Submitted by
mick851
a Cross Country Rider
from england Date Reviewed: October 21, 2008
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Strengths:
got it from bike shop, took it back after 1 hour!!!
Weaknesses:
leaked oil from the rebound, had'nt even rode bike!
Bottom Line:
heard theres a prob with this brand of fork rockshox tora 289 , bike shops had to send forks away to be fixed, going to take a week before i get bike back
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Submitted by
Qui'lan Fett
a Weekend Warrior
from USA Date Reviewed: October 2, 2008
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Strengths:
Well, it sucks up bumps. That is my main requirement. I don't notice it much on climbing, so the lack of lockout is not a problem. I took it off my first 3 foot drop yesterday and it preformed fine.
Weaknesses:
I am light at 120lbs and it is perfect for me. I can see how it would be a problem for heavier riders.
Bike Setup:
07 Iron Horse Warrior 6.0 (Great value)
Bottom Line:
As I said, it sucks up bumps, which is my main requirement. I think the most accurate thing I can say about it is I never have to worry about it. I just leave it at top travel and it works its magic.
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Submitted by
CTrider
a Weekend Warrior
from Griswold CT USA Date Reviewed: July 18, 2008
Favorite Trail:
AM
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Purchased At:
rscycle
Strengths:
Looks ok?
Weaknesses:
Not reliable
Little adjustments
too soft
noisy
Bike Setup:
Iron horse warrior 6.0
Bottom Line:
These forks came on the bike and they are terrible. On the second use of the travel adjustment knob it snapped off on the trail, good thing I brought pliers. A couple weeks later it was only getting about 1/4 of the travel. Turns out something blew and oil was getting by the seals. I rebuilt it a couple times and kept happening.They are way too soft as well. I weigh 160 and ride a large frame and I can bottom these out just by pushing down and I would estimate they have over 30% droop(non adjustable).
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Submitted by
bryce92
a Weekend Warrior
from Kitchener, Ontario, Canada Date Reviewed: June 24, 2008
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Purchased At:
Came with my Norco S
Strengths:
The Tora worked great for me for about a month and half, and continued to go down hill from there. The preload adjuster was useful until it broke. The rebound adjustment was probably the best aspect of the fork, while the 100 mm of travel is a descent amount if you are looking for very very light XC riding, which doesn't occur to me. The disc brake only was also another strength.
Weaknesses:
The coil springs broke after a month or so, and for what it is was meant for(XC), it didn't hold up like it should considering I used it pretty much to exactly what it was recommended for. The preload adjuster popped out because of the broken coils, I am guessing. I believe, and have talked to people at bike shops, that the Tora 289 uses cheap coils which result in very short longevity, and unreliable shocks. I am mostly a XC, freeride, downhill rider, and I was disappointed in the fact that the coils did not last very long. I did not take any really hard hits that triggered to the broken coils. It seemed that every day, from a certain point, the forks went downhill on what quality it gave to me on the trails. I am a very light person who weights 135 pounds, and was surprised that even a light person like me somehow triggered to broken coils. These shocks are under warranty, and I will be sending them back. I will not be using these shocks again, as I am buying new Fox Vanillas.
Similar Products Used:
N/A
Bike Setup:
Norco Storm
Bottom Line:
Bottom line is that for the price you are going to pay for the Rock Shox Tora, you are better of buying yourself a better fork. This fork is meant for very light XC riding, if that, and will not provide you with a long life span. The coil springs are very weak, and the preload adjuster will not work to its fullest extent for a long period of time. I do not have anything against Rock Shox, but this is definitely one of their "Fox 40" in their lineup.
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Submitted by
D.C.
a Weekend Warrior
from south africa Date Reviewed: June 8, 2008
Favorite Trail:
anywhere with nice technical downhills and decent hucks!
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$300.00
Purchased At:
came with bike
Strengths:
durable. i cant count the number of times i bottomed out. u-turn is nice.
