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Home | Product Reviews | 2006 Front Shocks | RST Gila-SL | ||||
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Submitted by
ben
a Downhiller
from kidby in england
Date Reviewed: 3/17/2008 7:29:04 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Purchased At: | off my m8 |
| Strengths: | i cannot seem to break these forks i have given these rok all for the past 3 months and have only managed to bottom out 2wice |
| Weaknesses: | scratch easy and the seals split easy |
| Similar Products Tried: | rokshoks |
| Bike Setup: | ddg shooter with rst t7 gila plus forks front nd bak hope 4pot hydrolic wavy discs ddg step and bars shamano lx changer and deralier |
| Bottom Line: | good forks very strong but mine have been uprated they have better seals and springs and seals inside so they have about 180mm travel |
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Submitted by
Jamie Smith
a Cross Country Rider
from Texus
Date Reviewed: 2/18/2008 1:44:48 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | xc |
| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Price Paid: | $850 |
| Purchased At: | Libra Snakes |
| Strengths: | Ermm... good for manufactureers to rip people off with no strength for ppl who buy em |
| Weaknesses: | I have the 2007 RST Gilla Plus T7 which are hopeless!!!They seize up all the time, the adjusters dont work, bottom out all the time cannot even do a single jump. These do not work in cold weather or even when its sunny, its like having two bricks on the front of your bike instead of forks. Waste of time even making these forks but they are made by RST so what did you expect |
| Similar Products Tried: | Marzocchi mx pro ETA Bomber, Marzocchi xc 500 Bomber, Fox Vanilla. |
| Bike Setup: | Came on my 2007 Specialized Hardrock |
| Bottom Line: | If you want to do jumping, XC, or just ride about. Do not buy these you will regret it. Spend the extra and get some real forks that actually work e.g Marzocchi Bombers |
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Submitted by
Zsolt M
a Cross Country Rider
from Csikszereda, Romania
Date Reviewed: 8/18/2007 12:19:19 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $100 |
| Strengths: | it's better than without it the lockout works |
| Weaknesses: | the adjustment does nothing travels only ~40mm |
| Bike Setup: | kelly's quartz |
| Bottom Line: | It's better than some of the lower-end shocks and it's not a bad solution if you're just starting out and don't have a load of money to buy a bike with. |
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Submitted by
N/A
a Weekend Warrior
from Ontario
Date Reviewed: 7/22/2007 3:45:56 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Kamakasi |
| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Purchased At: | East side |
| Strengths: | Well its realy good for getting crash videos (this is a Gila plus T6 but same thing pretty much) |
| Weaknesses: | Umm...everything. If you don't grease it, your lucky to get 60mm out of the 100. And if you do grease it, it botoms out off a two foot drop. By 3-4 feet it kills your wrists. It leaves black grease and oil on the stantions and you have to wipe them after every ride. The ajuster knobs don't do anything and after a few big drops they jam anyway. Responds way to slow and causes your bike to buck. Dangerous and not fun. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Well just on friends bikes. A marzocchi Z1 (nice fork) and a MZ comp (not so good, but beter than the RST) |
| Bike Setup: | 06 Specialized Hardrock sport disk. bikes not bad, but get a beter fork. |
| Bottom Line: | If you are planning on putting one on your bike don't bother, unless your replacing a walmart fork you will be extremely disapointed. Even then save your money til you have enough for a beter fork cause you will just end up replacing it. Even a low end used Marzocchi, Fox or Manitou beat it by a mile. |
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Submitted by
Chris M
from Ft Lauderdale, Florida, USA
Date Reviewed: 6/27/2007 1:32:19 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | any |
| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Price Paid: | $75 |
| Purchased At: | online |
| Strengths: | soaks up bumps |
| Weaknesses: | do not ever bottom this fork out hard, i was using it on small dirtjumps and i landed flat and the left fork spring assembly ejected itself with a lot of force into my face! i fixed it after finding all the parts scattered around and now i cant ride my bike hard. |
| Bottom Line: | good fork if you keep you wheels on the gound all the time |
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Submitted by
Wil
a Weekend Warrior
from Adelaide, South Australia
Date Reviewed: 5/10/2007 11:07:41 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | The Overlocker |
| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Purchased At: | Came on bike |
| Strengths: | The front fork plays a most important role in the performance of the front wheel. |
| Weaknesses: | Having said that, the bike would ALMOST perform better without it. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Human face (when the forks fail!) |
| Bike Setup: | Felt 880 frame, deore f&r derail. deore disk. |
