If this fork comes stock on your bike keep a close eye on it. If it suites you use it until it wears out (1 year) and instead of rebuilding it go out and buy a better/more reliable fork. If you do any aggressive XC just go ahead and buy a better and ligheter fork and toss this one in the spare parts pile or use it to build your girl friend or novice buddy a bike.
I purchased my first full sus bike and this fork came on it. I had intentions of swapping it out but just not this soon. Something seems to fail or fall off of it every other month.
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Submitted by
Monty
a Cross Country Rider
from Ft Worth Tx Date Reviewed: May 5, 2008
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$180.00
Purchased At:
Ebay
Strengths:
Lot of spring.Plenty of travel.Affordable.
Weaknesses:
Sping could be a little stiffer as I am a bigger rider.However you can replace that.
Similar Products Used:
SR Suntour, Cheap RST, Dart 3
Bike Setup:
Trek 4300.Upgraded quite a bit
Bottom Line:
Good fork had a internal problem when I bought them But Rock Shox warranty fixed them and they have been fine since.For the money i cant see where you can do more for the price.Lock out works really well
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Submitted by
Jason
a Weekend Warrior
from Rusk, TX, USA Date Reviewed: May 1, 2008
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$190.00
Strengths:
Love the smoothness, rebound is great. Lock out helps in the climbing dept. Incredible performance for the price.
Weaknesses:
I turn down the travel adjustment when loading it in my car, it sticks if I turn it all the way down. Not a huge thing, just an annoyance.
Similar Products Used:
RockShox Duke
Bike Setup:
08 Moto 600HT with the Tora 302, BB7 mechanicals.
Bottom Line:
I'm a big guy (6'2" 225lbs). It works well under my weight and is a huge improvement over the dart that came on the bike.
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Submitted by
Ben
a Weekend Warrior
from Ottawa, ON, Canada Date Reviewed: March 24, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Kanata Lakes
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Purchased At:
Award Cycle
Strengths:
Lots of travel for big hits and big obstacles. Never bottoms out (and I'm 6'5 and 240lbs... although I'm going to be getting an extra stiff spring assembly this season). Great rebound adjustments. Great customer service. I had the fork sent to the factory and rebuilt and back on my bike in a week and a half (not bad, considering the international shipping and whatnot).
Weaknesses:
Something on them seems to break or go wrong with them in the first month (from what I've read and seen for myself). My fork lost all of its damping oil when I was messing around and did a stoppie that went too far, i fell over and the fork rebounded with no resistance. The oil got all over my break pads and it was a big pain in the ass. After they get a factory re-build they seem to be fine and it should all be covered under warranty (depending on what happened, under what circumstances...). Really heavy. Would not recommend it for cross country. Thats why it came with my dirt jumper!
Similar Products Used:
Marzocchi dirt jump comp, manitou nixon
Bike Setup:
Stock Marin B-12
Bottom Line:
Great big hit fork fork for the price... as long as you get it re-built!
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Submitted by
howie davis
a Cross Country Rider
from athens Date Reviewed: September 21, 2007
Favorite Trail:
dupont forest
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$160.00
Purchased At:
sunshine
Strengths:
easy travel adjustment, lock out works well and its fairly stiff. and weight is sign of reliability, right?
Weaknesses:
uhh... weight, small bump sensitivity gets worse as travel is decreased, i'm only 150lbs but it bottomed out often on xc rides.
Similar Products Used:
mars, bomber z1, z4
Bike Setup:
giant rincon frame, xt/xtr.
Bottom Line:
Its a great fork for the money, especially if you like some travel. The damping works good, spring smooth except for the shorter travel setting. One of the best forks if you still use v-brakes.
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Submitted by
Kevin
a
from VA Date Reviewed: August 16, 2007
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$209.00
Strengths:
adjustable travel, price, strength
Weaknesses:
nothing I broke the lockout because i went down witeface with the lockout on on accident (my fault)
Bike Setup:
gary fisher hardtail, eaton bars, carbon acc. this fork, bontrager big earl crankset, truativ bb, ditch witch rims (working on disk brakes)
Bottom Line:
great fork have done downhill on it, singletrack, and urban jumps and drops, very smooth, sometimes lockout knob turns to on position
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Submitted by
Mark Calica
a Weekend Warrior
from Brooklyn, New York Date Reviewed: July 13, 2007
Favorite Trail:
prospect park
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Strengths:
Its a decent fork cause it did came with my bike. It soaks up bumps quite well.
Weaknesses:
Makes a noise when rebounding, and the lack of adjustments for the rebound. Its also pretty heavy. If your bike comes with this fork and you have the extra money change the fork to something better of course.
Similar Products Used:
Rock Shoz quadra 21R, Psylo, Manitou minute.
Bike Setup:
stock 2008 specialized fsr xc.
Bottom Line:
If you dont do much extreme riding you can go by this shocks, but if you go am or fr, change them cause there pretty heavy and may not handle the abuse.
