mm Marzocchi X-Fly (which basically did not budge under most normal riding conditions and never got more than 65mm of travel even with NO air in it) with a 100mm fork. I liked the U-turn feature because of the ability to lower the front end for steep climbs,and raise it for stability on descents.
The stock springs on the fork are really soft. I upgraded to the heavy springs, but even those feel pretty soft to me (I weigh 200 lbs). Of course, coming off the X-fly pretty much any movement at all feels "soft," but the Duke uses up a fair amount of travel in sag, and even more when you apply brakes on descents.
I have experimented with the "Pure Delite" alleged damping system, and found it to have no discernable effect on the performance of the fork. It certainly doesn't do what Rock Shock advertises (i.e., allow you to control the breakaway force required to activate the fork).
Also, on my first ride the U-turn adjustment broke and the fork became stuck in its lowest travel position. Rock Shox fixed it quickly, but still...
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
scott
a
from gold coast,queensland,australia Date Reviewed: March 7, 2003
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Strengths:
looks good,uturn concept
Weaknesses:
knock in fork made it unbearable to ride
Bottom Line:
upgraded my sids to a duke sl uturn,im 195 lb first ride found a knock in the dampening system, rockshox say it is a problem with pure system,no fix available yet,after a month of looking at my bike with no fork in it,have finally pressured shop into giving me a refund, next week marzocchi marathon s go on my bike,read other reviews,this is not a cheap fork so i shouldnt be expected to put up with a ride that sounds and feels cheap,i could feel the knock as well as hear it
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
scott
a Cross Country Rider
from goldcoast Date Reviewed: February 21, 2003
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$450.00
Purchased At:
brisbane australia
Strengths:
looks good ,great features
Weaknesses:
knocking noise is a fault in all pure delight dampening systems
Similar Products Used:
psylo
Bike Setup:
nrs1
Bottom Line:
very dissapointed,rode my new bike once,the rattle in the fork drove me nuts.rockshox australia say its the dampening system and are looking for a FIX.rockshox usa say wind the dampening off(why bother having it at all)forks went straight back.now i cant ride :-( cant ride a $3500 bike that rattles like a kmart special. will post outcome.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Craig Seifert
a Cross Country Rider
from Glenshee, Scotland Date Reviewed: January 15, 2003
Favorite Trail:
anything fun
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$375.00
Purchased At:
merlin cyles, England
Strengths:
stiffness ,u-turn, adjustability,durability ,value, looks, performance, versatility also good seals, travel gradients on upper tubes.
Weaknesses:
rockshox sticker falls off and funny damping unit sound now and then, and "pure delite" damping to complex to service at home
Similar Products Used:
2002 rockshox judy sl
Bike Setup:
viper f14 alloy hardtail, full deore group, easton bars,stem and titec stuff and my duke sl u-turns
Bottom Line:
this fork is put on £2500 (or $4000) bikes and so it should its got the features, performance and build quality required. If you do xc and singletrack and occasional drop offs this fork is possibly the best. It performs superb in 63mm (lowest travel setting) and it gobbles anything in its path in 108mm(max) setting, so it really is several forks in one, if the pyslo is to much meat(and money) for you this is the next best thing. but saying that don't downhill it, it enabled me to enjoy mtbing a lot more, it should for you
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Jason
a Cross Country Rider
from Charlotte, NC Date Reviewed: January 9, 2003
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$345.00
Purchased At:
LBS
Strengths:
Easton upper tubes, U-turn (the dial seems like it will hold up nicely...easy to grip/turn). Travel gradients are a great idea. Feels nice when you ride it...I didn't like the judy XC that came on my giant from the start so this is a welcome change.
Weaknesses:
other than the noise of what I think is a "new shock sound," there really is none so far.
Similar Products Used:
judy XC, manitou sx-r (on hardtail), 1996 Sid
Bike Setup:
2001 Giant NRS2,'03 duke sl u-turn, upgraded spd pedals (also use platforms depending on the mood I'm in=) easton bar and neck, SRAM 9.0 derailuer and shifters...speed V saddle.
Bottom Line:
Looks good, durable and it's not too heavy...I will sacrifice a little weight for a plusher ride. The only kind of racing I do is in a local weekly race series (for fun) and this shock will not hold me back. Feels stable and you can pick aggresive lines and the shock will accomodate. Solid buy at this point. This is my initial impression of the shock. I find these reviews useful so I will post a follow up in a few months.
$ 385.00
Overall Rating:
Overall Rating:
Overall Rating:
