Fox or Rock Shock?

tonyfryer

On my new bike I have been given the choice of two forks and I really cannot decide between the two?

The bike is a Rock Lobster Tig Team SL. The choice of forks is either 09 reba race or 08 fox f100 rl

So pro's and cons as I see it

Rock Shock,
pro's - better reliability, poploc, adjustable travel
con's - slightly heavier,

fox
pro's - lighter, meant to be smoother?
con's - stanchion wear meant to be a common problem, more maintanence needed

I am not really bothered about the color of the forks as both the white fox and the black reba race both look good. Black looks stock, white looks customised.

No additional costs involved for either selection so it really is what is best.

Any thoughts from anyone here?

ashleymp777

Rock Shox! I had Fox forks and they didn't last well at all. The Reba's I've got have never let me down and they're as good now as they were when they were new.

robv1306

Fox any day.

Light, smooth, excellent performance once set up correctly, better brand name, and in my experience as a mechanic, easier to get in touch with distributor for service/warranty.

Rebas are just a run of the mill fork, but the fox's are something to be proud of. Go fox!

pdid

I`d go for the Reba too. If you can, upgrade to Reba Team, it has better damping than the Race but is £50 extra.

tonyfryer

robv1306 wrote:

Fox any day.

Light, smooth, excellent performance once set up correctly, better brand name, and in my experience as a mechanic, easier to get in touch with distributor for service/warranty.

Rebas are just a run of the mill fork, but the fox's are something to be proud of. Go fox!

Rob, as a mechanic can you comment on the reliability of fox forks? I know none are fit and forget but heard bad things about them? Stanchion wear, constant need to service, costly in repairs?

pdid, paid me money and all that. Just phoned up to see where my bike was as was meant to be ready today. Told Tuesday, but by the way what fork you want on? Given the choice of two so no upgrade to the team

pdid

I`m sure they`d sort it if you asked, but it`s up to you.

nicklouse

I know which fork i would not get.

supersonic

Same here.

pdid

nicklouse wrote:

I know which fork i would not get.

supersonic wrote:

Same here.

Do tell :?:

supersonic

I would get the Reba, 09 Team if possible.

nicklouse

and have a look at what forks we have on our bikes? might give a clue.

Reba team.

pdid

Yeah, I think I kinda knew. Just wanted to clear it up for the op

hugh_b

Ok let me give you my own opinion having recently owned two sets of rebas and a set of fox floats.
The reba's feel nice, reasonably plush and fairly responsive, obviously set-up is key with any fork.
However i have so far found the fox forks to be plusher and smoother and there not even bedded in yet! Your set-up is slightly easier to keep track of because knobs like rebound actually click as opposed to just spinning like on the rockshox.
Of-course you need to think of your re-sale value and i'm pretty sure fox hold their value slightly better.
You can't go on what bikes come specced with as a guideline as to what fork are best as the manufacturers tend to use what fits there geo best and of-course what they can get the best deal on!

Thanks

Hugh

toasty

I had a similar choice recently and opted for the Fox F100s. I've owned older 2005 Fox and have had none of the problems listed. Infact the new Floats on my Meta have been by far the best forks I've ever owned.

The motion control camping on the Reba is lovely, if you're using it, which I wasn't most of the time. The dual air system can always be tweaked to feel however you like, unfortunately I spent all my time trying to get it to feel plush like the Fox.

I will agree that Fox are a rip off at RRP, all things equal I'd prefer them though. Just pump them up they'll feel fantastic right from the word go.

I've owned Revelations, Toras, Rebas, Floats, F80X and now the untested F100 RL

tonyfryer

seems like you are either fox or rockshox then. I suppose trial and error will be the only way to find out which one I prefer.

robv1306

Never seen any problems really with fox forx.

My boss has owned a set of 40's for 3 years, and has never had any problems with them. Never had them serviced and has raced them and they still feel fantastic. He also has a set of 36 Van RC2's on his slopestyle bike and again no problems at all.

In addition to this both myself and my neighbour have fox F100RLC forks which again have never given any problems, and have taken quite some abuse.

It is true that if a problem does arise then it can be particularly costly to sort, but really the only problem that costs alot, is if your anodising on the stanctions becomes worn, as you must replace the crown and upper tubes.

However, this is something that is easy to get sorted (Mojo or TFTuned will do it for you in a matter of days) and generally doesnt rear its head. As i say, my boss has had his 40's for 3 years, never serviced, raced and they are in fine nick and have not had the uppers changed. So in my experience, they are a very reliable fork.

On a slightly contradictory note though, I have to confess ive never really seen any problems with the higher end Rockshox forks either. Ive only ever had to deal with problems on Toras and Darts.

In my opinion though, still fox anyday. Just check out the top of the range bikes from most manufacturers - the majority of them have the letters F-O-X plastered all over the front (and also, most of the time rear) end.

Rob

nicklouse

robv1306
strange as to the fox's i have seen worn out and....

Back to the OP both forks have issues and both forks dont have issues.

I have seen minor warrenty oil leaks on RS forks and i have seen serious stantion wear of Fox SC forks.

Out of the current crop fo Short travel forks (up to 140mm) i would go RS any day. Long travel 200mm then currently the Fox 40 as the current RS and Marz are not as good but a year back 2007 then the Marz 888.
for the mid travel SC 030 - 180 then all of the makers have forks with problems.

Have fun.

Steve_b77

Personally I'd go for the Reba Teams, if they're any where hear as reliable and relative maintainence free as the 3 RS forks I've had in the last 2 years your laffin,

One set of Pike 327's not so much as a glitch in 18 months, all I've ever done is clean them and lube the seals at the top of the legs.

One set of Tora 302 U-turns with lockout, now on their 2nd owner and having exited they're 2nd winter of grindy sand/mud paste unscathed, I can't see a better fork for the cash, again just cleaned and lubed after every ride.

One set of Revelation 426 U-Turns, a whole winter of riding 3 times a week (roughly 7hours a week - less than 1/3 of the 18hr fox service interval), cleaned and lubed every ride and not a glitch.

All forks handle brillantly, are ultra reliable, look the business and cope with a not so floaty light rider that weighs in at 13st

Sikora

While not the exact same forks, i've had an 08 Reba SL and currently use a FOX F120RL.

I found the Reba had too many settings to mess with to get the best (and just as easily, the worst) settings. Where as the FOX's just have the rebound adjuster and obviously the sag.

I found, for me anyway, that the FOX's were much easier to get on with straight out the box

dunker

have a reba team, 2 years 5000+ miles on them, still feel as new. only issue was the clamp for the poploc broke which was slightly my fault for trying to pry it open more. the new pushloc clamp seems better made though gonna give them an oil change soon.