| Bottom Line: | Depends on the level of riding, and as I'm progressing to the more downhill side of XC then, all things being equal, it is not the right tool for the job. Not only can you not change the travel (only the rebound, and even that is rather arbitrary and inneffective) but there are some serious quality issues. For example, the seals on the stanchons came loose after the first mile of riding and dirt and water can easily get into the coils. They WILL bottom out going over or off of anything higher than half a foot! They really buck and rebound lke crazy, especially going around banked corners at high speed. More than a little hairy at times. They just throw you off the bike. If it comes with the bike you should DEFINITELY ask the shop if they can upgrade for you. It would be nice of me to say that they are a nice beginners fork, but even that would be a lie!!! Just dangerous in the hands of anyone but the most balanced and expert of riders (and even then!) Get a 06 recon or tora. You can find them for $300-400 somethimes less and the difference will blow you away!!! Quality and price are very close together in forks these days so beware. IF IT'S CHEAP, IT'S NOT BECAUSE OF THE HIGH QUALITY!!! |
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Submitted by
Jacob Brendel
a Downhiller
from Wisconsin
Date Reviewed: 4/14/2007 4:43:15 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | skids |
| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $190 |
| Purchased At: | Williamson Bicycle |
| Strengths: | It is cheap |
| Weaknesses: | This thing doesnt work in cold weather. It just locks up and it doesnt travel at all. So if you like riding in snow like me, dont by this fork. |
| Similar Products Tried: | nothin compares to this crap |
| Bike Setup: | Specialized hardrock, truvative cranks, the good stuff |
| Bottom Line: | this fork is horrable. RST is horrable. Don't buy this fork. For the money, just go out and buy a Manitou nixon, not this thing. |
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Submitted by
Steve
a Cross Country Rider
from Winston Salem
Date Reviewed: 4/5/2007 2:51:10 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Hobby Park |
| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Purchased At: | LBS |
| Strengths: | They are not mead of lead or cast iron, I guess that is a plus |
| Weaknesses: | Not really 80mm of travel. I can bottom them out like it is my job, completely worthless |
| Similar Products Tried: | Manitou Axel Black, Rockshox Judy |
| Bike Setup: | Trek 4300 Frame with XT/LX parts, BB5s. |
| Bottom Line: | They come stock with some bikes. If you want to ride singletrack, swap them out; they could make a good paperweight. If you want to commute to school, keep them. I bought a Tora 318 from pricepoint to replace these, although it has not arrived yet |
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Submitted by
John
a Cross Country Rider
from Bunbury, WA
Date Reviewed: 2/18/2007 2:29:34 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Pile Road |
| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Purchased At: | came with a bike |
| Strengths: | This is for the gila plus sl. Doesn't have many strengths. When its locked out it becomes 100% rigid, 0 travel. |
| Weaknesses: | It is next to useless for racing. It flexes and is unresponsive. At times downright scary. |
| Similar Products Tried: | rigid singlespeed fork, RS Reba |
| Bike Setup: | Giant XtC1 07 (with Oury grips =) (these were on a GT avalanche 2) |
| Bottom Line: | Coming from these to the rebas is a relief. The RST forks are horrible for any bumps over 3 inches tall. They can't respond quickly enough and they compress after the bump so the whole bike bucks. On descents this is a problem, also because they dive a bit under brakes so if you do any technical descending, at all, and want to live, get a better pair of forks. They aren't too bad for the street, because their lockout function is useless for the trail. Oh yeah, the lockout button frequently jams, doesn't work. |
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Submitted by
tom
from england
Date Reviewed: 12/21/2006 10:56:34 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | wisley |
| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Purchased At: | evans cycles |
| Strengths: | its only alright if u use some sus grease it loosens the sus up a bit OK on 2-3 drops. its ajustable |
| Weaknesses: | it bottoms out on about 5 foot if u over hit a jump it hurts like hell on ur wrists |
| Similar Products Tried: | dj3,2,1. dirt jam comps. |
| Bike Setup: | hardrock sport frame, dmr wingbar, slim jim peadals, race face gearing. |
| Bottom Line: | if it comes with ur bike its ok but dont go out of ur way to swap it swap it after bout 6 months |
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Submitted by
reuben
a Weekend Warrior
from nz
Date Reviewed: 12/20/2006 2:20:28 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | hi-roller |
| Duration Product Used: | 2 Years |
| Strengths: | lockout works |
| Weaknesses: | too stiff, not enough travel adjusters do nothing |
| Similar Products Tried: | none |
| Bike Setup: | mongoose tyax super 2005 |
| Bottom Line: | the are not very good so don't buy them they suck and don't waste your money on them |
