# Is buying an RST fork a terrible mistake?



## whitedragon101 (Mar 31, 2009)

My friend has just told me he has bought a Focus Fat Boy 2010 with an RST Omega-T RL 100mm fork for £499 from Wiggle. I see he could have had the Focus Killer Bee 2010 for £450 with a Rochshox Tora SL 100mm.

Focus Killer Bee 2010 
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Focus_Killer_Bee_2010_Ltd_Edition/5360045262/ 
Focus Fat Boy 2010 
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Focus_Fat_Boy_2010/5360045243/

Should I tell him to send it back and get the Killer Bee??


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## Biohazard74 (Jul 16, 2009)

Yessssss ! Id tell him in a heartbeat !


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## DeeEight (Jan 13, 2004)

No it isn't. Looking at the specs the two bikes are basically the same although one is a SRAM bike and the other is a shimano bike. Wheelsets and stem/bar/post/frame are shared. Different tires also. The Omega RL fork is comparable quality to a Tora SL.


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## Clones123 (Apr 29, 2010)

I've never seen anything positive written about any RST fork other than the M-29. A number of 2010 Cannondale's come with a RST Deuce 1.5 and I haven't seen a peep about that model but one assumes if they were awful forks people would complain. I don't see anyone saying they're great either though. As for the rest of RST's lineup...?


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## shwinn8 (Feb 25, 2006)

R-eally
S-hiity
T-echnology

buy the bike! forks can always be replaced!


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## DeeEight (Jan 13, 2004)

Clones123 said:


> I've never seen anything positive written about any RST fork other than the M-29. A number of 2010 Cannondale's come with a RST Deuce 1.5 and I haven't seen a peep about that model but one assumes if they were awful forks people would complain. I don't see anyone saying they're great either though. As for the rest of RST's lineup...?


You've been here since april... i'm not all that surprised. I however have been around RST suspension since they started making bicycle suspension 18 years ago. They've had great forks that gave the big names a run for their money and real turkeys in that time. The Omega is pretty comparable to a Tora with the exception of the fact the RST has the option for a bar mounted remote lockout.


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## Clones123 (Apr 29, 2010)

DeeEight said:


> You've been here since april... i'm not all that surprised. I however have been around RST suspension since they started making bicycle suspension 18 years ago. They've had great forks that gave the big names a run for their money and real turkeys in that time. The Omega is pretty comparable to a Tora with the exception of the fact the RST has the option for a bar mounted remote lockout.


With all due respect to someone with over 9,000 posts, we can take your word for it or believe what *Mountain Bike Rider* magazine printed in their "Dirty Dozen" budget hardtail shoot-out in the July 2010 issue:
_"The big let-down on the Cannondale Trail SL5 is the fork. Entry-level RST's have historically disappointed due to top-out characteristics, but the problem with this year's Omega is that it hardly moves at all, servicing didn't help much either. A replacement fork improved the situation but it still required a real pounding to get it moving, letting down an otherwise vastly improved bike."_​
On the other hand, they put the *RST First Air* fork second only behind the Suntour Epicon. You can read the magazine for free yourself here: http://www.magazinesdownload.com/?tag=/mountain+bike+rider

BTW; Several versions of the Tora are available with Remote Lock-Out so that hardly distinguishes the RST Omega. Odd that you didn't know that. Also, the Tora 318 in both Air and Coil versions is a Motion Control fork. Presumably, your exaggerated claim is merely that the Omega is comparable to the Tora in one of it's numerous TurnKey versions (unlikely).


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## DeeEight (Jan 13, 2004)

I don't have to read what some magazine wrote, I've used the Omega RL, its a fine performing fork if you're not outside the weight rating for its coil spring.


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## Pollution Warrior (Apr 3, 2010)

Some people say RST forks are crap, but supposedly they have some good stuff like the air fork already mentioned (I thought about buying one myself). If that particular fork is not know to be a POS with lots of common problems AND it feels good to the guy who just bought it I'd say keep it.

Being able to actually try it on a bike is worth a lot since everyone's preferences and weights are different. I just bought a Tora 289 U-turn and even at 180lbs the stock spring feels a little too firm for me. If I could have tried it on a bike I may have bought something different. Now I need to try changing the spring, etc.

