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Home | Product Reviews | 2007 Forks | Fox Racing Shox 36 Talas RC2 | ||||
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Submitted by
mike Ylosnikov
a Downhiller
from P.A.
Date Reviewed: 4/15/2008 8:00:15 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Elhorzi |
| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $700 |
| Purchased At: | friend |
| Strengths: | much much lighter than the last zokee i have used but have same integrity when it comes to usage...talas works great |
| Weaknesses: | none as of now...... |
| Similar Products Tried: | Sixty6 Zokees,888's |
| Bike Setup: | Yeti asx blah blah blah and now fox |
| Bottom Line: | pricey but worth it good air fork for heavy duty use |
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Submitted by
Rickert Mork
a Downhiller
from from sandiego
Date Reviewed: 10/22/2007 3:28:53 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | dirt |
| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $800 |
| Purchased At: | came on trek remedy 66 |
| Strengths: | goes through 1st half its travel plush and the second is more stiff for hits, doesnt get any better than that. takes 4-5 foot drops like candy and eats those gardens if you have speed or not. |
| Weaknesses: | it creeks a little sometimes. The dopers at the dandiego trek garyfisher store put it on backwards and i rode it like that fore 2 months. |
| Similar Products Tried: | other fox forks old and new, some marzochi stiff ass forks. |
| Bike Setup: | stock trek remedy 66 |
| Bottom Line: | this thing is top of the line all mountain fork, but could be stiffer and tougher as id take durability over weight any day for those massive jumps and drops. i olny weigh 120 lbs so i can treat this thing like a dh/fr fork almost. cmon fox were all waitin on your 180 fr fork |
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Submitted by
Doug
a Racer
from Portola Valley, CA USA
Date Reviewed: 9/10/2007 12:22:36 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Demo |
| Duration Product Used: | 2 Years |
| Purchased At: | Used |
| Strengths: | Highly tunable. Lightweight : Stiffness ratio. Adjustable travel. Never leaks down. Low maint. |
| Weaknesses: | Requires patience and trials to set up well. No fender available and bottom steerer tube does not accept star nut. Travel adjuster requires many turns making it impossible to adjust while riding. Effective travel is less than 6" once you set your air spring. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Marz Z1, Manitou Sherman, Fox Talas 32mm |
| Bike Setup: | '06 Enduro, SRAM XO, Fox DHX Air, Easton AM wheels |
| Bottom Line: | I weigh 240, 6'4", aggressive ride/race. Have the fork set at max airspring eprssure to attain correct sag. As such, I get about 5.2" of travel out of the fork. For my weight is rides incredibly well, is stiff and responsive. I use it for AM,XC, and (very) light stunts, drops etc... The fork wants to be ridden hard, to feel right. If you pedal slack and aren't on top of it, pushing it, it feels too firm and doesn't respond well to small chatter. I use the travel udjuster to drop the front end for climbing...so it is a pain in the ass to have to turn the dial 3 full rotations accross the whole rang eof travel....can't do it while pedaling. This is resovled on the latest version by have a throw lever with 3 travel positions. Why can't Fox tap and thread their forks for fender mounting? All of us buying $1000 forks want to ride ALL year. The steerer tube gets so tight at the bottom that you can't use a star nut mounted fender either. I plan to sell my '05 and get the new model: lighter wiehgt, stiffer, rolling travel adjust, and quick release 20mm axle. Best all montain fork for aggressive riders. Only issue: travel adjuster failed immediately, sent to Fox, repaired, no issues since (22 months). Although I really like the fork, had to knock off chilis for product breaking/warranty return, no fender possibilities, and poorly thouhgt out travel adjuster. |
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Submitted by
Dave Hepburn
a Cross Country Rider
from Redding
Date Reviewed: 9/4/2007 7:01:54 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $900 |
| Purchased At: | Chain Gang |
| Strengths: | Stiff with no flex. Tracks very well through the rough |
| Weaknesses: | Stickion and very little small bump compliance |
| Similar Products Tried: | Fox 32 Talas R, F100RLC, F100RL, Vanilla 125RLC, Minute |
| Bike Setup: | Nomad DHX Air |
| Bottom Line: | Great on steep rough trails but lacks the small bump compliance of other fox air forx.(Not even close to their coils). I love the travel adjusment, tunability and versatility it allows...I am a climber more than a downhiller. I have been riding it for several months and it still feels as if it is not boken in. As long as you are aggressive the fork works great, but I like to take it easy and cruise on long all day rides. Quite dissapointed I am switching to a Marzocchi to get that plush feeling. If you like to ride hard and need the adjustable travel go for it. If you are like me and like to ride a little more easily look for something a little smoother on the trail. |
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Submitted by
Adrian
a Downhiller
from Corner Brook, NL, Canada
Date Reviewed: 8/29/2007 9:08:57 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Strengths: | Awesome all around fork. Good for any style of riding, and works awesome in each category. Nearly unlimited amount of adjustability. |