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Submitted by
david
a
from st.albans, hertfordshire, uk Date Reviewed: June 11, 2007
Favorite Trail:
chicksands
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$200.00
Purchased At:
wiggle
Strengths:
adjustability, lockout very stiff
Weaknesses:
makes noise when u slow down dampening, i came off my bike once and the steerer tube was loose from the crown, i have big scar up elbow to remind me off it.
Bike Setup:
specialized hardrock sport 2007, free ride setup
Bottom Line:
good for very little stuff but when it comes to big things it under preforms. its good for the money paid, but i wished id saved a little more to get the rockshox pikes, but i was under budget. deffinitly wanna change
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Submitted by
Jamie
a Cross Country Rider
from Windsor,Ontario Canada Date Reviewed: April 15, 2007
Favorite Trail:
morton
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Purchased At:
Bicycle World
Strengths:
decent entry level fork
Weaknesses:
the u-turn knob broke the first time i tried to adjust it,and its very heavy on the front end
Bike Setup:
norco nitro with LX drive train and crank-set/bb
Bottom Line:
I wouldn`t buy this fork spend the extra for the recon
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Submitted by
Will
a
from Tuscaloosa,AL Date Reviewed: February 2, 2007
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$300.00
Purchased At:
cycle escape
Strengths:
Adjustability, and just as many options as the high end forks without the price.
Weaknesses:
Like the previous review my U-turn knob cracked and rebound dampner blew out. In my first week of riding on the fork I took a 4 drop off the rebound instantly went out, I called Sram and filed it under warranty and they sent a new dampner to the shop and got it back to new. It has a tendency to flex under high braking loads much more so when you have max travel. A little hefty too, first ride you can feel the extra weight.
Similar Products Used:
Marzocchi's mostly. My first Rock Shox.
Bike Setup:
'04 Giant Rainier, Kenda 2.35s, Titec seat, stem and bars. Race Face evolve X-type crank with bash guard. Avid juicy 7s
Bottom Line:
Besides the fork breaking in the first week of owning it, the fork as been nothing but a dream. Rides real smooth, rebound works real well so you won't get bucked of your bike. It soaks up everything without tyring you out in the process
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Submitted by
Thomas
a Weekend Warrior
from Woodstock GA Date Reviewed: January 25, 2007
Favorite Trail:
Blankets Creek
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$170.00
Purchased At:
Airbomb.com
Strengths:
Adjustable travel/ride height. Great with all types of bumps.
Weaknesses:
at full travel the fork is much longer that the standard fork making the front end a little heigh. I have to dial in down to about 100mm but that is not the forks fault and thanks to the u-turn I can play with it till I like it.
Similar Products Used:
Suntour XCT that came with bike
Bike Setup:
diamondback Coil EX with bb7 and tora 302
Bottom Line:
Since I have never ridden a $1000 fork I cant say how it compares to them but it is night and day above the fork that came with the bike. Well worth the money for any one wanting an upgrade that will not break the bank.
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Submitted by
Nelson mcdonough
a Cross Country Rider
from victoria,australia Date Reviewed: January 9, 2007
Favorite Trail:
boat to house
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Purchased At:
ivanhoe cycles
Strengths:
good suck up everything, little and big. and mine come with remote hydrolic lock out =D
Weaknesses:
none so far
Bike Setup:
giant talon...straight form the factory
Bottom Line:
good highly recomended
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Submitted by
sean lewis
a Weekend Warrior
from Bend, OR USA Date Reviewed: December 11, 2006
Favorite Trail:
anything
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$200.00
Purchased At:
RIDE-THIS.COM
Strengths:
Stiff, Comes with aluminum steerer from anywhere i've seen it for sale when rockshox lists that as an upgrade on the site...U-TURN, TURNKEY LOCKOUT (works wonders and still leaves you with about 5-10mm of travel- supposedly has a blowoff for impacts while locked, but i have only tested that once by accident), Stiff, Smooth stroke, Rebound adjustment works well and really makes a noticeable difference. Also, more accurate, higher- tolerance dropout spacing than my previous marzocchis- makes for stronger fork-wheel interface....
Weaknesses:
Plastic knobs and controls- rebound knob or damper- not sure which yet...read below....
U-turn knob broke the first time i used the feature (besides trying it out when i pulled the fork from the box)...new knob cost me $10 from LBS who gave me a deal as it is supposed to be $16 (for another plastic one which i have little to no faith in)- easy to replace though. I've had the fork for 4 months today and at about 2.5 - 3 months of use without issue, the rebound damper suddenly lost all ability to be adjusted. the knob moves full range of motion without feeling stripped and i also removed the knob to try an allen wrench as instructed by RIDETHIS. Nothing. Damper still works, but rebound is currently set too slow, and adjustment does not work. Great Customer svc from ride this so far as I have been able to speak with their president several times regarding the issue- with the result being a free rebuild from RIDETHIS that it have yet to pursue as i have not had the time or money to remove the forks and send them back in. Otherwise, great performing fork that is maybe just lacking in quality... I'll Follow-Up after i get it fixed....So far, still pretty stoked for the price and have not lost fith in rockshox (although i have gained some faith in marzocchi)
$
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