If people who have used it say it's comparable to the Tora, and in this price range it may well be, then I'd keep it he likes it. A Dart on the other hand is comparable to a pogo stick.


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## Clones123 (Apr 29, 2010)

Pollution Warrior said:


> A Dart on the other hand is comparable to a pogo stick.


*Which* Tora are we talking about? *Which* Dart - 1, 2 or 3?

Outside of the Tora 318 air and coil versions which have Motion Control dampening, all Tora's have an unsophisticated TurnKey dampener, steel stanchions and non-serviceable bushings - *just like a Dart*. Most coil versions of the Tora lack adjustable preload which the Dart 3 has. According to RockShox's version chart, the Tora 289 U-Turn and Coil and also one version of the Tora XC SL Coil are all missing a lockout feature which, again, the Dart 3 has. The thing that separates all Tora forks from all Dart forks is 32mm-diameter stanchion tubes vs 28mm. Yet people proclaim all Tora forks good and all Dart forks junk.

A Tora 289 Coil with a steel steerer and no lockout or preload or rebound adjustment at 2,360g (5.2 lbs) is somehow better than a Dart 3 which could have an aluminum steerer and definitely has lockout plus preload and rebound adjustment at 2,223g (4.90 lbs)? The difference being 32mm tubes vs 28mm and $100-200 in bike price.

The undampened SR Suntour M2025 pogo fork that comes on so many entry-level bikes is pretty bad, I agree. Yet when we step up to a bike like the *2010 Rockhopper Expert Disc* ($940 MSRP) with a hydraulically-dampened fork with lockout, preload adjustment and rebound adjustment, that fork becomes "a pogo stick"? There must be a lot of pissed-off Specialized owners out there because for 2010 all Rockhoppers except the base model came with a Dart 3 fork as do plenty of other mid-level bikes from various brands. The Dart 3 specifically had damage done to it's reputation by early units which leaked from the External Rebound Adjuster - a problem fixed by SRAM in mid-2009.

I've only been here since April though so what do I know.


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## Clones123 (Apr 29, 2010)

Speaking of RST, I've been curious to see user commentary on the RST Deuce 1.5 used on some of the 2010 Cannondales. Came across this - not a smoking gun really but hardly encouraging...

http://forums.mtbr.com/showpost.php?p=7306428&postcount=50


gpb221 said:


> I purchased a 2010 F5...in March and I had to have the fork replaced due to a faulty lockout mechanism and loose stanchions and just today, the replacement fork's lockout mechanism failed. No abuse, pretty easy riding. Just wondering if I'm alone in having issues with this fork.


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## cobba (Apr 5, 2007)

whitedragon101 said:


> My friend has just told me he has bought a Focus Fat Boy 2010 with an RST Omega-T RL 100mm fork for £499 from Wiggle. I see he could have had the Focus Killer Bee 2010 for £450 with a Rochshox Tora SL 100mm.
> 
> Focus Killer Bee 2010
> http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Focus_Killer_Bee_2010_Ltd_Edition/5360045262/
> ...


The 2010 Focus Killer Bee is *"Discontinued - no longer available"*

Possibly that's the reason the 'Fat Boy' was bought ?


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

IMO, people put way too much emphasis on the lockout feature. In order to make riding a bike with a suspension fork more fun than riding rigid, it needs to track decently, have the right sag and spring rate for the rider, and have the right rebound damper for the rider. It's difficult to get those things if they're not adjustable, although some people luck out.

Lockouts and compression and platform dampers are mainly to improve climbing efficiency. They make very little difference in climbing in the saddle if the rider has good form, and not as much difference for out of the saddle climbing as people think. I'd certainly choose a stiffer fork with decent spring rate and rebound tunability over a flexier fork with a lockout, given the choice. I don't think it's that important a feature.

When the discussion is about value forks, I'm going to keep casting my vote for the Tora or Recon, at least until I hear more reports about the Manitou fork that's supposed to be stealing that niche from Rock Shox now that they've stopped offering the Tora 318. The Dart has either rebound damping only or the TurnKey damper, which people report breaking pretty frequently. And I'd rather have a compression damper than a lockout, but that's just my opinion.