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Submitted by
Chris Da cyclist
a Cross Country Rider
from England
Date Reviewed: 11/10/2006 2:39:50 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Four Marks-Alton |
| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Purchased At: | Evans cycles (stock on 05 hardrock) |
| Strengths: | none really They came on a good bike |
| Weaknesses: | can only use about 10mm of travel-CRAP!! Weighs a ton Looks awful |
| Similar Products Tried: | RockShox tora 302 solo air(excellent) |
| Bike Setup: | Specialized Hardrock disk 05 |
| Bottom Line: | Do not get this fork!!!! Get Rockshox tora's Get a Specialized Hardrock |
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Submitted by
Terrence
a Weekend Warrior
from b.c., canada
Date Reviewed: 10/27/2006 7:41:25 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Purchased At: | bicycle sports pacific |
| Strengths: | (i am doing a reveiw for the gila plus)cant really think of any...wait i dont think it is possible to bottom out this fork unless you do a huge drop cause this fork sucks so much |
| Weaknesses: | freezes up when its cold outside and only moves about 10mm when frozen...heavy, looks, ajustment knobs do absolutely nothin |
| Similar Products Tried: | different rst fork with 45mm travel (came stock on this old wal-mart bike) but now im using a 05 DJ3 |
| Bike Setup: | gary fisher mullet |
| Bottom Line: | dont buy this fork its ok if your just using it for commuting and you have some bumps on your way there but DO NOT BUY THIS FORK even though it says 100mm of travel ive front cased jumps and it still hasnt moved 100mm maybe 80mm at the most so the bottom line is **DON'T BUY THIS FORK** |
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Submitted by
John Birnie
a Weekend Warrior
from Toronto
Date Reviewed: 10/18/2006 5:25:56 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Don Valley and The circuit |
| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Purchased At: | stock with bike |
| Strengths: | NONE CEPT FOR THE FACT THAT ITS LIGHT. THERES A REASON ITS LIGHT. THERES NOTHING GOOD AND THATS A LOT OF WIEGHT |
| Weaknesses: | EVERYTHING |
| Similar Products Tried: | zocchi drop offs, and dirt jam pros and comps. |
| Bike Setup: | 05 specialized hardrock sport, with axiom double jump pedals and hopefully a rock shox ike soon. THATS THE BEST FORK EVER. PIKE 4 LIFE |
| Bottom Line: | dont buy it and if it comes with your bike buy a new fork. thats what im doin |
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Submitted by
Jeremy
a Downhiller
from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: 9/15/2006 9:31:29 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Purchased At: | Cyclepath |
| Strengths: | None. It's slightly adjustable? |
| Weaknesses: | Takes a while to brake in. It bounces alot, even on small roots...its like riding a pogo stick. It is only a little bit adjustable but is still very stiff. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Marzzochi drop off 4, Dirt jumper comps. |
| Bike Setup: | Raliegh 3.0 frame, dirt jumper comps, avid bb5's, other junk. |
| Bottom Line: | This fork sucks. It came stock with my old bike, and it really really....really doesn't do what it's supposed to do..which is to be good. Then again...wtf is RST? buy another fork. 1 FLAMMING CHILLI! |
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Submitted by
Erik
a Cross Country Rider
from Texas
Date Reviewed: 7/18/2006 6:17:34 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years |
| Strengths: | Does what its suppose to do. Survived on 2-3 foot drops. |
| Weaknesses: | Not super smooth, but that doesnt bother me. :-) |
| Similar Products Tried: | Stance flow, RS Tora |
| Bottom Line: | Yeah it's a cheap POS, but it has been riding with me for 3+ years and hasn't had any problems. |
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Submitted by
tyler
a Downhiller
from sparks,nevada
Date Reviewed: 7/4/2006 8:39:31 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Keystone canyon |
| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $350 |
| Purchased At: | rcf |
| Strengths: | only strenght is the cool stickers. this came stock on my bike. |
| Weaknesses: | it rusted up and is super stiff. the adjusters don't even adjust the fork! |
| Similar Products Tried: | i hope i never have to use a fork like this again! |
| Bike Setup: | stock |
| Bottom Line: | don't by this fork it's a piece of poop and if it happens to come stock get a new fork. |
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Submitted by
nick whites
a Weekend Warrior
from paris
Date Reviewed: 6/3/2006 5:38:36 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | spoke |
| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Purchased At: | cyclepath brantford came with chucker |
| Strengths: | what strengths |
| Weaknesses: | heavyish caps get locked easy they suck i h8 them not soft enuf |
| Similar Products Tried: | hopfuly nothing |
| Bike Setup: | gt chucker2.0 (i named her hucker)upgraded bars hussefelt dh rise geting new 06 manitou stance new fsa pig head set and geting hussefelt stem |
| Bottom Line: | they suck get something differnt. fox manitou marzocchi even sr suntour |
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