| Weaknesses: | The valve at the travel adjust has a wierd issue of not allowing air into the fork using any type of fork pump after 2 months of riding. The travel adjust no longer works but just increases the rebound as the travel is decreased. I believe the air issue and travel issue may be related. |
| Similar Products Tried: | 2004 Mx Comp w/ETA, 2005 Drop Off Triple, 2006 888 RCV, 2007 888 RCV, 2007 888 RC2X WC |
| Bike Setup: | 2007 Norco Six SE |
| Bottom Line: | These forks work awesome for any type of riding, and is completely dialable for any type specifically. The 36 Talas RC2 has nearly unlimited adjustability so if you get this fork, MAKE SURE that you have it dialed for what you will be doing...otherwise you will be disappointed in what this fork is capable of. Bottom Line = Buy this fork if you enjoy freeriding and downhilling but would like to have a light fork to take on the occasional cross country ride and still be comfortable to use and adjustable in seconds. Don't buy this fork if you prefer the plush and long travel of a triple clamp fork. |
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Submitted by
Philip
a Racer
from Stanford, CA
Date Reviewed: 6/3/2007 9:59:38 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Price Paid: | $350 |
| Purchased At: | friend |
| Strengths: | this fork is super adjustable and its awesome for almost everything. can DH it, race it, dj it, etc... if you want it stiff u can pump it up |
| Weaknesses: | the fork leaks a little bit of oil, not enough to really make me worried at all. its a little bit sticky at the first couple mm's of travel but i think its kause thats the travel that is used when you pedal so it doesnt bob as much |
| Similar Products Tried: | pike 426 |
| Bike Setup: | blk mrkt riot, chris king hubs laced to mavic 729 in back and mavic 321 in front, saint cranks, etc. |
| Bottom Line: | this is an awesome fork if you can afford it. i love it and it can almost do anything but the only thing about it is its a tiny bit heavy but its a big traveled fork so what do you expect. it feels light for how much performance it gives out. definitely worth the money if you can get one. if it gets messed up u can send it into fox and theyl fix it |
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Submitted by
Will
a Cross Country Rider
from San Diego, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: 5/24/2007 1:10:09 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Strengths: | Stiffness, 3-click travel adjustment (4, 5, and 6 inches), adjustability. |
| Weaknesses: | Through-axle easily stripped if not careful, travel-adjustment lever could have a little more area so gloved fingers can move it more easily. |
| Bike Setup: | Ellsworth Moment with all the good stuff! |
| Bottom Line: | I'm a big fan of coil suspension because of the plushness and durability, but I couldn't resist a fork that can be dialed from 4 inches of travel to over 6 with just 3 clicks of the lever on top of the left stanchion. Also, I wanted my Moment to be as light as possible without giving up big-hit capabilities. So, the 36 Talas RC2 became the obvious choice. Set up is fairly straightforward. I have set it and forgotten it, but a more sophisticated tinkerer might get even more performance from it. Plush and stiff are the cliched catch-words that come to mind. It plain made me faster and smoother through rocky and/or rooted sections that I used to have steer through. Now I simply point and shoot. And climbing my Moment is much easier since I'm able to bring the front end down to 4 inches, which isn't really much of a penalty suspension-wise. I even forgot to return the shock to full boing for a rocky descent after a climb and actually didn't notice the difference until I was through it. The metal around the hole for allen wrench is very soft and easily stripped. I stripped out the hole. So did a friend of mine who has the same fork. Don't thread the axle in tightly. Just snug it up and then tighten the clamping bolts. Oh, and don't forget to loosen the clamping bolts completely before trying to unthread the axle. That's the mistake my friend made. Perhaps a steel insert for the allen wrench is needed. |
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Submitted by
Shannon Wilson
a Cross Country Rider
from Portland OR USA
Date Reviewed: 3/20/2007 2:28:43 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | McKeinze River Bridge Store |
| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Price Paid: | $900 |
| Purchased At: | Universal Cycles |
| Strengths: | Plush and light. Travel adjust lever useful and is easy to work. Made in USA. |
| Weaknesses: | Could use a quick release. Could use a handlebar lockout. Not a big deal. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Nixons aren't as smooth. |
| Bike Setup: | Nomad |
| Bottom Line: | Set up is simple. Adjustments are useful. Small bump compliance is nice. Best of all the steering is precise. Fox could have done away with the 100mm setting on the TALAS, it's too low. Overall this fork is a great product. The only thing this fork might use it a handlebar lockout. I thought the 36TALAS was way expensive, but now the Lyric 2step is up $200. You can't go wrong with Fox, but I hear Rox Shox is catching up. |
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Submitted by
Tom Cosgrove
a Weekend Warrior
from Alta Loma, ca.