I don't know the higher end of RST's line. I've also heard that they make some good forks too. I wouldn't be surprised if they also make some of the forks for other brands.


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## Clones123 (Apr 29, 2010)

AndrwSwitch said:


> The Dart has either rebound damping only or the TurnKey damper, which people report breaking pretty frequently.


Saying "The Dart" is like saying The Tora - which one? Given the 2011 Rockshox lineup, the Dart 3 looks better to me than the new Tora Trail 289:

*Dart 1* - preload adjustment only, 5.5lbs

*Dart 2* - TurnKey (rebound only), Lockout , preload adjustment, rebound adjustment (via TurnKey), 4.9-5.45lbs

*Dart 3* - TurnKey (full), Lockout , preload adjustment & rebound adjustment, 5.0lbs 29er version

*Tora TK* - TurnKey, Lockout , preload adjustment & rebound adjustment, 4.85lbs - 5.19lbs 29er version

*Tora Trail 289* - No TurnKey or Lockout (dampening?), rebound adjustment, travel adjustment via U-Turn. 5.2lbs

*Tora Trail 302 U-Turn* - TurnKey, Lockout, rebound adjustment, travel adjustment via U-Turn. 5.3lbs

*Tora Trail 302 Solo Air* - TurnKey, Lockout, rebound adjustment, spring via air pressure, 4.8lbs?


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## Cayenne_Pepa (Dec 18, 2007)

I hate a fork that tops-out with a "klunk," whenever my front wheel leaves the ground. RST Mozo was the_* first thing*_ I upgraded on my very first bike(2004 Gary Fisher).


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

RockShox forks are a chassis that is almost identical all versions of a particular model, with one of a few different springs in one leg and one of a few different dampers in the other.

If no Dart has one of the nicer dampers and that damper has never been available for the Dart, chances are that the Dart can never have that damper, or at least not without a lot of machining.

I stand corrected about the Dart 1 only have preload. I now know it's even crappier than I noticed when I glanced at the web site earlier. I'm still comfortable with saying that the Dart is not available with a well-regarded damping system, though.

I'm also still comfortable with making some general statements about the Tora and Recon models - all have 32mm stanchions, and I understand them to share internally identical lowers, at least within their respective lines. So because the Motion Control damper has been available for a Tora, I don't care which one, in the past, the Tora, maybe with the exception of U-turn models, can be upgraded with one now.

I think it would make more sense to find one of the 318s that's still kicking around, because buying the damper separately for an extra $50 and having to install it seems like an unnecessary PITA, and the Recon model that comes with one costs almost $400, which comes close to buying a Reba.

The point is that like mountain bikes in general, one can understand most companies' suspension forks as a chassis that accepts components and can be built up in a variety of ways. So it becomes a question of buying to upgrade vs. buying something that does a job out of the box, or buying something one can afford now with the idea of adding a feature later on. Saying "The Dart" is like saying "The Hardrock" - which one? Maybe it doesn't matter.


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## The fro (Apr 1, 2012)

Ive got a rst duece coil elastomer whTever and ive ridden it pretty hard. Its been gOod tO me but im only 130lbs ..... I never lock it kut ir mess with i really. Just leave it and go


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## Blurr (Dec 7, 2009)

I have a RST Titan air on my KHS and absolutely love it, 600 miles on mostly un
groomed trails and it has done its job nicely. 
I am 225 geared up so it has some extra weight to work with. 
I did my research before purchasing this bike with this ork, the Titan had higher ratings than the step up KHS model with the Tora so anyhow that is where it is for me gents :thumbsup:

I had a Dart 2 on my Kona, Garbage IMO, the only other person I know personally who had a Dart2 on his Kona as well ended up chucking it in a summer too.


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## fatcat (Mar 11, 2006)

uhhh...this thread is over a year and a half old...but yeah RST isnt a bad entry level fork


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## dirtdan (Jun 27, 2011)

I don't have anything good to say about the deuce 1.5 that came with my Cannondale F5. The rebound adjustment broke within a month and it's a coin toss whether the lock out will work or not... It doesn't help that the LBS I purchased it from is sub-par. I can't wait to replace it.


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