Weaknesses:
makes a clicking noise. after 15 months the rebound damper had problems.from all the bottom outs the liquid from the rebound leaked into in some other chamber inside the right leg. so i ordered a rs tora 318 solo air. i suppose its a xc fork and i hucked the yhe hell out of it. and my 318 also isnt made for hucks and light freeride so im thinking of gettin a mongoose khyber.
i had good times with that fork but now i know to be careful with xc forks.
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Submitted by
Scott
a Weekend Warrior
from Pacific Northwest, WA Date Reviewed: April 17, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Anywhere off road
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Strengths:
Very adjustable and very easy to adjust. This thing will eat up anything you can throw at it. At times it feels a little to "soft" but thats probably my fault not the shox. This fork came stock on my bike and i have been extremely impressed with it from the day i got it. The TORA is Rock Solid!
Weaknesses:
None that i have found.
Bike Setup:
Iron Horse Warrior 6.0 (stock)
Bottom Line:
I recommend this to anybody looking! Like I said above this thing eats EVERYTHING you throw at it!
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Submitted by
Raymond Lorica
a Weekend Warrior
from Los Angeles, CA 90042 Date Reviewed: April 9, 2008
Favorite Trail:
RedBox baby!!!
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Purchased At:
bikesdirect.com
Strengths:
Adjustable from 85-130 mm Easy to use, no maintenance issues
Weaknesses:
No lock out feature, but you can buy that separately if you really need it...
Similar Products Used:
Marzocchi Bomber, RockShox Judy XL
Bike Setup:
Motobecane Fantom Comp DS with RockShox Ario 2.2 rear shock and RockShox Tora 218 front suspension
Bottom Line:
For a fork with a coil spring, you can't get much better than this. I've ridden my friends' bike that have an air suspension, and I'll admit it does feel slightly better to have an air suspension, but these came stock on my Motobecane and I'm more than happy with them. I've taken this to RedBox trail in the Angeles Crest Mountains and haven't bottomed out once. For a stock, so called "cheap" fork in the mountain biking world, the Tora's are the bomb!
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Submitted by
Dylan Chernis
a Weekend Warrior
from pretoria, south africa Date Reviewed: February 24, 2008
Favorite Trail:
anywhere
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$300.00
Purchased At:
came with bike
Strengths:
really strong, great rebound adjust, soft spring(bit too soft for jumping).
Weaknesses:
when its set for 130mm travel, it clicks when compressed, so i just twist the u-turn about 120 degrees and its all good. bottoms-out on a 2-3ft drop and i'm 105pounds(i'm 15yrs. high metabolism!). the part where the rebound switch goes into is stripped so now the fork is set for slow and i can't switch it back to fast.
Similar Products Used:
bikes i had in the past had cheap forks except for my last bike which had Spinner Grind.
Bike Setup:
mongoose amasa
Bottom Line:
0n the rock shox website its found under the xc forks but i'd say its a basic all-mountain fork. i've bottomed out more than 200 times and its still good. springs are fine for xc but but they would need to be stiffer for rougher riding. travel adjust is good. rebound adust is great (except for that part that stripped)but other than that clicking noise its great fork and i've had good times with it!
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Submitted by
Edward Louie
a Weekend Warrior
from Portland, OR Date Reviewed: September 15, 2007
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Purchased At:
Performance Bike
Strengths:
It absorbs bumps. Doesn't leak. Low maintenance so far.
Weaknesses:
It does not respond much to small bumps only big ones. The stock coil is a bit stiff for me and i weight 140 lb. I have to do jumps or ride some fairly ruff stuff to be able to really utilize the 100mm of travel. The rebound is nice. The preload does NOT seem to do anything. I have tried turning it all the way both ways and the fork feels pretty much the same. Right now i keep it on the lowest setting because i am light. The preload knob feels really loose at times and stiff during other times.
