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Average Rating
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2.89/5
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# of Reviews
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9
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MSRP
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$
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Weight
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More Products from RockShox
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Description:
- Travel: 80 or 100mm
- Spring: Coil
- Upper Tubes: 28mm 4130 Steel
- Damping: TurnKey Lockout
- Crown: Forged, Pocketed 6061 T-6 Aluminum
- Steerer Tube: Steel
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Submitted by
Domtar
a Weekend Warrior
from Tacoma, WA
Date Reviewed: July 5, 2008 | | Favoriate Trail: | Tiger Mountain | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$130.00 | | Purchased At: | REI | | Strengths: | Inexpensive, Lock out feature. | | Weaknesses: | Not adjustable like higher end forks. Rebound is too slow for aggressive trail riding. | | Similar Products Used: | Rock Shox Psylo Race, Older Manitou forks. | | Bike Setup: | 6061 Hardtail. Truvativ Stylo Cranks, XT drivetrain, nothing too special. | | Bottom Line: | I would recommend forking out an extra $100 for something a bit stiffer and more adjustable. A used high-end fork would probably be better than the dart 3 fork even though it's brand new. The lock-out feature is great for the price, but it only worked for the first few rides, then nothing. Sometimes this fork seems more dangerous than helpful when the fork bottoms out but can't rebound fast enough, creating no control and a bad situation when riding technical trails. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Blu Falcon
a Weekend Warrior
from College Park
Date Reviewed: May 29, 2008 | | Favoriate Trail: | Trail of the Gods | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$140.00 | | Purchased At: | Price Point | | Strengths: | Performs better than the stock RST shock that came on my bike, adjustable rebound, Poploc (if it worked), adjustable spring preload | | Weaknesses: | Poploc, build quality | | Similar Products Used: | Stock RST shock | | Bike Setup: | The Bloody Bahstud | | Bottom Line: | I was quite happy to find a budget fork that offered more in the way of travel distance, adjustability and lockout capability. I dropped it off at my LBS for installation and was ready to put the fork to use for my commutes and weekend warrior mountain biking. To my surprise, my brand new Dart 3 fork was not working properly. The fork simply would not lockout at all. I fully understand that a fork will not completely lockout as if it were a straight rigid, but there was no reduction in travel and still lots of bobbing when climbing and sprinting, which was only somewhat rectified when I set the spring to it's most firm setting. But the bottom line is, the Poploc should've worked and it didn't. I took the bike in to my LBS to get a second opinion and they agreed that the lockout was not working as it should. If they can't fix the problem, I'll have the fork replaced under warranty, which will be a hassle in itself. If the problem can be fixed then I'll continue to ride the fork until I've saved enough to spring for the Recon 351. Overall, I can't in good conscience recommend this fork. Do yourself a favor and ride your stock POS fork until it breaks or until you've managed to save enough money for the front suspension of your dreams. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
John D
a Weekend Warrior
from Crestone, CO USA
Date Reviewed: May 26, 2008 | | Favoriate Trail: | Local Secret | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$135.00 | | Purchased At: | Jensonusa | | Strengths: | Does great at absorbing the bumps for my purposes. Very happy with the price and quality of this shock. Upgraded to this from my crappy stock insync shock that came with the bike and was basically a rigid fork by the time I switched. A world of difference. | | Weaknesses: | A little on the heavy side, but doesn't effect what I do. | | Similar Products Used: | Tora 302, others can't remember models | | Bike Setup: | 2004 Marin Bolinas hardtail. | | Bottom Line: | Great shock for the price!! | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
William Sullivan
a Weekend Warrior
from Port St. Lucie, Florida
Date Reviewed: April 6, 2008 | | Favoriate Trail: | Alafia | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$180.00 | | Purchased At: | Villiage Bike Shop | | Strengths: | Light and cushy | | Weaknesses: | Setup was a little tough but no big deal. | | Similar Products Used: | Suntour (crap) | | Bike Setup: | K2-zed 1.0, Truvativ psylo cranks, Crank Bro's mallets pedals, Shimano XTR V-brakes, Bontrager wheels and tires, oury lock-ons grips, Dart-3 fork | | Bottom Line: | This is definately not an 800 air shock! But it is a great shock for the cash. I spent a little more than the average because I had it rush shipped. I just put in over 20 miles at Alafia River state park in Florida and was bombing down 40' plus high hills and back up the other side with no problem at all. It definately ate up the bumps on the fast downhill sections and drops and allowed me to do things I hadn't been able to do on my old cheapy fork. The setup was a bit suspect as you turn the knob on top to adjust the sag, not the amount of spring load. I think that's where others ran into problems. Springiness is adjusted by swapping springs (it's in the manual idiot!) Overall I love it, and I'm not sure that I'd spend the money on a more advanced fork if I had to do it again. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Marcus Hirschberg
a Cross Country Rider
from Santa Rita, GU
Date Reviewed: March 26, 2008 | | Favoriate Trail: | Channel 10 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$130.00 | | Purchased At: | Bicycle Outfitters Indy | | Strengths: | Price, adjustability | | Weaknesses: | Weight, I have heard it frezzes up in cold weather (not confirmed) | | Similar Products Used: | Rockshox Pilot XC, Tora Air | | Bike Setup: | 2005 Giant Rincon | | Bottom Line: | This was a HUGE upgrade from the suntour POS that came on my bike. I am reviewing this taking into account the niche that this fork fills. No it is not for jumps or extremely aggressive riding. Suddenly I could ride things I thought were impossible, I now see due to the pogo stick Suntour XC60. This is a high value upgrade. Definitely recommend the Dart 3 over the Dart 2 since it is about half a pound lighter and offers remote lockout. The lockout is handly on an all-around type bike that the Dart 3 should be on, as opposed to an agressive trail bike. This is superior to most of the stock forks on sub-800 bikes. Just make sure you splurge on the Dart 3, it is worth the extra 20 or so dollars. Due to its narrow stancions and weight, this is not indended for extremely agressive riding, but it does offer excellent rebound adjustability. It makes a kind of noisy air sound when the damping is activated but it sounds kind of cool. I have this on what is now my secondary/backup/loaner bike and if I had to use it in a race because my FS was in the shop I wouldn't worry too much. Really, for 130 bucks you can't beat it to breathe some life into a bike that came with a Suntour or RST POS. I weigh 150 lbs and the stock medium spring was perfect, take your weight into consideration and the possibility of "forking" out 20 bucks on a different spring. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bryan Buckley
a Weekend Warrior
from Lewisville, TX
Date Reviewed: March 6, 2008 | | Favoriate Trail: | Northshore | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Purchased At: | Bikes Plus | | Strengths: | Works great! Love the lockout and rebound adjustment. | | Weaknesses: | already bent after one ride. | | Bike Setup: | Trek 6000 series | | Bottom Line: | I can't believe that it already bent. I rode one trail for 14 miles. I didn't jump or crash or anything. I just rode the trail. Must have been a defect from the manufacturer.
Other than that it was great. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
ISAAC MIZRAHI
a Cross Country Rider
from MEXICO
Date Reviewed: February 19, 2008 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$300.00 | | Purchased At: | Trans Vision Bike | | Strengths: | The remote cabel to block it, cheap nice design | | Weaknesses: | No any yet | | Similar Products Used: | Manitou | | Bike Setup: | Scott Yekora All XT, Disc brakes Avid BB7 160mm, Mavic wheels, IRC Marathon tires in both of them | | Bottom Line: | Very good design and performance, I use my bike to travel around the world with a lot of weight on it (almost 150 kg including the bike and me) . I think I don´t need an expensive fork, this makes the job very well in the diferent kind of tracks, mud, concrete, gravel etc.
Also it has V-brakes post that I use to fix the front rack for the panniers | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
socalguy
a
from SoCal
Date Reviewed: January 27, 2008 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Purchased At: | Came on bike | | Strengths: | It held the wheel... I guess it is kinda squishy. This fork has lockout which is nice but it is so damn stiff that it's like riding a rigid all the time practically. Sure it will compress but my goodness it takes quite a bit of coaxing to do so. The adjustable rebound was nice too. | | Weaknesses: | Preload twisty thingy is on so tight I could never turn mine. Fork is heavy as poop. Very stiff, like riding a rigid. In cold weather, fifty degrees farenheit or so, the fork turns to solid steel or something. Don't count on any night rides or cold weather riding. | | Similar Products Used: | Horse | | Bike Setup: | 07 Specialized Rockhopper Disc w/ 07 Fox F100 RL, 08 SRAM x9 drivetrain. | | Bottom Line: | If it comes on the bike then you might as well ride it til it dies and then upgrade. Or you could just sell it and maybe make a hundred bucks and put that towards something that resembles a legit fork. I've used it for six months and have sometimes wondered if the fork compressed at all. So if you're on extreme budget or just want to ride it til it dies it'll be fine. Other wise, check craigslist and other online sources becaue you can find awsome deals sometimes.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jason
a Cross Country Rider
from Mesa, AZ
Date Reviewed: January 19, 2008 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$125.00 | | Strengths: | cheap, does enough to get by | | Weaknesses: | rough, stiff in cold weather | | Similar Products Used: | marzochi z5 bomber | | Bike Setup: | hard tail xt & xtr | | Bottom Line: | This shock proves the saying, "you get what you pay for." The only reason I bought it was because I was going on a weekend trip and just didn't have the money to get something decent. I was hoping to get lucky and find an inexpensive fork that could be decent, but that did NOT happen.
Everything was good enough until winter hit. In temps anything below like 60 degrees, the fork stiffens up. I might as well be riding a fully rigid. Totally discouraging to have a bike I literally can't use for the winter. I'm not on the market to buy a new shock... this time I'll spend some more money. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
bernard
a Weekend Warrior
from Philippines
Date Reviewed: November 28, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | Bolinao, Caliraya Trails | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Purchased At: | Arelysbike | | Strengths: | Preload adjustment, Rebound, and Lock-Out. Functions well, pretty light for its level fork. | | Weaknesses: | I'll make another review on this fork after another 3 months, can't find any yet. | | Similar Products Used: | Skareb Comp, Axel Elite and Judy's. | | Bike Setup: | Hardtail Haro Flightline Expert | | Bottom Line: | A wise buy fork! A betetr alternative for the expensive forks. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
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