Rockshox XC 32 TK and 30 Gold TK....performance differences?

gremlin75 · Mar 9, 2015

I'm looking at these two forks and have just been bashing my head against the wall trying to figure out if there is any real performance difference between them. :madman:

They are both entry level forks with rockshox hinting that the 30 gold is a step above the XC line. XC32 has 32mm uppers compared to 30 gold's 30mm, so the XC should be stiffer. 30 gold has aluminum steerer and uppers making it about 1.5lbs (692g) lighter then the xc32. 30 gold comes with a pump, XC does not. Both have non removable bushings and use the TK dampener.

So cool.....but what about performance? Does the 30 gold perform any better then the XC32? I've been trying to find a comparison between the two and have come up pretty empty. Anyone have any knowledge of how they compare to each other while eating up roots and rocks on the trail?

P.S. I am asking about the solo air XC32 not the older coil version.

Kiwiplague · Mar 9, 2015

Chassis stiffness and a slightly lighter weight are really the only major differences between the forks. Damper wise, they both use a pretty basic damper (port orifice IIRC), so no real performance difference on the trail.
If you can save a bit more, then there are some much better forks you could look at, as unless you are upgrading from a very bottom of the line fork with just elastomer springs etc, then you won't get a big increase in performance.

unaware · Mar 9, 2015

You can probably pick a NOS Recon Gold for around the same price and at least you can change out the damper to a Moco version which will increase performance quite a bit. I'd try to save up for a Reba or better and depending on your bike specs you can find new ones for $350. Much better performance than the two you've mentioned.

gremlin75 · Mar 9, 2015

Kiwiplague said:
unless you are upgrading from a very bottom of the line fork with just elastomer springs etc, then you won't get a big increase in performance.

Thats exactly where I'm coming from

Yes I know they are bottom on the line forks and that there are a ton of better forks out there. But both are within my budget, they will be going on a 6 year old entry level frame, and either will be a HUGE step up from the piece of crap suntour fork I've been riding for the last 6 years. That pos suntour has been good enough for this long so a new low end rockshox will be more then enough fork for me. Just with so little info on the 30 gold I couldn't find out if it had any performance gains over the xc32. On paper to me it really didn't seem like it but I know very little about fork tech

The price difference between them (once the pump is added in) is only about $50. I Don't mind paying the extra $50 for the weight saving but as I'm a Clyde I thinking the larger steel uppers might be a better ideas then saving wright....

watts888 · Mar 9, 2015

If it's air cartridge, and you don't mind the extra pound, I'd go for the XC32. I'm about 240lb riding weight, and I liked my XC32. I like my recon even better though. If you can find one, I'd go for the recon silver.

Something I found out, the XC32 uses non-replacable plastic bushings inside the lower while the recon used a metalic sleeve replacable bushing inside the lower. for the price of the XC32, not really worth servicing, but after a couple years of hard use, I could start to feel a bit of play in the XC32 (could have been bushings, could have been the seals). Haven't felt that yet in the recon. I don't know if the XC30 gold uses the plastic or metal sleeves, but I'm led to believe it's supposed to be somewhere between the recon silver and recon gold (based on retail price)

gremlin75 · Mar 9, 2015

From what I can tell the 30 gold had non replaceable bushings as well. At a bit over $200 I'd consider the xc32 a disposable fork once the bushings went bad anyways. If I can get a few years out of it before they go bad I'd be happy with the fork.

Daniel de la Garza · Feb 28, 2016

I have the XC 30 and thinking about upgrading to 30 gold TK mainly because of weight reduction... Should I wait and get a better upgrade?

Enviado desde mi C6906 mediante Tapatalk

russinthecascades · Feb 29, 2016

I had a '08 Rockhopper that had a Tora fork. After several OTB episodes I realized the fork plain sucks. Replaced it with a XC 32 TK and it was a huge upgrade. The fork actually worked. Sold it after about a year of use so can't comment on how long it will last.

Kiwiplague · Feb 29, 2016

Daniel de la Garza said:
I have the XC 30 and thinking about upgrading to 30 gold TK mainly because of weight reduction... Should I wait and get a better upgrade?

Enviado desde mi C6906 mediante Tapatalk

I'd wait and save a bit more to get something with a better damper. Wouldn't really be worth the dollar outlay to save maybe 1/2 pound or so. Manitou, Rockshox, X-fusion etc all make pretty good forks at decent prices that would be much better replacements (damper wise) for what you are currently running. Stay away from Fox's Evolution line, as they are generally regarded as being pretty rubbish.

watts888 · Feb 29, 2016

Daniel de la Garza said:
I have the XC 30 and thinking about upgrading to 30 gold TK mainly because of weight reduction... Should I wait and get a better upgrade?

Enviado desde mi C6906 mediante Tapatalk

The XC30 is kind of a tank of a fork. It's OK, but after 2-3 years of worn out bushings and o-rings, worth upgrading. The weight loss of the XC30 gold would be nice, but if you're spending that much money, get a good fork that'll last and is really worth rebuilding. Go Reba.

khoalie · Jul 11, 2016

I'm inclined to believe there was something wrong with your tora. Even if it was the low end tora 302, it's pretty much the same thing as the xc32 tk, even down to the turnkey damper.

russinthecascades said:
I had a '08 Rockhopper that had a Tora fork. After several OTB episodes I realized the fork plain sucks. Replaced it with a XC 32 TK and it was a huge upgrade. The fork actually worked. Sold it after about a year of use so can't comment on how long it will last.

Rockshox XC 32 TK and 30 Gold TK....performance differences?

gremlin75

Kiwiplague

unaware

gremlin75

watts888

gremlin75

Daniel de la Garza

russinthecascades

Kiwiplague

watts888

khoalie

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