Bike Setup:
Iron Horse Warrior 5.0 stock
Bottom Line:
Not the best fork. I would like it to be more responsive. No lockout. If it came stock then great but i wouldn't go out and buy it. Even if i only get to fully utilize the 100mm of travel doing jumps and riding down ruff stuff the manufacture does not recommend this fork for jumping or downhill.
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Submitted by
Zlatko Vlasic
a Cross Country Rider
from Zapresic, Croatia Date Reviewed: July 27, 2007
Favorite Trail:
local trails
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Strengths:
Very good absorption, u-turn and rebound adjustment work great, cheap
Weaknesses:
HEAVY!! i miss lock out
Similar Products Used:
dart 2, rst gila
Bike Setup:
Norco charger 07, stock
Bottom Line:
Probably the best XC/AM entry-level fork
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Submitted by
<Mark
a Weekend Warrior
from Hertfordshire U.K. Date Reviewed: July 16, 2007
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Purchased At:
Came with the bike
Strengths:
None i can think of apart from filling the gap between frame & wheel.
Weaknesses:
Horrible, horrible wooden feel. After reading about how good Reba's are, I don't know how Rockshox dare put their name on this junk.
Similar Products Used:
Manitou Axel Super
Bike Setup:
Stock 2007 Giant Trance 3
Bottom Line:
Like a stick stuffed up a drain pipe. Goes up & down but has no feel. The older Manitou on my Scott is ten times better than this. Looking now for a replacement after 300 miles as it's just so awful to ride. Sort of junk i'd expect to find on a fifty dollar steel frame bike, not a bike still costing $2000+ in U.K. . Avoid it at all costs. My first experience of Rockshox and it's pretty much scared me away from the brand already. Gona look for some more Manitou's I think.
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Submitted by
Garrett
a Cross Country Rider
from Conway, Ar, USA Date Reviewed: February 27, 2007
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Purchased At:
www.Bikesdirect.com
Strengths:
Great absorption, nice price, lots of adjustability
Weaknesses:
Lockout has to be bought seperately but you can get a lockout kit for these for about $75.
Bike Setup:
Stock 07 Motobecane Fantom Comp
Bottom Line:
I do not know much about the super high end bikes, but I have ridden on several very nice bikes that my neighbors let me borrow. They are huge xc riders and introduced me to mountain biking for helping them lay sod on their lawn for about an hour. The three of them compete in xc races and frequently win and I have rode about 7 of their hardtail xc “backup bikes” which were all equipped with very nice stuff. These came on my 07 Motobecane Fantom Comp and they work great. I can’t hardly even feel stairs, roots, or bumps when riding in town or on the local single track trails. They seem to handle slightly less responsive than my neighbor’s bikes but they also have several thousand dollar backup bikes and mine cost $595. If you are looking for nice shocks at a reasonable price, give these a try. They do everything I need them to.
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Submitted by
Brian Good
a Cross Country Rider
from Phoenix Date Reviewed: January 3, 2007
Favorite Trail:
Dreamy Draw/Sqaw Peak
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Purchased At:
Bikes Direct (Stock on the Fanton FS Comp)
Strengths:
EXCELLENT absorbing ability, easy to use U-Turn knob, adjustable ride height (85mm-130mm), adjustable dampening, leight weight design, looks GREAT!
Weaknesses:
Stock coil is a little on the soft side for me (I weight about 165 lbs).
Similar Products Used:
J3, J4 (both only tested)
Bike Setup:
Stock motobecane with a Rockshox Tora 289 front fork and a RockShox Ario 2.2 rear shock.
Bottom Line:
The Tora 289 is a GREAT XC introductory fork. However, for you heavier riders, I would recommend haveing a look into the RECON series (they run for about the same price).
In order to recieve the kind of perofrmance I want out of this fork, I'm going to have to invest into a heavier coil.
Otherwise, the performance is GREAT! The adjustable dapening is a real nice touch. It literally abosrbs any bump like a sponge. It's just not the best for drops or heavy jump. I have not bottomed out yet, but I've come VERY close.
$
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