Date Reviewed: 1/30/2007 9:05:55 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Chiquito |
| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $900 |
| Purchased At: | Jensons |
| Strengths: | Stiff, adjustable, nice color. |
| Weaknesses: | price |
| Similar Products Tried: | van rc36 |
| Bike Setup: | o6 enduro all the goodies |
| Bottom Line: | After going through all the b/s with nixons and minutes, blowing out the rebound on the vanilla 36 and the travel adjust problems with the pike air 454, I must say the talas rocks. 5 clicks of high speed comp, 3 clicks of low speed comp and voila! Bingo, feels like my old z-1 but lighter. |
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Submitted by
Pasi
a Downhiller
from Espoo, Finland
Date Reviewed: 1/27/2007 12:10:47 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Tunnel trail |
| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Price Paid: | $985 |
| Purchased At: | Velo Pro, Santa Barbara |
| Strengths: | Very quick travel adjsut, 100-160mm of travel in two clicks. Loads of tunability, e.g. high and low compression adjustment plus rebound. Bottom out dampening added this year. Low weight but still very stiff. |
| Weaknesses: | Talas2 cartridge leaks oil, slightly (to be fixed under warranty). Initial part of the travel is somewhat sticky, even after running in for a while. |
| Similar Products Tried: | '06 Fox 32 Talas RLC, '07 Fox Vanilla RLC, '06 Fox 36 VAN R |
| Bike Setup: | Heavily upgraded Kona Coiler. |
| Bottom Line: | This fork is expensive but worth it if you need adjustable travel. The new Talas2 cartridge is a major improvement over the previous 3mm incremental adjustment. This makes for a very versatile bike build. Although not super plush (compared to coil), it still gets the job done quite well. |
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Submitted by
Alex C
a Downhiller
from Lansing, MI, USA
Date Reviewed: 11/8/2006 10:42:22 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Crank it up |
| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Price Paid: | $900 |
| Purchased At: | Velocipede peddler |
| Strengths: | Super beefy, very very adjustable awesome attention to detail, nice housing routing system and It's a Fox! |
| Weaknesses: | None so far |
| Similar Products Tried: | Manitou sherman, Marzocchi DJ, Rock shock reba |
| Bike Setup: | 2006 Santa Cruz Blur 4x, with 2007 Fox 36 talas, King hubs laced to dt-swiss 5.1d rims, Saint brakes, xt-drivetrain etc. |
| Bottom Line: | If you want an adjustable travel fork that you can "tune" and notice a dramatic difference, this is the fork for you. This fork will let you know how spension is suppose to be. Fox makes the best forks on the market hands down and to top that they are all made here in the USA. Plus their web site has videos and tons of information on how to service their forks. Trust me you wont regret spending the $900. |
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Submitted by
Dave
a Weekend Warrior
from Darlo, UK
Date Reviewed: 11/7/2006 6:09:40 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Glentress, Scotland |
| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $800 |
| Purchased At: | Hong Kong Bike Shop |
| Strengths: | Smooth, rigid and well made |
| Weaknesses: | None so far |
| Similar Products Tried: | Maverick DUC-32's, Talas 32's |
| Bike Setup: | Fairly stock Whyte 46 - with a few added scratches and dents |
| Bottom Line: | I have lived and loved my DUC-32's for the past 3 years. They always seemed way too soft but swallowed enourmous hits. The RC2's are totally the opposite - they seem way too rigid and you wonder if you've got too much air in them - then you drop off something or rattle across a rough track! These forks are going to be a hoot! ps Hong Kong Bikeshop through e-bay are great! |
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Submitted by
phil schlosser
a Weekend Warrior
from colorado springs
Date Reviewed: 11/1/2006 2:48:47 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | my own |
| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $885 |
| Purchased At: | Mojo Wheels |
| Strengths: | Seriously stiff, Smooth as butter out of the box,light. |
| Weaknesses: | None so far |
| Similar Products Tried: | 36 van RC2, Mar.888RC,Z.1 freeride. |
| Bike Setup: | Santa Cruz Nomad. XT crank,Single tracks,Hadley hubs, DHX5.0 air. |
| Bottom Line: | This fork is light, stiff and the travel is sooo smooth. Set up is commonly easy if you know what you are doing. This is the best fork i have ever ridden hands down. I have a 36vanRc2 on my Vpfree and i like the Talas better. I bought it from Mojo Wheels in Denver CO. the best bike shop i have ever been in. These guys are super awesome to their customers. I have ridden the fork down some pretty gnarly terrain and it felt great at high speed. I have never ridden a air fork before i have always stuck to coil just because i don't like to do maintenance on my bike all the time. But after riding it and now knowing how it feels. I think i am sold on the air. Same thing for the DHX5.0 air. The set up on my Nomad with the Talas in the front and the DHX 5.0 air in the rear is awesome. I have never ridden a more comfortable bike in my life. It just sucks up everything so smoothly and no sharp edges what so ever. I would recommend this fork to anyone that wants a really stiff,light fork for big mountain trail riding. |
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